Manifesta 12 Palermo biennial concept unveiled: The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence. Rome, 27 November 2017 | Under embargo until 27 November 2017 Manifesta 12 Creative Mediators Bregtje van der Haak, Andrés Jaque, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli and Mirjam Varadinis have unveiled the concept for the upcoming Manifesta 12 biennial in Palermo, opening on 16 June 2018 until 4 November 2018. The concept was announced during a press conference in Rome on 27 November, with introductions by the Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Dario Franceschini, the Director and Founder of Manifesta Hedwig Fijen, the Mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, and Palermo’s Councilor of Culture Andrea Cusumano. Manifesta 12, taking place in Palermo in 2018, is the latest installment of the world’s only nomadic biennial of contemporary art and culture. Throughout its 11 editions, Manifesta has always been politically and socially engaged, beyond producing an experimental and emerging art experience. From Ljubljana in 2000, Trentino and South Tyrol in 2008 and Saint-Petersburg in 2014 to Manifesta 12 Palermo in 2018 and Manifesta 13 Marseille in 2020, Manifesta has consistently chosen unexpected host locations that reflect the changing DNA of Europe and shed new light on its key issues and transformations. Palermo is an excellent host city in this context, allowing Manifesta 12 to continue its story of decoding Europe. On the one hand, Manifesta 12 will investigate contemporary challenges from Palermo’s perspective as the Mediterranean hub. On the other, it will attempt to mobilise the existing energy of the city through intensive education programmes, Manifesta’s international network and long-term projects that will kick-off during the biennial but, hopefully, create a sustainable impact after Manifesta. 1 “Today biennials should be more than the sum of a series of exhibitions. The added value of Manifesta 12 is the fact that the biennial programme takes place in 2018 in the Sicilian city of Palermo, where important geopolitical, social and ecological realities of our times are arising. For Manifesta 12, Palermo constitutes the deep complexities that people worldwide are facing. We hope that Manifesta 12 creates new perspectives in terms of staging the immaterial and material legacy for the future of the city.” Director and Founder of Manifesta, Hedwig Fijen “Palermo is currently taking on the role of a cultural model, where culture does not only connect people with each other, but also to other communities. In Palermo’s history, coexistence has always been an everyday practice, more than just an idea or an intention. This is the reason why Manifesta 12 will be an integral and fundamental part of the programme of Palermo Capitale della Cultura Italiana, because Palermo, as we say, is the capital of "cultures": cultures that have found in our city the place for their own coexistence, dialogue and mutual enrichment. Mayor of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando “As a widespread and participatory event, Manifesta 12 will provide a great opportunity to deeply engage with the social realm of Palermo, its different neighbourhoods and all its citizens. It will undeniably contribute to making Palermo not only a capital of Italian culture, but also a capital of European culture at large.” Councilor of Culture of the City of Palermo, Andrea Cusumano "Palermo is in itself a capital at the heart of the Mediterranean. It has managed to gain new importance, because of its growth in the fields of culture and tourism. I am sure that such an excellent cultural event as Manifesta 12, along with the many activities, which are part of the programme of Palermo Capitale della Cultura Italiana 2018, will make Palermo and Sicily even more vibrant and attractive to the entire world. " Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Dario Franceschini 2 Manifesta 12 Palermo Concept For a full overview of the concept and its components, please see the curatorial text by Manifesta 12 Creative Mediators in the annex 1 (page 17). Veduta di Palermo, Francesco Lojacono, 1875, Palermo Atlas, courtesy OMA Titled “The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence”, the concept explores coexistence in a world moved by invisible networks, transnational private interests, algorithmic intelligence and ever-increasing inequalities through the unique lens of Palermo – a crossroads of three continents in the heart of the Mediterranean. Closely collaborating with Palermitan partners, Manifesta 12 will co-inhabit Palermo as a laboratory to investigate the challenges of our time and look for traces of possible futures. Throughout history, the City of Palermo has been a laboratory for diversity and cross- pollination, shaped by continuous migration. In the 1875 painting by Francesco Lojacono, View of Palermo (in the collection of the GAM Museum in Palermo), nothing was indigenous. Olive trees came from Asia, aspen from the Middle East and eucalyptus from Australia. Citrus trees – the symbol of Sicily - were introduced under Arab sovereignty. 