CONCEPT: TIMELESS
“Time is a river that drags me, but I am the river; it is a tiger that mauls me, but I am the tiger; it is a fire that devours me, but I am the fire”
Jorge Luis Borges
“All this for a bit of wordplay, for a bit of anachronism: a misery. Will there never be a way out?”
Raymond Queneau
There is the time of physics, where an object moves from point a to point b, or that of a ray of light imprinted on a negative, to represent a supposed ‘reality’. There is the time of relativity, which depends on the observer. There is the time of logic, of ‘cause and effect’, and historical time, which investigates human progress. It is a time which unfolds like a scroll: it has a beginning, it will have an end. Then there is the time of life, which for Henri Bergson is a ball of thread, an avalanche: each instant contains in its entirety the whole of the past and has in it the germs of the future, and this time is not calculated in minutes or even years. It is an inner, intuitive time, not only memory, but above all unconscious.
It’s just in this time – no clock can measure it- that intuition, the creative act, takes place. It happens perhaps in a dream, or in a double dream, like the one that in Queneau’s Les Fleurs bleues links the anti-historical hero Duke D’Auge and the indolent Cidrolin, who lies idle on a barge along the Seine. Each in falling asleep dreams of the other. But if Cidrolin dreams of the Duke, he wakes up a few hours later, in an eternal present, when the Duke dreams of Cidrolin, he wakes up 175 years later: from the Middle Ages he moves on to the Renaissance, the French Revolution, until their absurd meeting in 1964.
What is the meaning of History, of time passing? To what inscrutable end does it aim? At their meeting, the two dreamers find their way out: from their own history, but also from universal History, in search of an impossible utopia of freedom. The contemporary image has now lost its role as a representation of reality, it has no before or after. It is a theatrical representation in which the unity of time, place and action has been lost. Yet it does not cease to provide us with its meaning, because, as Bergson said: «Life is always creation, unpredictability and at the same time integral and automatic preservation of all the past».
EXHIBITIONS
SPECIAL PROJECTS
SINGOLARE PLURARE: UN RITRATTO DELLA CITTÀ
Conceived and curated by Arianna Catania
In collaboration with CTA Salus, Polaroid, Nital S.p.a
The main aim of the project “SINGULAR PLURAL: a portrait for the city” is to involve the entire population of Gibellina, through a series of photography workshops, in which the beneficiaries will be guided by photographers and curators in which photographs will be produced, exhibited in businesses during the 5th edition of the Gibellina Photoroad international festival and in 2026, the year of Gibellina Capital of Contemporary Art.
The beneficiaries of the workshops will also be the protagonists of guided tours of their exhibitions.
The first round of workshops involved users of the CTA Salus Therapeutic Community, led by award-winning photographer Simona Ghizzoni (Reggio Emilia, 1977) and Gibellina children (ages 6-10), led by Gibellina Photoroad Festival Director Arianna Catania, with Melissa Pallini (designer/curator).
With a view to involving all residents of the city, the intention is to set up the exhibitions in all businesses in the city by the end of 2026.
Photography was chosen because this artistic language is at the center of contemporary culture. In the age of image dominance, where photography has emerged as the primary vehicle of communication, it is necessary to initiate a process of image education, giving photography, as is already the case in various parts of the world, its value as an accomplished art form.
Photography, with the advent of digital, is a widespread, popular, versatile art, a powerful means of expression. And it is at the same time a social art, bringing art closer to people, the primary intent of the Gibellina Photoroad festival, which mainly presents installations in the streets and squares of the city.
CHIESA MADRE PROJECTIONS
ÉLIANE EXCOFFIER
Nightlife au mont Pinacle
In collaboration with Rencontres de la photographie en Gaspésie
Video: Nightlife au mont Pinacle (2022, 10 min)
Produced with the support of Centre Adélard, Frelighsburg (Canada)
The Nightlife project is the culmination of research conducted during a one-year residency at the Mount Pinacle Land Trust. Throughout the seasons, thousands of images and videos were collected from infrared trail cameras placed in the forest. The work reveals the strange beauty and vulnerability of animal life that awakens each day in the twilight. By capturing these fleeting presences in time, Nightlife au mont Pinacle questions our relationship with the living world, our environment, and the fragility of our coexistence with species that our senses struggle to perceive, but which, conversely, directly feel the impact of our lifestyles.
BIO
Éliane Excoffier (Quebec, 1971) is a visual artist based in Sutton. A graduate of the University of Montreal in fine arts and art history, she has been exhibiting in Canada and internationally for more than twenty-five years.
She also extends her practice to public art. Her works appear in several private and public collections, including those of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec and National Bank Art Collection.
At the intersection of digital and film photography, her photographic approach explores the possibilities of technical experimentation.
