And it is immediately Baroque (and neo-Baroque). That is, the time has come again to redeem pathos, to rekindle the illusion, the scenography between movement and wonder, astonishment and theatricality. To pick up the thread of that melodrama, that ‘recitar cantando’ invented by the Camerata Fiorentina, a group of intellectuals in Florence in the 16th century, who began to play with aesthetic magniloquence to move, to ‘move together’ feelings through delight and wonder. But this year the Festival, Barocco e Neobarocco, now in its fourth edition, has decided to play it a bit earlier, and the three days of openings and conferences from September is moved to 31 May, 1 and 2 June (the installations in the Baroque palaces will be open until 28 June). The location, of course, is always the same: Ragusa Ibla, with its narrow alleys and steep stairways opening onto squares of theatrical beauty, where churches, convents and aristocratic residences bring to mind traditions, old splendours and atmospheres full of charm. Faithful guardians of past centuries are the masks and those grotesque characters designed to support balconies and enhance the majesty of architectural portals. Here, the historic Nicastro and Cosentini palaces, Unesco World Heritage Sites, together with the former San Vincenzo Ferreri Church and the Antico Convento, become the stage for reinterpreting the Baroque style through design, painting, sculpture, photography and fashion. The master of ceremonies is always the same, architect Roberto Semprini, who, with the precious support of Cristina Morozzi, every year gathers opinions and discussions on such an enthralling theme as Neo-Baroque. Students from the Fine Arts Academies of Brera, Catania and Timisoara (Romania) and the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, dip. Dadi Fashion Alive project, together with emerging artists from the Liceo Artistico of Ragusa, will exhibit their innovative projects. Local and non-local design companies will collaborate with Sicilian and international designers to create new objects with a neo-baroque theme.
International participations, the festival gets richer and richer.
For the first time on the Sicilian scene, architect Nigel Coates, London, Emeritus Lecturer at the Royal Academy, will make his debut with Baroccabilly: a unique series of a few pieces, including furniture and lamps, that mix the Baroque air with the rebellious one of rockabilly. And then, the festival presents: Dario Ghibaudo, a Milanese artist, who transforms heterogeneous materials into sculptures with sensual curves, evoking amazement with a decidedly neo-Baroque aesthetic, and architect Roberto Semprini, artistic director of the festival and of the Brera Design course, who in collaboration with Via Tov, proposes Baroque Mirror, a collection of mirrors that reinterpret in a contemporary way the style that has made the Val di Noto famous, with a play on wonder and excessive decoration. But the new entries do not end here: the Milanese architect Maurizio Favetta will be present in the great entrance hall on the main floor of the Palazzo, with The King & The Queen, a striking installation that uses three-dimensional decorative elements to amaze, involve and fascinate anyone who enters. Favetta’s installation will be enriched by Valeria Bonalume, former Italian Pole Dance champion, with a performance entitled Baroque Body Color Show by Caparol.
Not only design and art: Alessandro Enriquez, an exhibition and a pop-up store.
The Neobaroque spirit ‘goes up’ also on the catwalk and it does so with the style and class of the young stylist Alessandro Enriquez, who returns to his home region to show his latest collection full of colour, imagination and creativity in the evocative setting of the former church of San Vincenzo Ferreri near the entrance to the Iblei Gardens. A magical corner of green, which will also be the ideal stage for the Neobarocca dinner at the Antico Convento – the only accommodation facility within the famous Baroque park – where the designer, in the role of master of ceremonies, will organise a special moment for his guests together with the young managers of the facility. Also in the city, precisely at Via Roma 200, a pop-up store will be set up inside the historic Rainbow shop for the summer with the spring summer 2024 collection by Enriquez.
A path of light and sound: Sara Ricciardi’s installation and the theatrical performances of the Polifonica Cantus Novo.
In the halls of Palazzo Nicastro, one of the most beautiful Baroque palaces in Sicily and still partly under restoration, architect Angelo Sanzone will present an impressive lighting design installation entitled Analogic Light. In the hall, the public will be welcomed by a large central steaming sofa with the emblematic title, O Vulcano by Giovannetti Collezioni, a tribute to Etna by architect Roberto Semprini.Sara Ricciardi, after her success at the last edition of the Salone del Mobile, brings to the Castello di Donna Fugata her performance Under the Willow Tre, curated by 5VIE of Milan, which sends one into the sound branches of a weeping willow tree, made with ancient trimmings and activated by the movement of passers-by, to emphasise how in movement we are all part of a single landscape. There will be several theatrical and musical performances, including the Cantus Novo Polyphonic Choir, directed by Maestro Giovanni Giaquinta with a very eclectic repertoire ranging from Vivaldi to Pooh.
Discussion points to mark in your diary.
The conference calendar is packed with illustrious names, to name but a few, Gilda Bojardi director of INTERNI, Cristina Morozzi journalist and design critic, who will be speaking in Piazza Pola in Ibla, while at the Donnafugata Castle, Salvatore Silvano Nigro, literary critic, writer and essayist will present Il Principe Fulvo, an essay written in the style of a novel, on the life and works of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. Gianni Canova, film critic and Rector of IULM, will accompany him, also mentioning his book Palpebre (Eyelids), which is in its own way a Baroque journey into hell and the body.
