Mauro Staccioli’s first personal exhibition in an urban space is held in Volterra, his hometown. Here the sculptor projects and realizes five installations in different places in the city, chosen for their socio-historical importance: he places a cone-shape pyramid terminating in a sort of hook pointed menacingly towards the Porta all’Arco, skilfully defended by the citizens against the German invasion in 1944; a series of poles at Le Balze, an archaeological site where the ruins of the ancient city walls emerge, recalling the city’s defensive needs; a diagonal row of aggressively pointed pyramidal elements in the Piazza dei Priori, the city center and site of government and church, to evoke the ancient struggles between Guelphs and Ghibellines. However, the thought goes to the present, to the opposing fronts, the tension and violence in those difficult “anni di piombo”.

The positive experience gained by this series of interventions, which no longer “fell from the sky”, but were studied, adapted and realized entirely on-site, convinced Enrico Crispolti, who had critically supported “Volterra ’72”, to attempt a broader event the following year “Volterra ’73” would be born.