White-Valente duo in Palermo initiates project on Mediterranean and migration

The Bianco-Valente duo (Giovanna Bianco and Pino Valente), one of the leading names in contemporary Italian art, is the protagonist of the exhibition project Terra di me in Palermo: the exhibition is part of Manifesta 2018 and is scheduled from June 23 to September 30, 2018 at Palazzo Branciforte. Conceived by Sicily Art and Culture and Civita Sicilia and promoted by the Sicily Foundation, the Terra di me project continues the duo Bianco-Valente’s sociologically oriented research: in particular, the project establishes a dialogue with some of the maps from the cartographic heritage exhibited at Villa Zito, all of which date from between the 15th and 18th centuries. Starting from these maps, Bianco and Valente generated some reflections on issues related to travel and migration and how the idea of the Mediterranean has changed: from being an instrument of cultural and economic diffusion in classical times, today it is considered by many a sort of barrier that some would like to be impassable, in spite of the history that has made it a founding element of Western culture.

Underlying Terra di me was a series of meetings that took place in Palermo during the first months of the year, during which the two artists had an intense exchange with a group of migrants with whom they activated a mutual look at the theme of imagery and narrative, aimed at exploring points of contact and interweaving individual experiences.

“The cartographic representations of Sicily and the Mediterranean made between the second half of the 16th century and the end of the 18th century,” says Fondazione Sicilia President Raffaele Bonsignore, “are revived in a new light through the gaze of Bianco-Valente; the dialogue between past and present, now more necessary than ever, becomes a tool to illuminate the future.”

The exhibition can be visited during the opening hours of Palazzo Branciforte: Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tickets: full 7 euros, reduced 5 euros, reduced only exhibition + archaeological collection 3 euros. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog, published by Silvana Editoriale, containing an extensive iconographic apparatus, essays and analytical charts of the works and nautical maps. For more info you can visit the Palazzo Branciforte website.

White-Valente duo in Palermo initiates project on Mediterranean and migration

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