The eighth edition of Lecco in Watercolor, titled "Il Senso," will be inaugurated on Friday, May 22nd at 6 pm in Torre Viscontea. The program includes exhibitions by the Municipality of Lecco and Si.M.U.L, in collaboration with Assocultura Confcommercio Lecco, and as part of the "Leggermente" event, the exhibition renews its identity and expands its horizons.

Originally conceived as an event dedicated to the dissemination and promotion of watercolor painting, the initiative has evolved into a platform for graphic and pictorial research in the field of figurative art, focusing on expressiveness, experimentation, and the value of artistic gesture.

The new directions of the project are based on a deep reflection on the act of "making painting" and the ability of the stroke to interpret reality. The journey of Lecco in Watercolor continues in collaboration with the graphic schools of Lecco, which are fundamental partners in promoting and communicating the event.

For the 2026 edition, the event will present the works of Uttam Kumar Karmaker, known for a pictorial language that uses material as a tool for research, expressiveness, and figurative concreteness, and the "Photographic Watercolors" interpretations by Giuseppe Giudici. The exhibited works are not merely representations of reality but rather mental and symbolic elaborations, where stroke, blotch, and color become vehicles of an intimate and contemporary language.

Following this, a series of graphic panels produced by the graphic students of Lecco, CFP Consolida, IIS Medardo Rosso, ISGMD Lecco, will be presented, linked to the competition organized with AssoCultura Lecco for the graphic research of the visual for "Leggermente 2026," titled "Slalom among the traces of Il Senso."

Uttam Kumar Karmaker, an artist presented by Fabriano In Acquarello, has participated in two Venice Biennales as a representative of Bangladesh and has a record of international exhibitions around the world.

Giuseppe Giudici, a photographer known for his graphic and photographic interpretations that go beyond mere photographic shots, has a professional background in Italian artistic and archaeological heritage and has had numerous exhibitions in private galleries and national and international spaces.

The chosen theme for this edition, "Il Senso," introduces a reflection that intertwines with that of Leggermente, the cultural event associated with Lecco in Watercolor.

The term "sense," in its original meaning of perceiving, intuiting, and understanding, becomes the starting point for an investigation into the role of art today, the ability to read and give meaning to the world around us.

In an era dominated by digital technology, the event invites the public and artists to ponder the following questions:

What sense does it make to continue creating with our hands, letting water flow on a sheet of paper?

What sense is there in keeping alive the techniques and methods of the past in an increasingly automated world?

What sense is there in losing oneself in the stroke, the gesture, the blotch, as a form of communication and personal identity?

These questions do not seek definitive answers but open up to a broader reflection on art, human beings, and their ability to remain sensitive, creative, and aware.

A new sense of direction: "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist," Pablo Picasso

Lecco in Watercolor 2026 thus proposes a new sense of direction, a "map of feeling" that goes beyond the objective representation of reality, exploring the directions of thought and emotion, offering a vision of the visible in continuous transformation.