OMA unveils Palermo Atlas : an interdisciplinary urban study of Palermo commissioned by Manifesta 12 On the 1 st of July 2017, the Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, Director of Manifesta Hedwig Fijen and Manifesta 12 creative mediator OMA, led by architect and partner Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, presented the architecture firm s urban study of Palermo for Manifesta 12. The European Nomadic Biennial will open in the Sicilian capital on 15 th of June, 2018. Manifesta 12 experiments with a new creative mediation model Titled Palermo Atlas, the urban study is the foundational step of Manifesta 12, serving both as a blueprint for Palermo to plan its future and as a research framework to ensure that Manifesta 12 achieves a long-term impact for the city and its citizens. Palermo Atlas represents a novel creative mediation model proposed by Manifesta that focuses on transforming a nomadic art biennial into a sustainable platform for social change, rooted in holistic urban analysis and determined to leave a tangible legacy for every host city. It is the first time that Manifesta has invited an architecture firm as the creative mediator, with the goal to provide outside expertise and a new perspective to the host city and find new ways to unlock its potential in collaboration with citizens and local grassroots organizations. The content of the Manifesta 12 Palermo Atlas As articulated in the foreword to the Palermo Atlas by Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli of OMA, the work takes its starting point from the awareness that there is no fixed way to approach or define Palermo. The city cannot be reduced to a single statement or to a precise definition. It is rather a complex mosaic of fragments and identities emerging out of centuries of encounters and exchanges between civilizations. Its material archeology, cultural legacy, somatic traits and ecosystems are the tangible evidences of a longlasting syncretism. Today, the city can be
considered an archipelago of the global: not a globalized city per se, but rather an incubator of different global conditions. It acts as a node for an extended geography of networks and systems that reach far beyond the EU-Mediterranean Area from Sub-Saharan Africa to Scandinavia, from South East Asia to Gibraltar and America - explains Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli. Using OMA s unique methodology, Palermo Atlas attempts to investigate this complex, evolving character of the city from an interdisciplinary lens - covering architecture, archeology, anthropology, archival research, personal histories and media. Offering the city of Palermo a reflection of great value, Palermo Atlas shows the story of the city s past and recent history through the perspective of the future. Palermo Atlas captures the complexity of Palermo and its inhabitants, as well as historical and current connections between the city, the Mediterranean and Europe. The study shows the joint commitment of the City Hall and Manifesta to develop a biennial that is truly engaged with Palermo s cultural richness, its history, hospitality, spirit of peaceful co-existence and the city s vision for the future - Leoluca Orlando, the Mayor of Palermo. Manifesta 12 s Palermo Atlas will function as a sustainable instrument, further developing a longlasting legacy of the Manifesta 12 nomadic biennial over the next two years Hedwig Fijen, Director of Manifesta. The team of interdisciplinary, international creative mediators The outcomes of the Palermo Atlas will be translated into an accessible biennial program by four interdisciplinary creative mediators, including Italian architect and OMA partner, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli; Dutch filmmaker, Bregtje van der Haak; Spanish architect and scholar, Andrés Jaque; and Swiss contemporary art curator, Mirjam Varadinis. By fusing different disciplines and rooting itself in a holistic urban research, Manifesta hopes to extend its impact beyond just engaging audiences with contemporary art, but towards providing Palermo citizens with tools to imagine the future of their city. The presentation of the Palermo Atlas in Teatro Garibaldi, a key venue for Manifesta 12 The Palermo Atlas was presented in the newly re-opened Teatro Garibaldi in Palermo, assigned by the City of Palermo to Manifesta. Prior to the biennial, Teatro Garibaldi will be used
