The Sicilian Opera dei Pupi - now on the Unesco World Heritage list - was born at the end of the 1700s. In its development the tradition of the Italian marionette theatre is mixed with the oral account of the story of France’s paladins. The first stories told with these wooden marionettes were those of the "vastàsi", jobs of fatigue. In the nineteenth century the motifs of the Carolingian cycle and of the Chanson de Roland were grafted on this basis. The puppeteers draw on this repertoire because it helps them staging struggles to win the battles of everyday life. The favour of Palermo’s popular classes is instantaneous and lasting.

The Opera dei Pupi willingly represents stories of magic, which is understood by the puppeteers and the public not as a recourse to the supernatural, but as a human activity that procures power with the help of demons.

Alongside the chivalrous stories of brave warriors, battles and loves, there is a fantastic world of magicians and sorceresses, who trap, deceive and determine the course of events with their "arts", enchantments and spells.

The wizards of the Opera dei Pupi summon devils. The magician retreats to a wood, cave or room. Sometimes he positions himself in front of a scenario depicting “Hellmouth”. Often the magician stamps one foot on the floor: the marionette will make a sudden step while the puppeteer fills the stage with a thunderous noise. Or the marionette turns three times on itself causing the cloak to flutter. The spells used to summon demons consist of verses, sometimes composed by the puppeteer himself.

Sorcerers summon devils and force them into their service. These spirits are depicted in accordance with Christian iconography, with tail, wings and goat legs; they swoop on and off the stage in a clamour of clanging chains, thunder, smoke and flames or special lighting effects; they speak with a cavernous, slightly sing-song voice and always begin with the words: “Comanda maestro!” (What is your wish, Master?)

Every magician has specific devils at his service. In the Palermo area, the magician Malagigi usually summons Naccalone, a good-natured devil on whom gets reflected his master’s popularity among audiences, or Cricchi Ignazio, Sciordacchino or Calcabrina; the sorceress Carandina summons Fècalo, the magician Araspàse has Piedicotti, the sorceress Fallerina has Satana and Fata Alcina calls upon Vertuno. Even some monsters and some animals, such as the horses Baiardo and Rabicàno, are expressly described as magical. Others, such as the hippogriff, although having extraordinary qualities that seem magical, are referred to as natural in the texts.

The installation presented in this exhibition documents this complex system of representation. The pupi testify to the human need to resort to the magical sphere and the sacred to make sense of the reality in which they live when reason alone cannot give order to the world.