Biography
Valentina Mammana, artist and graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania, was born in Noto, Sicily, in 1977. She works across painting, engraving, installation and ephemeral art: she is artistic director of the Infiorata di Noto and of the Infiorata di Taurianova, president of the CulturArte Noto association and vice-president of CIDAE, the international network of ephemeral-art associations.
In her painting she returns to the theme of love and to wooden supports, as in the cycle “Voce del verbo Amare”; with CulturArte she takes Noto’s flower-carpet tradition around the world and creates social projects such as “Scarpe Rosse” (“Red Shoes”), against violence towards women, made with schools in Noto.
Timeline
- 1977 Born in Noto, Siracusa.
- 1995 First Infiorata di Noto as designer and flower-carpet artist.
- 1999 Works with Arnaldo Pomodoro on the “Stele di Cera”.
- 2002 Graduates from the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania.
- 2006 Founds the CulturArte Noto association, which she chairs.
- 2019 In Uriangato, Mexico, for the Octava de San Miguel Arcángel, she installs the “Homo Vitruvianus” carpet in front of the church of Saint Michael the Archangel.
- 2021 The Infiorata di Noto and CulturArte are listed in the Register of Intangible Heritage of Sicily.
- 2022 The “Flower Carpets Art” project is selected by the Creative Europe programme with Catalonia and Malta.
- 2022 Receives the international Garofano d’Argento award at Palazzo Biscari in Catania.
- 2022 Shows “Voce del verbo Amare” at the Bassi di Palazzo Ducezio in Noto: eleven works on wood, later given to the cardiac intensive care unit of San Luca Hospital in Vallo della Lucania.
- 2024 The Festival delle Arti Effimere brings more than a hundred alfombristas to Noto from Catalonia, Belgium, India and Mexico.
- 2024 Flower carpets created simultaneously in Seoul and Portopalo.
- 2025 Directs the 46th Infiorata di Noto, “La Pace si fa Arte”.
- 2025 The Infiorata di Taurianova, which she directs, competes for UNESCO recognition.
- 2025 Taurianova grants her honorary citizenship, presented at the Gala dei Miracoli on 9 September.
- 2025 With CulturArte she returns to Uriangato for the tenth Encuentro Internacional de Alfombristas.
- 2026 Directs the 47th Infiorata di Noto, devoted to pop culture, while CulturArte turns twenty.
In the press
- 47th Infiorata di Noto, artistic direction Comune di Noto, 2026
- “Bringing tradition into the future” SiracusaPress, 2026
- Twenty years of CulturArte Noto SiracusaPress, 2026
- Infiorata 2025, interview with the artistic director SiracusaNews, 2025
- Infiorata di Taurianova and UNESCO StrettoWeb, 2025
- Alfombristas from around the world in Noto NotoNews, 2024
- “Voce del verbo Amare” at Palazzo Ducezio Artribune, 2022
- Garofano d’Argento award in Catania WLTV, 2022