as a temporary Manifesta 12 office and cultural hub for Palermitani including an exhibition to discover the history of Manifesta, a pop-up café, an art library, film screenings, educational tours and workshops, and more. It will also be one of the key venues of the Manifesta 12 biennial in 2018. Annex 1: Selection of images from the Manifesta 12 Palermo Atlas Mediterranean system of flows, Palermo Atlas OMA
Map of communities, Palermo Atlas OMA Hindu Temple via de Spuches, Palermo Atlas Photo Delfino Sisto Legnani, courtesy OMA
Veduta di Palermo, Francesco Lojacono, 1875; Palermo Atlas, courtesy OMA
Orto Botanico, Palermo Atlas Photo Delfino Sisto Legnani, courtesy OMA Basile Archive, Palermo Atlas OMA Palazzo Delle Poste from La Cugina, Aldo Lado, 1974; Palermo Atlas, courtesy OMA + Davide Rapp
Strategy of intervention, Palermo Atlas OMA Manifesta 12 Palermo Dates 15.06.18 04.11.18 Press and professional previews on 13.06 14.06.18 Manifesta 12 Palermo Initiators: Manifesta The City of Palermo Manifesta 12 Palermo Creative Mediators: Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Italian architect and partner at OMA Bregtje van der Haak, Dutch filmmaker and journalist Andrés Jaque, Spanish architect, artist and scholar based in New York Mirjam Varadinis, Swiss contemporary art curator Manifesta Digital: www.manifesta.org #Manifesta12Palermo
Facebook: manifestabiennial Instagram: manifestabiennial About Manifesta: Manifesta, the European Nomadic Biennial, originated in the early 1990s in response to the political, economic and social change following the end of the Cold War and the subsequent steps towards European integration. Since it started, Manifesta has developed into a platform for dialogue between art and society in Europe, by inviting the cultural and artistic community to produce new creative experiences with, and not for, the context in which it takes place. Manifesta is a site-specific cultural project that rethinks the relations between culture and society through a continuous dialogue with the social sphere. Manifesta was founded and is still run by Dutch art historian, Hedwig Fijen, in Amsterdam. Each new edition is started up and fundraised individually, and managed by a permanent team of international specialists. Manifesta is working from its offices in Amsterdam and Palermo, with an upcoming office in Marseille. Led by Hedwig Fijen and Peter Paul Kainrath, the permanent team consists of Tatiana Tarragó, Paul Domela, Esther Regueira, Yana Klichuk, Asell Yusupova, Marieke van Hal and Mikaela Poltz, as well as Manifesta 12 general manager Roberto Albergoni and coordinator Francesca Verga. In its next decade, Manifesta will focus on evolving from an influential contemporary art biennial into an interdisciplinary European platform that investigates and catalyzes positive social change in Europe through contemporary culture. About OMA OMA is an international practice operating within the traditional boundaries of architecture and urbanism. AMO, a research and design studio, applies architectural thinking to domains beyond. OMA is led by nine partners - Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon, Reinier de Graaf, Shohei Shigematsu, Iyad Alsaka, David Gianotten, Chris van Duijn, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Jason Long - and maintains offices in Rotterdam, New York, Beijing, Hong Kong, Doha, Dubai and Perth. OMA-designed buildings currently under construction include Taipei Performing Arts Centre, Qatar National Library, Qatar Foundation Headquarters, and a new corporate headquarters for the Axel Springer media group in Berlin. Recent completions include the Faena District in Miami, the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, the Design Museum and Holland Green apartments in London, and a new building for the Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec.
Previous Manifesta Host Cities Manifesta 1, Rotterdam (Netherlands, 1996) Manifesta 2, Luxembourg (Luxembourg, 1998) Manifesta 3, Ljubljana (Slovenia, 2000) Manifesta 4, Frankfurt (Germany, 2002) Manifesta 5, Donostia-San Sebastián (Spain, 2004) Manifesta 6, Nicosia (Cyprus, 2006 cancelled) Manifesta 7, Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy, 2008) Manifesta 8, Murcia - Cartagena (Spain, 2010) Manifesta 9, Genk-Limburg (Belgium, 2012) Manifesta 10, St. Petersburg (Russia, 2014) Manifesta 11, Zurich (Switzerland, 2016) For further information about Manifesta, please contact Manifesta Head Office Herengracht 474, 1017CA Amsterdam Contact person: Asell Yusupova Phone: +31 20 672 14 35 m12press@manifesta.org Fondazione Manifesta 12 Palermo Via della Vetriera 26/28, 90133 Palermo Contact person: Francesca Verga Tel. +39 091 8437863. m12press@manifesta.org