OPENING EVENTS PROGRAMME
20 JUNE
h 18.00/19.30
Palazzo di Lorenzo
• OPENING GREETINGS
with Angelo Piero Cappello (Director General for Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry of Culture), Salvatore Sutera (Mayor of Gibellina), Francesca Corrao (Presidente Fondazione Orestiadi), Arianna Catania (Artistic Director Gibellina Photoroad)
• PERFORMANCE / BANCHETTO
“La devorazione” by Hélène Bellenger and Tal Yaron
h 19.30/22.00
Palazzo di Lorenzo
• PARTY WITH APERITIF AND SOUNDTRACK
by Donato Di Trapani, in a mix of popular music and electronic experimentation
h 22.30/24.00
Chiesa Madre
• PROIEZIONI / VIDEO MAPPING
“Altered Ocean” di Mandy Barker (editing Gaia Tognoni sound Vincenzo Stellino)
• PROIEZIONI / VIDEO MAPPING
“Nightlife au mont Pinacle” by Éliane Excoffier (in collaboration with Festival La Gaspesie, Quebec)
• PROIEZIONI / VIDEO MAPPING
“Fotoritmica immateriale”
by Francesco De Melis , for UN:IT photographs of intangible heritage – Preview, MiC-ICCD/Ufficio Unesco
21 JUNE
h 10.00/11.00
• GUIDED TOURS
‘Singolare Plurale: a portrait for the city’ with users of the Salus Therapeutic Community at Moma Café, Bar Bonanno
h 11.00/12.00
• GUIDED TOURS
“Singolare Plurale: a portrait for the city” with the children and adolescents of Gibellina at Piazza Municipio, Bar Agorà
h 12.00/13.00
• GUIDED TOURS
at Sistema delle Piazze with Mandy Barker, and with the curators of the exhibition UN:IT photographs of intangible heritage
h 16.00/19.00
• GUIDED TOURS
from MAC with Rossella Palazzolo/Sergio Zavattieri; Consagra Theatre with Balázs Turós; Piazza Municipio with Arnaud Hendrikx; Belice Epicentro with Miriam Iervolino; Botanical Garden with Rima Samman
h 19.30/21.30
Terrazza Orestiadi
• PRE-DINNER WITH THE ARTISTS
h 21.30/00.30 Terrazza Orestiadi
• FESTIVAL PARTY: Wine tasting, Cocktail bar/Dj set
(reservations at +39 3318821817)
22 JUNE
h 9.30/12.30
Fondazione Orestiadi
• ROUND TABLE
‘Architectures and Landscape’: Alex Majoli (Photographer Magnum Photos Agency), Giuseppe Barbera (Professor Department of Arboriculture University of Palermo), Vito Corte (Architect Ph.d), Bruno Corà (President Palazzo Albizzini Burri Collection Foundation), Giulia Pellizzato (Be the Hope Foundation Rome), Sebastiano Maffettone (Luiss Guido Carli University Rome)
Il paesaggio e le architetture sono due elementi fondamentali che influenzano la nostra esperienza visiva e culturale. Si dialogherà sulle relazioni tra arte e paesaggio, con al centro la delicata questione del rapporto naturale/artificiale.
h 12.30/13.30
Fondazione Orestiadi
• GUIDED TOURS with Alex Majoli, Giulia Parlato, Donato Di Trapani, Gabriele Stabile, Claudia Fuggetti, Tommaso Rada, Emma Bedos
h 15.30/16.30
Fondazione Orestiadi
• BOOK PRESENTATION “Diaries” by Francesco Zizola (Yogurt Editions, 2025) with editor Francesco Rombaldi
Libro realizzato nell’ambito del progetto “Atlas of Conflict”, promosso da 10B Photography. Il progetto è sostenuto da Strategia Fotografia 2024 e promosso dalla Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea del Ministero della Cultura
h 16.30/17.00
Fondazione Orestiadi
• GROUP FILM SCREENING
“He Was Very Fond of Animals”
(2024, 11’30’’) by Sylvie Luccisano and Philippe Terrier- Hermann
In collaboration with Institut Français e ISBA – Institut Supérieur des Beaux Arts de Besançon
6 JULY
h 17.00/18.00
Fondazione Orestiadi
• GUIDED TOURS of exhibitions with Arianna Catania and Enzo Fiammetta
h 18.00/19.00
Fondazione Orestiadi
• PRESENTATION OF THE TWO PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUMS “Il viaggio in Sicilia” by Lisetta Carmi and “Paesaggi, memorie, astrazioni” by Melo Minnella curated by Valentina Bruschi per il Museo Civico di Castelbuono
Realizzati nell’ambito di due edizioni diverse dell’Avviso pubblico “Strategia Fotografia” 2022 e 2024, promosso dalla Direzione Generale Creatività Contemporanea del Ministero della Cultura
10.00/12.00 Saturday, June 21
Visit to Burri’s Cretto
Reservations +39 3914231260
MAC – MUSEO D’ARTE CONTEMPORANEA “LUDOVICO CORRAO”
Viale Segesta
tue.–sun. 9:30–13.30 / 15.00–19.00 (closed mon. / 15.08) +39 0924 524882
FONDAZIONE ORESTIADI
INFO POINT + BOOKSHOP
Baglio di Stefano, Contrada Salinella
tue.–fri. 9.00 / 18.00 sat. / sun. 9.00 / 19.00 (closed mon. / 15.08) +39 0924 67844
BELICE EPICENTRO DELLA MEMORIA VIVA
Viale Empedocle 7/A
tue.–sun. 9.30–13.00 / 15.30–19.00
(contact the number 3386116221)
Festival Orestiadi di Gibellina 2025 (44th edition)
Baglio Di Stefano / Cretto di Burri
Preview 28 June – Festival 4th July/ 2nd August
A special edition, listening to the past, looking to the future!
