G.2 Eventi - Casta Diva Group

The Athlete of Taranto: How a Myth Is Born

A 10-metre giant, inspired by antiquity and built with the precision of modern technology. For the Opening Ceremony of the XX Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026, NASO transforms the Athlete of Taranto into a monumental inflatable sculpture, able to emerge from the darkness and dominate the stadium.

NASO
NASO

From History to Form

To tell the story of Taranto through its history, the Opening Ceremony of the XX Mediterranean Games Taranto 2026, titled "The Myth Becomes Future" and produced by the agency G2 Eventi - Casta Diva Group, started from one of the city's most powerful symbols: the Athlete of Taranto, a figure linked to Magna Graecia and now preserved at the Museo MArTA.

Its presence in the show stems from a narrative that interweaves past and future, sport and culture, the classical roots of the Mediterranean with a message of peace, encounter and modernity.

The challenge was to translate this monumental figure into a completely new structure: not a simple statue, but an enormous textile volume reaching 10 metres in height, 15 in width and 9 in depth.

The goal was to preserve the recognisability of the Athlete's depiction while also functioning as an inflatable structure within a large-scale set design.

The Geometry of a Giant

It all began with a 3D model supplied by the client.
Our task was to turn that complex surface into fabric, and to do so we had to imagine it differently. We divided it, unfolded it and adapted it, until we ended up with hundreds of small elements, each ready to be cut and sewn.

Every detail had to be designed for the hands as well as for the eyes.

The locks of hair, the creases of the knuckles, the tunic: on screen they were defined down to the smallest detail, but in fabric they had to become real shapes without losing the harmony of the whole.

It is at this point that design and manufacturing met. The drawing stopped being a simple representation and became a construction map.
Model 3D - G.2 EVENTI
Model 3D - G.2 EVENTI
3D model decomposition design
3D model decomposition design
Shape decomposition studies
Shape decomposition studies
Facial decomposition studies
Facial decomposition studies
Positioning of the buttonholes on the front for attaching the tie rods
Positioning of the buttonholes on the front for attaching the tie rods
Shape decomposition studies
Shape decomposition studies
NASO
NASO

A Map of Panels, Sewn by Hand

Once the geometry was defined, the sculpture began to take shape. It took patience and an almost obsessive level of care.

First came digital printing with a marble effect covering the entire surface. Then the fabric was traced, numbered, cut and sewn, one panel at a time, following a precise sequence. Each panel had its own place, and only the right order made it possible to rebuild the designed volume in space.

But the printing was not enough. To give depth to the texture and make the material feel more alive, the graphics were finished by airbrush, retouching details and shading until they looked like veining and light.

The result was a textile skin that, once inflated, made the Athlete look like a sculpture carved in marble.
Sewing the panels
Sewing the panels
Workshop tests
Workshop tests
Digital marble effect print
Digital marble effect print
Airbrush finishing
Airbrush finishing
Workshop tests
Workshop tests

When the Fabric Becomes a Monument

On the ground, the structure gave no hint yet of its final configuration. It was the inflation phase that revealed the designed geometry: as the internal pressure increased, the fabric came under tension, the volumes took definition and the figure began to rise.

The starting position had the Athlete of Taranto with his body gathered and his hands resting on the ground. A rapid inflation system brought the structure to its staged configuration in under 100 seconds.

The elevation was controlled manually by the operators, by means of a system of tie-lines and loops designed around the morphology of the torso. This ensured a slow, even and precise movement throughout the entire ascent.

At the end of the sequence the figure reached its maximum height, and its presence filled the entire stadium.
NASO
NASO
Inflation tests
Inflation tests
Inflation tests
Inflation tests
Inflation tests
Inflation tests
Hand swelling
Hand swelling
Quick inflation system
Quick inflation system
On-site inflation test
Creativity to imagine, technique to build, passion to see it through to the end. This is how impossible ideas become forms to be lived and remembered.

There is always an impossible idea waiting to come to life: it could be yours.

CREDITS

[ G.2 Eventi ]
Web Site - Instagram

[ Casta Diva Group ]
Web Site - Instagram

[ NASO - Nasoallinsù Group ]
Web Site - Instagram




CREDITS PHOTO

[ G.2 Eventi - Casta Diva Group ]
Web Site

[ NASO ]
Web Site

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