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Urban Rite: San Stomak VR

Along Spaccanapoli, in the heart of Naples, unfolds the celebration of San Stomak, the secular saint created by Antoni Miralda and the FoodCultura Foundation. The Virtual Gallery Experience transports the viewer into the procession, where art, ritual, and everyday life merge into a single vital flow. Through a guided and immersive gaze, the narrative captures the rhythm of the celebration, revealing the convivial and universal energy of an urban rite that transforms the city into a collective work of art.

  • Danilo Paolo Pavone
    Photographer & Director
  • Tiziana Maria Spina
    Sound Recordist
  • Project Type:
    Virtual Reality, Other
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    October 23, 2025
  • Production Budget:
    6,000 EUR
  • Country of Origin:
    Italy
  • Language:
    English
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
Director Biography

Danilo Paolo Pavone, photographer and filmmaker at Italian CNR–ISPC, specializes in visual and multimedia documentation of cultural heritage. His research combines technical photography, video, and immersive 3D techniques to explore the relationship between memory, landscape, and community. Among his recent works are Water Communities, the Virtual Tour of the Simeto Valley, and the immersive activities developed within the CHANGES project.

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Director Statement

This project is part of a broader visual research developed through various narrative techniques that employ panoramic tools rather than traditional cameras or video recorders. I have devoted myself to several experimental productions of immersive storytelling, creating 270° films designed for panoramic experiences to be viewed on ultrawide screens.
These experiments and techniques I have explored found a natural testing ground in the celebration of San Stomak.
With the photographs of San Stomak in Naples, I sought to capture the celebration conceived by Antoni Miralda and the FoodCultura Foundation, seizing the moments in which the artist merges art, ritual, and everyday life. On October 16, in the historic center of Naples, I followed the procession along Spaccanapoli — the symbolic artery chosen by the Barcelona-based artist as the stage for a collective and ironic performance, where gesture and sound become universal languages of conviviality.
The VR gallery takes shape as a visual narrative designed to bring the viewer inside the event, guiding them through a sequence of images that follow the rhythm of the procession. It is not a free exploration but a journey built through the gaze — a narrative that defines time and direction to convey the participatory dimension of the work.
Developed as a web-based platform, the project is accessible from desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, thus expanding the possibilities for dissemination and engagement. It is also optimized for viewing through VR headsets such as Meta Quest, where it can be experienced in fullscreen mode, offering an enveloping and participatory encounter. The audio, though not precisely synchronized with the images, adds emotional and narrative depth, intertwining the representation of the event with the sounds and atmospheres of everyday street life.
For the user, the sensory experience is one of identification: within the photographer’s gaze — through the eye of the camera — they follow the moments, voices, and colors of a Naples in celebration. In this passage, the image does not merely document; it becomes a space of sensory and cultural connection, where nourishment transforms into a shared language among peoples and cultures.