Quo Vadis?
Pierpaolo Lista, was born in Salerno in 1977, lives in Paestum (SA) and works between Naples and Milan. The artist typically uses glass as his canvas and has developed a unique technique of painting applying color not to the front of the glass plate but to the back.
Quo Vadis? (where are you going?) started as a remote art residency of the artist in May 2026 at Sa Buttega, and later experienced a metamorphosis into an ever-evolving participatory contemporary art installation.
The project explores human action, digital alienation, and the future of collective creativity, inviting the public to reflect on their own direction through the iconic Polaroid format. The remote residency started in June 2026 culminating in a group exhibition that ends August 31, 2026.
The project emerged as an organic response to an unexpected turn of events. Pierpaolo Lista was supposed to undertake a residency at Sa Buttega to lead workshops with the village children during his stay. However, a sudden leg injury limited his mobility. Instead of giving up, the project was adapted, transforming the obstacle into a shared narrative. The children were told that Pierpaolo had gotten lost on the way to Villasalto and that he needed their help to find his way back.
Using open-ended prompts and Polaroid film, the children mapped their community, creating a collaborative, raw, and unfiltered work that caught the attention of artists and visitors alike, encouraging ever-wider participation.
The first workshop took place on Friday, June 5, 2026, led by artists Paul Frank Wagner and Angelica Manca. The children explored the natural elements of Villasalto’s landscape, using colored pastels to reinterpret the natural world on hand-drawn Polaroids, without the aid of technology. The resulting works were shared with the artist to help him, symbolically, “find his way” back to the gallery. A second session took place on Sunday, August 9, 2026.
Exhibition Concept and Audience Dynamics
The installation strips away the individual ego to foster a “collective awakening,” standing in stark tactile contrast to the digital fatigue of modern society, where smartphones and AI dominate our visual landscape.
The Curator’s note:
“Quo Vadis?” is an existential inquiry into our screen-dominated reality. What began as a residency invitation for Pierpaolo Lista and Manuela Gallo evolved into a remarkable remote collaboration with Sa Buttega.
Drawing inspiration from collective projects born during COVID-19 lockdowns, the team used social media and video conferences to bridge the distance, turning a restriction caused by Lista’s leg injury into an opportunity for deep community connection.
Guided by Angelica Manca and Paul Frank Wagner locally, the village children of Villasalto stepped in with vibrant enthusiasm. Eager to share their artistic talents and local knowledge, they painted landmarks using the iconic Polaroid format to “guide the artist” to their rural Sardinian village. This joyous spark of communal creation ignited a global movement. What was meant to be a local children’s workshop introducing contemporary art quickly exploded into an international open call, drawing artwork submissions from around the world.
Art is not about individual ego, but about collective awakening. Reclaiming the premium value of human-generated content, Quo Vadis? explicitly challenges digital passivity and AI-dependence.
