PALERMO.- Manifesta 12, the European nomadic biennial, will present the work of 50 artists to the public at 20 different venues in Palermo from 16 June to 4 November 2018. A diffuse network of events including artistic installations, videos, performances, urban actions, and literary projects constitutes The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence developed by the Manifesta 12 Creative Mediators Bregtje van der Haak, Dutch journalist and filmmaker; Andrés Jaque, Spanish architect and researcher; Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, an architect born in Sicily, partner of the Rotterdam-based firm OMA; and Mirjam Varadinis, Swiss curator of visual arts.

Manifesta, founded in 1993 and still lead by art historian Hedwig Fijen, initiated Manifesta 12 together with the city of Palermo and within the framework of its programme as Italian Capital of Culture. Manifesta 12 presents 35 new works specially commissioned from artists, writers, architects, and film directors, all invited to carry out on-site explorations in recent months and to subsequently develop projects in close collaboration with local grassroots organisations, activists, and art producers.

The starting point of the curatorial project The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence is the cultural syncretism inherent in both the natural world and in the past and present of Palermo. Manifesta 12 takes on the botanical metaphor of the garden designer and philosopher Gilles Clément who sees the world we inhabit as a garden to be tended. Manifesta 12 also draws inspiration from the 1875 painting, View of Palermo by the Sicilian landscape artist Francesco Lojacono, where harmonious coexistence reigns among a number of plants, none of which are native to the island. The artistic projects are conceived as a critical response to the contemporary world’s most urgent problems with particular attention given to issues connected with international mobility and migratory flows.

The Planetary Garden consists of three sections. Garden of Flows explores the concept of toxicity, the life of plants, and the culture of gardening in relation to the resources of the planet and the global common good. Out of Control Room seeks to make the invisible networks of digital flows tangible. City on Stage encompasses the stratified nature of Palermo in an attempt to foster a critical understanding of various aspects of the city’s contemporary life.

The three sections will be explored in iconic locations through Palermo, some of which were never previously used as exhibition spaces:

Garden of Flows in Orto Botanico, Palazzo Butera, Volpe Astuta, Spasimo, and Giardino dei Giusti

Out of Control Room in Palazzo Ajutamicristo, Palazzo Forcella De Seta, Casa del Mutilato, and Palazzo Trinacria

City on Stage in Palazzo Costantino, Oratorio della Madonna dei Peccatori Pentiti, Oratorio di San Lorenzo, Teatro Garibaldi, the church of S. Euno e S. Giuliano, Fondazione “Casa Lavoro e Preghiera” di Padre Messina, Costa Sud, Zen, and Pizzo Sella