Stefano Perocco

Stefano Perocco encountered the world of masks in 1977 during a workshop led by Donato Sartori as part of the 37th Venice Biennale, then directed by Luca Ronconi and later known in history as the Biennale del Dissenso (archive). That same year, Donato Sartori introduced him to Carlo Boso, with whom he began a long and lasting collaboration.

With Donato Sartori, he created Commedia dell’Arte masks for the show Maschere, cronache di servitori e padroni, staged by Carlo Boso and created in Venice, in the area of the Ghetto, and performed in various squares throughout the city.

In 1978, he met Vittorio Rasaglia, a decisive encounter in his training as a sculptor, particularly in the creation of installations and monumental sculptures. Stefano Perocco was invited to join the team gathered around Giuliano Scabia for the Marco Cavallo project, part of a collective artistic laboratory within the psychiatric hospital of Trieste, then directed by Franco Basaglia, the great reformer of psychiatry in Italy.

In the 1980s, he began working in France, mainly with the Scalzacani company, for which he created Commedia dell’Arte masks for several productions directed by Carlo Boso.

In 1983, he began a collaboration with the Teatro Tag cooperative in Venice, for which he created masks and scenography for around fifteen productions that toured worldwide. At the same time, he also collaborated with the Lyon-based company Les Recavives, creating scenography and masks for productions directed by Carlo Boso, the company’s artistic director.