NEWS | UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 1ST OF JULY

OMA unveils “Palermo Atlas”: an interdisciplinary urban study of Palermo commissioned by Manifesta 12 On the 1st 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 15th 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

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