Curated by Cristiana Costanzo, Massimiliano Marafon Pecoraro and Ettore Sessa.

16 December 2023 – 30 May 2024

Immersive Video Installations

Press launch on February 1 at 11:00 am.

Two new important pieces enrich The Palermo Liberty Exhibition – The Golden Age devoted to art, culture and society from the art nouveau period in the Sicily’s capital city. This morning, the Immersive Installations “Gregorietti. A psychedelic journey in the Palermo Art Nouveau” and “The Triumph of Ernesto Basile and De Maria Bergler” dedicated to the Villa Igea’s Basile Hall were presented to the press at Palazzo Sant’Elia.

The tribute to Gregorietti art, an eclectic artist who played a key role during the golden age of Art Nouveau in Palermo, was carried out by the designer Dario Denso Andriolo in cooperation with his students and is accompanied by a composition made using environmental recordings, which create an engaging soundscape. The Art Nouveau Triumph of Ernesto Basile and the grace of the frescoes by Ettore De Maria Bergler are sources of inspiration for this video compositing designed by the visual artist Lillo Sorce, along with music by Carmelo Gallo, under the artistic direction of Laura Galvano. A project made possible thanks to Rocco Forte Hotels Group that authorised the use of images.

The aim is to demonstrate how Art Nouveau can be a source of inspiration for contemporary arts, realised through immersive video technology. This section opens the way to significant collaborations with visual artist from other cities, members of RANN, whose video installations, inspired by Art Nouveau from foreign countries, can be housed in Palazzo Sant’Elia.

The technology used for these two immersive videos was made thanks to funds rendered available by Caronte & Tourist S.p.A, who sponsors the Arts and Culture. “With great conviction and profound motivation – said Olga Mondello Franza, President of the Caronte & Tourist – we supported this wonderful initiative by Fondazione Sant’Elia. Art and culture are distinctive features of Sicily. They are absolutely growth drivers, sustainable support drivers, that create jobs and innovation, inclusion and social cohesion. On the other hand, we firmly believe immersive technology combined with pieces of art, like in this is the case, can make people and especially the younger generation approach art and local cultural heritage. For us, Caronte & Tourist, sponsoring the culture is one of the forms of social responsibility in which we firmly believe and is one distinctive trait of our presence in the countries where we work. To generate value, tangible or intangible, to the company means creating a competitive advantage for the company, but also for people, country and environment.”

The presentation was attended by Antonio Ticali and Angela Fundarò, Superintendent and Vice-President of Fondazione Sant’Elia, and Professor Andriolo. The Rocco Forte Group was represented by Dr. Gabriele Cicchetti, Manager for the hotel Villa Igea, and Dr. Isabella Giglia, Cluster PR Manager, Sicily.

“Palermo Liberty – The Golden Age”, curated by Cristina Costanzo, Massimiliano Pecoraro Marafon and Ettore Sessa, is a project of Fondazione Sant’Elia, supported by the Regional Commission for Sicilian Tourism and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, under the patronage of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Sicilian Regional Assembly, Regional Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity, CRICD, Central Library of Sicily, Observatory “Maria Accascina”, Conseil de l’Europe of Basile Archive, House Museum Raffaello Piraino, Villa Igea and Rocco Forte Hotel.

So far, more than 7000 visitors came to the exhibition and 800 students circa made reservations.