The sirens' song is not enough
From Friday 8th August, the centrepiece of the Mare d'Arte Festival will be Valerio Berruti's impressive work Non basta il canto delle sirene (The Sirens' Song Is Not Enough), permanently located on the north quay of the canal port of Cervia, on the Milano Marittima side.
The work is a rare example of a monumental sculpture completely surrounded by the sea and represents a six-metre-high mermaid-child, whose patinated bronze profile will stand out shining above the sea where it meets the port, and which will light up at dusk as if emerging from the water.
The installation invites reflection on the fundamentals that animate the Mare d'Arte Festival project: the mermaid as a symbol of the sea and the child as a metaphor for hope and the future convey an idea of hospitality that not only receives but welcomes and transforms, without judgement.
The work will be illuminated for the first time with a special light show thanks to a project created for the occasion by Hera Luce, and the inauguration is scheduled for Friday 8 August at 8 p.m. at Mosquito Beach 236.
The artist Valerio Berruti
In a rapidly changing world, Berruti's art invites us to reflect on the human condition through the universal and unconventional language of childhood.
Born in Alba in 1977, the artist expresses himself through the ancient technique of fresco painting, sculpture and video animation to create essential images inspired by the suspended world of childhood, that moment in life when everything is yet to happen.
The artist Valerio Berruti
In a rapidly changing world, Berruti's art invites us to reflect on the human condition through the universal and unconventional language of childhood.
Born in Alba in 1977, the artist expresses himself through the ancient technique of fresco painting, sculpture and video animation to create essential images inspired by the suspended world of childhood, that moment in life when everything is yet to happen.
Valerio Berruti emphasises:
'I have always thought of my works as a metaphor that goes beyond childish imagination. I am not bothered at all - on the contrary - by the fact that people identify with my works by thinking back to their own childhood, a happy time for many. However, I would like to convey the message that my children are not really children, but simply the most immediate and unadorned means of conveying a message: the absolute equality of human beings, the need to take care of the world we live in, the awareness that everything is fleeting and delicate, just like childhood."
When
Opening 8th August 2025
Luogo
Cervia Harbour, Milano Marittima side
Milano Marittima - Via Oriani
Official Tourist Information Site of Cervia