Scicli becomes a living theater of site-specific contemporary art

Scicli, a splendid Baroque city in Sicily, also famous for being the setting for the famous Commissario Montalbano, will host for three days, from September 4 to 6, 2020, theunprecedented contemporary art exhibition curated by Site Specific and the aA29 Project Room gallery, under the artistic direction of Rosa Cascone and Lara Gaeta.

Ex Machina, this is the title of the event, will be inaugurated on Friday, September 4, 2020, at 7 p.m., at the Ex Convento del Carmine: it is an unprecedented contemporary art project thanks to which the monumental Unesco Heritage spaces of the Sicilian city will become the scene of site-specific interventions, performances, exhibitions, sound art installations, concerts, lectures and guided tours.

Ten artists will be involved: Valentino Bianchi, Francesco De Grandi, Alex Majoli, Lola Montes Schnabel, Parasite 2.0, Isabella Pers, Tiziana Pers, Matilde Sambo, Giuseppe Stampone and Sasha Vinci. Theirs investigate the theme of Ex Machina in different ways, according to the research and artistic languages of each.

The site-specific interventions designed for the Ex Convento del Carmine and Palazzo Bonelli Patanè can be seen by the public until Sunday, Oct. 4.

Ex Machina was born from a well-defined union of intentions between the independent reality Site Specific and the aA29 Project Room gallery. Two realities that operate in the field of contemporary art and share the same vision: to promote projects that aim at new possibilities for action and interaction, devoting particular attention to the themes of sustainability, the Anthropocene, anti-specism and the incidence of totalitarianism and colonialism on contemporary history.

Four personalities from the art world, invited as observers, will also participate in the event: Laura Barreca (Director Museo Civico di Castelbuono and Director of the Museo delle Arti di Carrara | mudaC), Maurizio Bortolotti (Critic, Independent Curator and Lecturer at NABA in Milan), Rossella Farinotti (Executive Director of the Gio’ Pomodoro Archive) and Diego Mantoan (Lecturer at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice and Independent Curator). Their task will be to produce a critical contribution, establishing moments of public debate and shared reflection on the themes expressed by the project and the artists’ poetics.

The event takes its name from the concept of “deus ex machina” in classical Greek theater, which defined the moment when the god appeared on stage, becoming the resolving element of the entire tragedy. In this sense, the festival is grafted with site-specific interventions in the urban fabric and transforms the city of Scicli into anagora open to confrontation between art and the public.

Various themes will be addressed, such as the return to a natural and inner time, art as a wonder for a changing society, and the interaction with the public space by artists, as active components of the system and not strangers to it.

The project is sponsored by the City of Scicli. Partners Rizzuto Gallery, SEM Cultural Association, Cooperativa Sociale Agire, Scicli Albergo Diffuso and Leftover, logistics planning Bianca Millan.

A significant part of the event will also be dedicated to contemporary and traditional Sicilian music.

For more info: www.sitespecific.it

Pictured: Parasite 2.0, Fuzzy Gibel. Ph.Credit Valentino Bianchi

Scicli becomes a living theater of site-specific contemporary art

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.