Manifesta 12, the 12th edition of the European nomadic biennial in Palermo from June 16 to November 4, 2018, has announced the first 10 participants in the program and 6 of the locations throughout the city. In total, the biennial will consist of more than 30 newly commissioned works, public installations, performances and urban interventions and will take place in more than 15 iconic venues in Palermo.
The participants who will take part in the Manifesta 12 program include Brazilian artist, Maria Theresa Alvez, with an installation at Palazzo Butera dedicated to the floral syncretism of Sicily. Pioneer of Nigerian contemporary art performance, Jelili Atiku, will present a processional on June 15 throughout the streets of Palermo. French contemporary landscape architect and philosopher Gilles Clément, who inspired the biennial’s curatorial concept with his book “The Planetary Garden,” will engage in a collaboration with the multidisciplinary design studio Coloco and create an urban garden in the Zen district of Palermo.
Additionally, the biennial program will include London-based collective Cooking Sections, with a project on agricultural irrigation systems held in various venues. Irish, real-time computer graphics artist, John Gerrard, will present his works between Palazzo Ajutamicristo and Palazzo Forcella De Seta. Swiss artist, Uriel Orlow, will display a video installation at Palazzo Butera focused on the value of memory and the evocative power of botany. Visual artist and artistic director of Riwaq Biennale, Khalil Rabah, who, inspired by the Palermo markets, will reproduce his own market of different artefacts at the Botanical Garden with assemblages and sculptures. Belgian architect collective, Rotor, will captivate visitors with an urban intervention in the area of Pizzo Sella, north of Palermo.
Marinella Senatore will present an urban procession on June 16, featuring a collective dance movement in the streets of the historic centre of Palermo. Giorgio Vasta, the writer and screenwriter from Palermo, has developed “City Scripts,” a digital app dedicated to the narration of the city.
The new locations announced are Zen (Zona Espansione Nord), Pizzo Sella Palazzo Forcella De Seta, Palazzo Ajutamicristo, Palazzo Costantino, and Casa del Mutilato. In addition, those already confirmed for Manifesta 12 include Teatro Garibaldi, Orto Botanico, Piazza Magione, Chiesa di SS. Euno e Giuliano and Palazzo Butera.