It was late in the evening walking in the alleys of my town Ostuni in Puglia and the memory of this enlightened icon is still very clear in my mind. I found a small alcove that contained a little statue of the Virgin Mary surrounded by a strip of LEDs. I took a picture of it and posted on my IG page, with the caption Le vostre Madonne elettriche. It was August 2018.

In this project I wanted to focus on the relationship between Apulia and Catholicism. The sacred icons are omnipresent in every space and area of everyday life. Those processions unchanged over the centuries and the waiting for the patron saint’s feast. It’s about the vision to create contemporary sacred statues illuminated by electric holy wires and LEDs: Madonne Elettriche.

In this thesis I saw the opportunity to talk about this topic and explore a whole side of my motherland through the tools of visual communication. I started with the creation of a digital platform displaying a video trailer to set the scenario and give an atmosphere, my photographic reportage that gives a deep dive in the theme, then followers contribution to the reportage, and an articles section to learn more about a few peculiar catholic ceremonies in Puglia.