Lumina lumina luminare, l’è la sera di Carnevale
Light up, light up, light up, it’s the night of Carnival
Grano grano non carbonchiare, siam venuti a luminare¹
Wheat wheat not coal, we have come to illuminate

On the night of Carnival, in some of the countryside around Florence, an ancient propitiatory ritual took place during which peasant women and men watched over and illuminated the wheat fields by chanting in chorus the “lumina” or “light to wheat”¹ chant: a choral singsong of pagan origin that wishes wheat plants healthy and strong growth and that warded off the doom of anthrax.
The chant, retrieved by sound artist Agnese Banti from the repertoire of the Maggiaioli of Barberino di Mugello, to whom she is linked by family tradition, meets the study of light language by sound designer and programmer Andrea Trona. The sound composition, featuring the voice of Agnese Banti, and the visual composition, created from a light device designed by Andrea Trona together with sound designer Francesco Vogli, are the result of a collaboration that intertwines the interests of the two artists for sound, space, voice and light. The installation project aims to evoke this ancient ritual practice in an intimate and unprecedented vision.

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¹The song appears in Ivo Guasti/Franco Manescalchi’s book ‘Lumina: memorie, massime e canti popolari dal mondo contadino toscano’ (Florence 1984) and is part of the repertoire of the Maggiaioli di Barberino di Mugello, present in the book “…V’ENTRASSE LA VORPE NI’ POLLAIO…” and in the disc ‘Dopo Barischi…’ (2004) under the title ‘Grano grano’. With a different text and melody appears in ‘TOSCANA. BENVENUTO ‘UN T’ASPETTAVO! Pasqualina Ronconi: canterina, pastora, mezzadra e casalinga nella Valle del Sasso’ (2009) under the title ‘Formula di’ lume a i’ grano’ curated by Filippo Marranci / Research and Documentation Centre on Oral Culture of the Cultural Association ‘La Leggera’.