On Friday, April 3, 2026, at 6:00 PM, the inauguration of the photographic exhibition “Waiting for ET” will take place in the spaces of the Museo Diffuso d’Arte Contemporanea (MAC) in Lula (NU), located in Piazza Rosa Luxemburg, 1.
The photographic project – produced by the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), in collaboration with MAC Lula and the Sardinia Region – is curated by photographer Raffaele Petralla and astrophysicist and science communicator Edwige Pezzulli.
At the opening event, introduced by greetings from MAC Lula curators Domenico Fumagalli and Mariolina Mannia, the following speakers will participate: the Mayor of Lula, Mario Calia; the Region’s consultant for the ET project, Raffaele Marras; the Director of the Cagliari section of INFN, Alessandro Cardini; and the exhibition curators, Edwige Pezzulli and Raffaele Petralla. The event will be moderated by journalist Carlotta Lucato (Unitelsardegna).
The exhibition path, divided into four sections, explores the connection between science and territory, placing in dialogue the future European gravitational wave observatory, the Einstein Telescope (ET), with the site proposed to host it.
Around Sos Enattos, the landscape is vast and essential: it is dominated by kilometers of silence, making this place ideal for listening to space-time. That silence, in fact, is not merely a backdrop but an active component of the endeavor, making perceptible what would otherwise escape the instruments.
Through the intensity of photographic language, Waiting for ET tells the story of those who have always lived in this territory, as well as the scientific community that may one day settle there; of those who envision jobs and new opportunities, and of those who, on the other hand, wonder how much silence would be lost if the Einstein Telescope were to arrive.
For now, ET exists only on paper, and it is not yet certain that this corner of Sardinia will host it. Yet, the possibility of its arrival is already transforming the places where it might be built.
The exhibition will be open from April 3 to May 3, with the following hours: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Free admission.
Some images from the photographic exhibition “Waiting for ET”. Credits: Raffaele Petralla.
Edwige Pezzulli is an astrophysicist and science communicator. After graduating, she earned a PhD in astrophysics, specializing in the theoretical study of the formation of black holes at the centers of the oldest galaxies in the universe. Since 2018, she has collaborated with Rai as an author and presenter of science programs. In addition to working in traditional media, she designs and implements initiatives for the redistribution of scientific knowledge, involving, among others, incarcerated individuals and marginalized communities.
Raffaele Petralla is a documentary photographer, video maker, and photography teacher. His work focuses mainly on long-term projects with anthropological, social, and environmental themes. Over the past ten years, he has worked in China, Russia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. He collaborates with some of the world’s leading international publications, and his work has been published in more than 60 media outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, National Geographic, GEO Germany, The Times, The Washington Post, Days Japan, The New Yorker, Internazionale, Der Spiegel, VICE, L’Espresso, and De Volkskrant. He has received numerous international awards and nominations, and his projects have been exhibited in museums, galleries, and festivals across various countries. Since 2015, he has been a member of the Prospekt Photographers agency and teaches reportage photography at the Scuola Spaziotempo in Bari. In 2021, he published the photobook Mari El, A Pagan Beauty, released by Voglino Editrice.