The organizers of the 5th Biennale of Sculpture of Salgemma, which has just closed in Petralia Soprana, the most beautiful village in Italy, on the initiative of the SottoSale Associations (Petralia Soprana, Palermo) and Art and Memory of the Territory (Milan) in collaboration with the Italkali Society and the artistic direction of the art historian Alba Romano Pace.
The dense audience of sponsorships and institutional sponsorships, and the attention of the national and international press, have confirmed the growth of the project which, as an unmissable event for art and nature lovers from all over Italy, aims at an ever wider stage, well beyond the borders of Sicily and Europe.
Six artists – Badriah Hamelink (Netherlands), Dalya Luttwak (United States), Tancredi Mangano (Milan), Maziar Mokhtari (Iran), Setsuko (Japan) and Rossana Taormina (Palermo) for a week sculpted large boulders of rock salt in the courtyard the eighteenth-century Villa Sgadari, made available by the Madonie Park Authority, in a confrontation with oneself and with the rock salt, while exhibitions and installations were set up inside the historic residence. The Museum of Contemporary Art Sottosale, which houses the works of the previous editions within the Italkali Raffo Mine, hosted performances and musical concerts, including splendid harp and lyric performances and, again, the Notturni in Miniera, with shows continued until the evening.
“This year – said the artistic director Alba Romano Pace – the Biennale has taken on a new format, adding to the rock salt sculpture also the installations, to give a cut even more contemporary to the works that will enrich the collection of the Sculpture Museum of Salgemma inside the Italkali Mine ”.
Hundreds have booked a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art SottoSale, opened on an extraordinary basis thanks to the availability of the Italkali Company. Visits will continue every Saturday from 9am to 2pm by reservation (info Sottosale Association tel 366 38 78 751 www.sottosale.eu).
Inside the museum, taken care of away from work shifts with love and dedication by some of the same workers of the Italkali, even up to September it will be possible to admire a suggestive installation by Giacomo Rizzo, “I am another” that – quoting the phrase by Arthur Rimbaud – praises openness to difference and acceptance of diversity.
Among other initiatives, an evening dedicated to the observation of stars and two debates, one on Childhood rights with the experience of the Cerasella village that Father Calogero La Placa created for children with an above-average IQ, and for workers’ rights with a touching commemoration of the figure of Epifanio Li Puma.
Press colleagues who want to visit the museum on Saturday mornings (the only day of opening available for security reasons) want to request accreditation and guided tours by contacting the Press Office tel 347 81 35 783
www.sottosale.eu