Just a few days before Alberto Giacometti’s 125th birthday on October 10, the dress rehearsal of the theater production “Paris–Stampa – Giacometti’s Hearse,” by Marek Kedzierski, took place in Stampa on Saturday, October 3, 2026. It was an opportunity for the people of his native village to pay a fitting tribute to Alberto Giacometti. Several years ago, the Fondazione Centro Giacometti embraced the idea of author and director Marek Kedzierski and committed itself to bringing to life a play he had written specifically for this occasion.
In his introduction, Andreas Gross, a former member of the Swiss National Council, recalled the importance of Giacometti’s work, which has touched the hearts of countless people around the world. He also referred to the spectacular presentation of the artist’s work at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, where the installation evokes a wild, rugged coastal landscape with striking parallels to the mountains above Stampa.
The two actresses, Stefania Casini and Astra Lanz, conveyed with great professionalism and artistry the emotions of three lives intertwined through passion and dedication: those of Alberto Giacometti, Samuel Beckett, and Caroline, the artist’s last muse.
They traced Giacometti’s artistic career and the historical and fictional exchanges between the sculptor from Stampa and the Irish writer Samuel Beckett. They also explored Giacometti’s turbulent relationship with Caroline, a prostitute he met at the Paris red-light establishment Chez Adrien, and which continued in his dusty, gray studio, where he created several portraits and busts of her.
The story of the red convertible MG, associated with the series of lithographs Paris sans fin, also had its place, as did the story of Alberto’s final days at the Cantonal Hospital in Chur. One particularly memorable moment was the unexpected appearance, for just a few moments, of the hearse that had accompanied Alberto Giacometti on his final journey on January 15, 1966, from Stampa to the Church of San Giorgio.
Kedzierski created a production that was both minimalist and visually striking, adapted specifically for the Samarovan secondary school in Stampa for this special occasion.
The Fondazione Centro Giacometti would like to thank everyone who made this production possible. In addition to the author and director and the actresses, our thanks go to Roberto Lisignoli, who was responsible for lighting and sound and also served as the photographer, as well as to our hosts on site. Special thanks go to the Associazione Socio Culturale AGHARTI in Chiavenna, Italy, as co-producer; to Teatro popolare d’arte Mascarà in Lastra (Florence), which supported and made possible an artist residency at its facilities during the final two weeks of August; to the employees of the Municipality of Bregaglia, who transported the hearse to the performance site; to Andreas Gross, who brought his red MG to Stampa; and to the Comunità montana Valchiavenna and Fondazione Suor Maria Laura in Chiavenna, Italy, which hosted the theater team at its guesthouse during rehearsals for the Stampa performance.
We would also like to thank everyone who contributed to funding the project: the Grisons Cantonal Office of Culture / Swisslos, Graubündner Kantonalbank, ewz, the Ernst Göhner Foundation, and the Cultural Commission of the Municipality of Bregaglia.
The premiere of the production will take place on Thursday, November 5, 2026, at 8:30 p.m. at Sala C. Pedretti at Teatro Sociale in Sondrio.
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Photos: Roberto Lisignoli
© Fondazione Centro Giacometti