Artistic Director: Alfio Scuderi
The 44th edition of the Orestiadi Festival begins its journey towards 2026, the year in which Gibellina will be the first Capital of Italian contemporary art, through a tale in space and time in which art, theatre, narration and music come together, creating a dialogue with the unique places of Gibellina. Two special editions, with original and unpublished projects, confirm the Fondazione Orestiadi as the “Pole of Sicilian Contemporary Art”. It is a Festival spread over the territory that will make the spaces and works of Gibellina resonate from Baglio di Stefano to Burri’s Cretto, through the different languages of contemporaneity: the Classical thus becomes Contemporary among rewritings, narrations, civil theatre, music of our time and visual arts.
PERMANENT COLLECTION PHOTOGRAPHY
Orestiadi Foundation
The festival is made of ephemeral works; in order to keep its history in a physical location, this year we inaugurate the new “photography section” of the Permanent Collection of the Orestiadi Foundation, one of the most important collections in Southern Italy. Many of the artists who have created installations presented at festival in recent years have donated one of their works to leave a trace of their passage through the city, and we believe many will continue to do so in the future. The Photography Collection is curated by Arianna Catania.
Orestiadi Foundation was founded in 1992 to enhance the heritage of cultural activities expressed by the city of Gibellina starting from the rebirth, following the devastating earthquake of 1968. Founded and directed by Ludovico Corrao until 2011, the Foundation holds one of the most important contemporary art collections in Italy. The Foundation organizes the Gibellina Orestiadi Festival, an annual exhibition of contemporary theater, contemporary dance, music and visual arts, now in its 40th edition.
ARTISTS
Terje Abusdal
Andrea Alessandrini
Oskar Alvarado
Claudia Amatruda
Andrea & Magda
Nino Annaloro
Cristobal Ascencio Ramos
Emma Bedos
Nicola Bertasi
Marjolein Blom
Kristina Borinskaya
Andrea Botto
Enzo Brai
Olga Cafiero
Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni
Francesca Catastini
Luigi Cecconi
Gianni Cipriano
Federico Clavarino
Umberto Coa
Dario Coletti
Roberto Collovà
Noemi Comi
Vittorugo Contino
Marcello Coslovi
Mario Cresci
Morgane Denzler
Alvaro Deprit
Nicola Di Giorgio
Stefano Esposito
Federico Estol
Turiana Ferrara
Ezio Ferreri
Martha Friedel
Amy Friend
Alina Frieske
Charles Frôté & Julien Bono
Claudia Fuggetti
Nino Giaramidaro
Bruce Gilden
Alice Grassi
Kata Geibl
Andrea Jemolo
Clément Lambelet
Camille Lévêque & Lucie Khahoutian
Pietro Lo Casto
Olivier Lovey
Rachele Maistrello
Massimo Mastrorillo
Brian Mc Carty
Giaime Meloni
Emmanuel Muraille
Petra Noordkamp
Novella Oliana
Gloria Oyarzabal
Camillo Pasquarelli
Giovanni Pepi
Giulio Piscitelli
Nicolas Polli
Sarker Protick
Peter Puklus
Tommaso Rada
Mustafa Sabbagh
Bianca Salvo
Gian Marco Sanna
Sandro Scalia
Michele Sibiloni
Gabriele Stabile
Daniel Stier
Daniel Szalai
Maija Tammi
Hiro Tanaka
Danilo Torre
Maria Vittoria Trovato
Urfaut
Giorgio Varvaro
Angelo Vignali
Manon Wertenbroek
Martina Zanin
Alba Zari
Sophie Zénon
Tobias Zielony
INFORMATION
INFO POINT + BOOKSHOP
Fondazione Orestiadi
Baglio Di Stefano, Contrada Salinella
Tuesday/Friday 9.00/18.00 (closed on Monday)
Saturday/Sunday 9.00/19.00
(closed on 15 August)
+39 0924 67844
MAC- Museo Arte Contemporanea
Viale Segesta
10:00 – 13:30 (last admission h 12.30)
15:00 – 18:00 (last admission h 17.00)
(closed on Monday)
+39 0924 524882
CRESM + BELICE EPICENTRO DELLA MEMORIA VIVA
viale Empedocle 7/A
9.30/13.00 – 15.30/19.00
(closed on 14/15 August)
+39 338 611 6221
+39 335 144 9068
CARTOLERIA CARTOIDEA
9.30/13.00 – 16.30/20.00