Giacomo De Luca in Lecce: 'The Reliquary Body' at MUST

Giacomo De Luca in Lecce: "The Reliquary Body"

From 24 April to 18 May 2026 MUST – Museo Storico della Città di Lecce presents the first Italian solo exhibition by Giacomo De Luca, an artist working across sculpture, installation and performance. The exhibition examines processes of material transformation and acts of memory, tracing connections between body, ritual and renewal.

Main works and language

• Double Shell – sculptural installation (glass plate and shell fragments): suggests purification and the reconstruction of the self.
• Untitled (Chair) – wooden and steel sculpture covered in a mosaic of shells: an everyday object charged with memory and suspension.
• The Academic – dance garments and accessories coated in shells, myrrh and resins: performative relics reimagined as new simulacra.
• Madonna – sculpture in recovered and altered stone: a meditation on ritual, belief and disenchantment.

Curatorship and context

The exhibition is curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi and Matteo Scabeni and is part of the Paesaggi Mediterranei programme of Lecce Contemporanea Mediterranea. It is included in the project supported by BCC Leverano for Futuri Emergenti Italiani and unfolds partly in the Sala Marianna Elmo and across the city as a site-specific initiative.

Themes and approach

De Luca transforms humble materials — eggshells, resins, myrrh and everyday objects — into contemporary reliquaries. His background in dance informs sculptural practices that probe bodily vulnerability and aesthetic or existential renewal.

Practical information

• Dates: 24/04/2026 – 18/05/2026
• Venue: MUST – Museo Storico della Città di Lecce
• Address: Via Degli Ammirati, 11 – Lecce (LE), Italy
• Curators: Cesare Biasini Selvaggi, Matteo Scabeni
• Museum website: mustlecce.it (check for current opening hours)

The exhibition is suitable for visitors interested in contemporary sculptural practices and site-specific projects, offering a concentrated investigation of materiality, memory and regeneration in contemporary art.