Beneath the Surface by Keti Stamo traces the odyssey of a single block of marble: from the quarries of Michelangelo’s Cave to its transformation into sculptures bound for the seabed off the coast of Talamone, Tuscany. At the heart of the story is Paolo Fanciulli, a visionary fisherman who turns that encounter into an act of ingenuity and environmental commitment. Confronted with illegal bottom trawling, he imagines an underwater museum: a project where art and activism meet, and one that also serves as a protective barrier for the marine ecosystem. From his idea, a group of international artists begins carving this “discarded” marble into forms inspired by the objects the sea has received over time, creating a dreamlike zone in dialogue with underwater life. An almost sacred return: from land to ocean, from ego to ecosystem, from human time to marine time.
