Gibellina 2026: Memory and Future in Contemporary Art
Bring me the future: Gibellina rewrites its memory
Gibellina, a city symbolising rebirth after the 1968 Belìce earthquake, confirms its vocation as a permanent laboratory of contemporary art in 2026. The “Bring me the future” programme and its designation as Italian Capital of Contemporary Art transform the city into a performative and poetic place, where history intertwines with contemporary artistic production and the visitor's gaze is constantly stimulated.
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Burri's Cretto: the poetry of matter and space
Alberto Burri's Cretto, a monument of land art and concrete memory, remains the beating heart of the programme: walking across it, the white, irregular surface invites meditation on the relationship between historical wounds and artistic transformation, an experience that combines introspection and wonder. Paladino, Consagra and Pomodoro: the dialogue between art and the city. Mimmo Paladino's Montagna di Sale (Salt Mountain) dialogues with the urban geometry and natural forms of the territory, while the sculptures by Consagra and Pomodoro confirm Gibellina as a widespread museum. Art is no longer isolated, but an integral part of the urban fabric, a bridge between memory and contemporaneity. The site-specific projects by MASBEDO, Adrian Paci, Liu Bolin and Philippe Berson introduce international perspectives and reflections on social, political and migratory issues, entering into a continuous dialogue with the landscape and collective memory. The installations stimulate critical perception and invite us to reconsider urban space and its history.
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Performance and residencies: art that engages the community
The artistic residencies and performances by Marilena Renda, Francesco Cafiso, Lucia Veronesi, Flavio Favelli, Sisley Xhafa, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Pietro Fortuna, Jonida Xherri, Khaled Ben Slimane, Sonia Besada, Lucio La Pietra and Igor Grubic transform places such as the former Church of Jesus and Mary or the Orestiadi Foundation into laboratories of interaction and co-creation. The inhabitants thus become active participants in a creative process that reinvents the city itself. Events such as “Domestic Displacement” with Mona Hatoum, William Kentridge, Shirin Neshat, Anna Maria Maiolino, Amalia Pica, Regina José Galindo, Santiago Sierra, Zehra Doğan, María Magdalena Campos Pons, Holly Stevenson, Paolo Icaro, Olu Oguibe, Mustafa Sabbagh and Akram Zaatari show how international art can dialogue with local roots, transforming each work into an opportunity for shared reflection. The participation of orchestras, saxophonists, poets and performers creates a synaesthetic fabric, where the arts intertwine with the urban landscape, consolidating Gibellina as an immersive and shared experience. Installations by Richard Long and performances by Stalker Collective, Luigi Presicce, Virgilio Sieni and Alberto Nicolino complete the picture, demonstrating how art can transform everyday space into a total aesthetic experience.
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Gibellina, a model city-museum: memory, experimentation and participation
Gibellina 2026 is a clear example of how contemporary art can become civic practice, capable of shaping the territory and the community, stimulating critical thinking, participation and aesthetic renewal. The city becomes a meeting place between past and future, memory and experimentation, where every work, intervention or performance contributes to telling a broader story: a city that has made art the heart of its rebirth. Gibellina 2026 reminds us how art can transform a place and its community. To continue your journey through memory, innovation and artistic experimentation, visit our website and discover the works, artists and projects that bring contemporary art to life every day.