Outsider art on Favignana: Discovering memories of ‘Zu’ Sarino’

‘Zu’ Sarino’ (‘Uncle Sarino’ in dialect), or more properly Rosario Santamaria, was a self-taught ‘outsider’ artist who was born, lived and worked on the island of Favignana (Sicily).

Before my most recent visit to Favignana I watched an Italian TV documentary about the Egadi islands which briefly featured a quaint little house covered in mismatched ceramic tiles. The island mayor and the TV presenter discussed a local figure with a hard-to-catch name in dialect who’d been connected to the house, who had left his mark on the island and who had “been an example of environmentalism decades ago”. Without more information – like a spelling for the name – I couldn’t find out any more in a quick online search. However, my stay on the island offered up some jigsaw pieces to create a picture of the story connected to the house.

I had a lot to fit into my short time on Favignana, and I had forgotten to enquire about the mystery house with ceramic tiles. By a lucky chance, as I wobbled haphazardly through the town’s streets at the start of my bike exploration of the island, I saw this gem of a building come into view down the quiet residential lane ahead of me.

Later that morning, among the informative documentation for the fabulous quarry garden, the Giardino dell’Impossibile, I read a short account of the life of Zu’ Sarino (sometimes written Zu’ Sarinu).

And then I could slot in another jigsaw piece from the day before, solving another island curiosity. The subject of a large mural I’d seen the previous afternoon, painted on the bleak walls of the former prison-fortress in the centre of town, was now explained. There’s not much I love more than learning about the places I visit and their stories, unravelling threads and researching clues, so I’ve since set about reading further.

The story of Rosario Santamaria, Zu’ Sarino

Rosario Santamaria (1913-1992) was an islander known as ‘Uncle Sarino’, Zu’ Sarino. From a young age he worked in the quarries of Favignana as a stonecutter. When the quarries closed down, Santamaria spent time travelling the seas as a fisherman, and then worked as a builder. From his 50s or 60s he became inspired to create sculptures from found wood, often of animals and zoomorphic shapes. Next, the self-taught artist began to work with the pale and soft island limestone. Once the stuff of tough and dangerous work during the hard labour of his earlier years, the stone became a source of pleasure and artistic fulfilment for the former quarryman. His seemingly naive carved heads, boats, grotesque creatures and fantasies became celebrated as an example of Art Brut, outsider art.

From his workshop near the port, Zu’ Sarino would greet visitors to the island, often giving away his sculptures. Other artworks decorated walls, gateways and gardens around the island. Apparently sometimes these would appear on gateposts without the owners’ awareness or permission. “A mute population of statues populated the island” wrote a journalist in an obituary. The soft stone is porous and easily worn away, so I’m not sure how many of his artworks have survived recent decades or are still visible in situ around the island.

There’s an old photo online of Zu’ Sarino by the low wall of his workshop, on which is painted “Vi prego tener l’isola pulito” (“I beg you to keep the island clean and tidy”). This was one of the artist’s sayings, and these are the words painted alongside his image in the prison-walls mural, created in 2021 as part of an island festival by artist Loste. Remembrances of Rosario Santamaria speak of him as a unique character, a free spirit, simple and beloved, a lover of nature and of Favignana.

Zu Sarino’s house is at the corner of Via Foscolo and Via Pascoli. It was a lucky chance that took me past on my orange bicycle, meandering away from my intended route out of town.

The ceramic tiles decorating the building’s façade apparently come from the elegant Palazzo Florio, removed during a restoration. Zu’ Sarino is quoted as having said “they’re mad to remove these pieces of history to replace them with modern stuff”. Perhaps sadly, Zu’ Sarino’s eccentric little corner house seems to be a holiday let, the tiles referenced in its name. Or maybe it’s a nice thing, that visitors can continue to share the creations of Zu’ Sarino, even if they don’t know the house’s history.

One of the reasons I enjoyed visiting the Giardino dell’Impossibile on Favignana so much was not just the visual and sensory impacts of the remarkable quarry garden, but the designers’ honouring of local heritage. The written handout (which I used instead of the audio-guide) gave me interesting details of how the islanders lived, how the quarries were managed – and celebrated artistic traditions and the work of Zu’ Sarino. The Grotta dello “Zu Sarino” is a cave-shrine within the garden dedicated to the artist, with examples of his work and a photograph.

More outsider art in Italy

As a country with a rich artistic heritage and a good number of eccentrics, Italy has examples of outsider art dotted around the country, especially in small and out-of-the-way places. It’s rare to get a chance to visit and see some of the odder sites though; they’re generally in private hands and after the death of the creators, inheritance rules may impede any public opening. Nonetheless, public art, guerrilla art, street art and the workshops/stalls/studios of artists are a common feature you will find throughout the country.

Benito Alessandra, Favignana

Another self-taught sculptor on Favignana is Benito Alessandra, who first came here to the island in 1970 to carry out building work on the port. He stayed, turning the quarry walls around his home into an ‘enchanted garden’ – Il Giardino Incantato – of sculpted heads and scenes, from tuna-fishing to celebrity subjects.

Filippo Bentivegna and the Enchanted Castle, Sciacca

When I visited Sciacca in Sicily years ago I was sorry not to have the time to visit the Castello Incantato (Enchanted Castle) nearby. The work of Filippo Bentivegna, this is an open-air museum where you can see the artist’s curious rock carvings; a landscape of sculpted heads: facebook.com/castelloincantatodisciacca.

Attilio Bertomoro, Monselice

At the other end of the country, Monselice in the Veneto has a prime but little-known example of artistic eccentricity. I was mesmerised by the scenes in this video by the local tourist board. Sadly the fantastical architecture created by Attilio Bertomoro in a hamlet outside the town between 1960 and 1986 isn’t currently visitable by the public, and I’ve found practically no trace of it online, other than this video.

Chiesa di Piedigrotta, Pizzo (Calabria)

This is one of the stranger artistic sights I’ve seen on my travels around Italy. A small chapel dug into the rocks to commemorate the Madonna’s intervention to save sailors from a shipwreck, this space was decorated from 1880 until the middle of the 20th century by a local family. Angelo Barone, owner of a stationery shop, and his son Alfonso spent decades sculpting groups of statues and decorations into the rocks. Restored in the 1960s by Giorgio Barone, a nephew of the original artists, the grotto-chapel is just outside the seaside town of Pizzo in Calabria, and can be visited with an admission ticket: Chiesa di Piedigrotta.

Further reading and useful links

• My detailed travel guide to Favignana, including the ‘Impossible Garden’
• Outsider Art Sicilia: Rosario Santamaria (Zu’ Sarino) (Italian) – This website has features on other Sicilian outsider artists too
• Facebook: Zu Sarino Santamaria
• Monograph with photos of Zu’ Sarino and his work (Italian)
• La Casetta delle Maioliche – Booking.com affiliate link for staying in the tiled corner house, though not accepting bookings at the time of writing.
• Benito Alessandra, sculptor on Favignana: read a 2019 interview in Italian, with photos
• Spaces: The Sculptures of Zu’ Sarino – another interesting resource with links to other outsider artists
• Calcata, Lazio – a quirky hill village near Rome revitalised by artists