The body as relic at MUST Lecce

Until 18 May 2026, MUST Lecce hosts Giacomo De Luca’s first solo exhibition in Italy, titled "The Body Relic – what remains of the egg, between resistance, archive and spirituality in the contemporary." Curated by Cesare Biasini Selvaggi and Matteo Scabeni, the project is part of a wider exhibition plan that will involve sacred sites, institutions and unconventional spaces across Salento.

Artistic approach

De Luca’s practice revolves around the ‘Body Relic’ notion, launched in 2025: he treats the body as a living archive of personal and collective memories, traumas and historical deposits. His transdisciplinary method combines sculpture, video, dance and performance to reveal how the body somatises the imperceptible and stands as a poetic form of dissent against hyperproductive socio-political systems.

Works on display

The Sala Marianna Elmo presents roughly ten works that examine inner fragility and ontological suspension. Highlights include:

• Double Shell – a glass installation with egg-shell fragments invoking purification; shells are treated with myrrh essence.
• Untitled (Chair) – a suspended chair covered in a mosaic of shells, turning a common object into a vessel of traumatic intimacy.
• The Academic – clothing from the artist’s theatrical training coated in resins and shell fragments, transformed into organic relics.
• Madonna – a stone sculpture suggesting release from traditional religious weights toward a renewed spirit.

Why visit

The exhibition offers a synaesthetic encounter that exposes organic material and performative gesture: visitors will find works that convert scars, postures and everyday objects into testimonies of an expanded time. De Luca is also the only artist from Salento included in the international mapping "Futuri Emergenti Italiani" (under 35) 2026, underscoring the European recognition of his research.

Practical information

Venue: MUST – Museo Storico Città di Lecce (Sala Marianna Elmo)

Period: until 18 May 2026

The displayed works stem from the methodological path Sensorium 2.0, presenting an original perspective on the role of the body in contemporary art.