Photography exhibition in Sicily, Gibellina Photoroad

Gibellina Photoroad – International Open Air Photography Festival is the first edition of an event that in Gibellina, Sicily explores the issues of disorder, using the reconstructed city as an exhibition backdrop.



In the words of the organisers of the Gibellina Photoroad – International Open Air Photography Festival in Sicily in Valle del Belìce that opened on 29 July and will run until 31 August 2016, “art and creativity mustn’t be constrained by the walls of a museum.”





So what better place could there be than the Sicilian town of Gibellina in the province of Trapani, which was completely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1968, thanks to an appeal by then mayor Ludovico Corrao, together with a group of intellectuals, and with the response of renowned artists such as Alberto Burri, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Pietro Consagra, Renato Guttuso, Mario Schifano, Joseph Beuys and Carla Accardi. New Gibellina was therefore built in 1970 and stands 15 km from the old town that was destroyed by the earthquake, recovering from the natural disaster through the positive energy of art, of culture and - with more than 50 architectural works and sculptures - becoming one of the largest open air contemporary open air museums in the world.





This year, for a month the Sicilian town is hosting Gibellina Photoroad – International Open Air Photography Festival by the theme “Disorder”. Here is a series of exhibitions and visual artworks that bring light into the contemporary visual chaos. 





So, using the urban fabric as an exhibition space generates an innovative and interactive formula that brings the general public both to the town, with its landmark locations, and to one of most beloved and least appreciated arts of the moment: photography. 
So, photography is the medium of the creation, and it can respond to disorder through ongoing, non-linear movement, reflecting our times and our post-web period.

Christiane Bürklein

Gibellina Photoroad – International Open Air Photography Festival 
from 29 July to 31 August 2016
http://www.gibellinaphotoroad.it/
Images: courtesy of Gibellina Photoroad, all rights reserved
Arianna Catania project creator and artistic director
Francesca Barbano project manager
Emilia Valenza artistic co-director
Francesca Corrao president of academic board Fondazione Orestiadi
Enzo Fiammetta director of research
Elena Andolfi production assistant
Vera Ferreri organisational coordinator OC
Giulia Scalia director of educational activities OC
Giulia D’Oro/ Teodora Malavenda press
Giuseppe Melia web designer