DATA SHEET
Owner: Fouad Giacomo Filali
Art Curator: Antonia Yasmina Filali
Restoration and Architecture: Edmondo Scrimieri, Eng., Sandra Macculi Arch.
Interior Design: Laboratoire Design Rabat (suites and living room)
Museum Scenography and Digital Content for Museum Communication: Techné Francesco Gabellone, Maria Chiffi
Cataloging of the Fiermonte Collection and Exhibition Design: Marta Siciliano
Art Coordinator and Concept Creator: Valerio Calsolaro
Art Advisor and Concept Creator: Andrea Senatore
Photos: Cosimo Pastore, Martina Loiola, A. Pantaleo
The Fiermonte Museum, the fifth boutique hotel in the Fiermontina Family Collection, reopened on May 15 in the historic center of Lecce after an extensive architectural transformation carried out in tandem with a museum project that unveils the private collection of the Fiermonte Filali family to the public.
The exhibition tells a story of art and love, spanning Italy and France, centered on Antonia Fiermonte and artists René Letourneur and Jacques Zwobada. It offers an immersive journey into the art of the early 20th century through a diverse collection that includes Antonia Fiermonte’s watercolors, drawings, and sculptures by René Letourneur and Jacques Zwobada, photographs from the 1930s, books, letters, and notebooks, as well as 3D documentaries, holograms, and stereoscopic panoramas created using virtual reality technologies.
The buildings themselves, dating back to the 19th century and previously home to the M.A.M.A. Family Museum, have been merged, restored, and repurposed by the project of Edmondo Scrimieri, engineer, and Sandra Macculi, architect, from Studio Ingegneri Associati of Lecce.
Now, from the ancient gate, visitors first enter the café, then the sculpture garden shaded by a tall araucaria, while the exhibition spaces occupy the ground floor and a subterranean level recovered during the restoration. Outside, a corten steel staircase leads to the two upper floors, which house the suites and a living space overlooking the garden.
The museum’s mission is not only to serve as a cultural and creative space, fulfilling the wish of grandchildren Fouad Giacomo and Antonia Yasmina Filali to “bring Antonia Fiermonte home,” but also to function as a ‘Living House.’ Guests can choose to stay in four themed suites designed by the French Laboratoire Design, inspired by the painter and violinist Antonia.
The Avant Garde suite, in emerald green, celebrates the painting of the three artists; the Nocturne, in lapis blue, is dedicated to music; the Peplum, with Pompeian red tones, is inspired by generative videos, an evolution of the seventh art. On the top floor with a private terrace, the Marbre suite, in pistachio green, pays homage to the sculpture of Letourneur and Zwobada.