3 The botanical garden of Palermo, Orto Botanico, was founded in 1789 as a laboratory to nurture, test, mix and gather diverse species. Inspired by Palermo’s Orto Botanico, Manifesta 12 will look at the idea of the “garden”, exploring its capacity to aggregate difference and to compose life out of movement and migration. Gardens are places where diverse forms of life mix and adapt to co-exist. They allow for cross-pollination based on encounter. In 1997, French Botanist Gilles Clément described the world as a “planetary garden” with humanity in charge of being its gardener. Twenty years later, Manifesta 12 will revisit the metaphor of the “garden”, not as a space for humans to take control, but rather as a site where “gardeners” recognise their dependency on other species, and respond to climate, time, or an array of social factors, in a shared responsibility. “The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence” will host 4 main sections, each touching on key topics of the concept: Garden of Flows, Out of Control Room, City on Stage and Teatro Garibaldi as the main center of Manifesta 12 (currently hosting a pre-biennial programme “Aspettando Manifesta 12” – Waiting for Maniefsta 12). Palermo Atlas by OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) The Manifesta 12 concept was extracted from the city itself through a preliminary phase of investigation by OMA, Palermo Atlas. It was the first time that Manifesta had kicked- off the biennial with a research by an architecture office. The goal was to have a deeper understanding of social, cultural and geographical textures of the city; highlight its existing opportunities; and provide a source for audiences to understand contemporary transformations through “the eyes” of Palermo. “Palermo Atlas is a study of the past and present city, a collection of patterns, perceptions, stories and testimonies gathered on the ground and supported by data. On the one hand, the Atlas uses the city of Palermo as a point of departure to tell the story of the Mediterranean and Europe at large; on the other it is a reflection on characteristics that are specific to Palermo. Together with artists and other practitioners, we walked the city with dozens of individual ‘Palermitani’ who toured us through samples and sections of their city, visiting over 100 sites ranging in character, history, cultural, civic and social relevance. The collection of journeys, stories and encounters has allowed us to approach the many milieus existing within Palermo and to start ascertaining its complexity. Out of this engagement, Manifesta 12 is partnering with Palermo to mobilise those who live there and to leave a lasting legacy.” Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli on Palermo Atlas, Manifesta 12 Creative Mediator and Partner at OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) 4 Palermo Atlas will be published in print and e-book formats in 2018. In addition, it will be represented in the main Manifesta 12 biennial programme. Currently, the Atlas can be viewed at Manifesta 12 headquarter in Palermo, Teatro Garibaldi. Parcours Along with the biennial programme itself, Manifesta 12 parcours will invite local and international audiences to discover the material and immaterial heritage of Palermo. Visitors will have a choice of enjoying an accessible and walkable parcours or venturing further into the city to explore some of the long-term projects designed to create a tangible legacy for Palermitans. “Manifesta 12’s thematic and geographic organisation are intertwined, triggering a journey through the city like a section through its anatomy: from the abandoned and derelict heritage of the historical centre, to the failed utopia of the periphery; from the glorious history of its gardens to its neglected and toxic coast.” Manifesta 12 Creative Mediators Further parcours details will be released in the coming months as the programme evolves. Interdisciplinary approach One of the key characteristics of “The Planetary Garden” concept and Manifesta 12 at large is an interdisciplinary approach. Manifesta 12 is the first edition to include not only traditional art curators, but an interdisciplinary group of specialists in the curatorial team. Bregtje van der Haak is a renowned Dutch journalist and filmmaker; Andrés Jaque is a Spanish architect, founder of the Office for Political Innovation and professor at Columbia University; Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli is a Sicilian-born architect and partner at OMA/AMO, and Mirjam Varadinis is a Swiss contemporary art curator at Kunsthaus Zurich. This curatorial model was necessary to understand how to decode Palermo in all its complexities and amplify the already existing energy of the city in experimental ways. Each of the Manifesta 12 Creative Mediators have used their respective expertise and background to contribute to the biennial programme. This will be evident through the diversity of projects in Manifesta 12 that will extend beyond contemporary art into 5 architecture, public space, science, geography, agronomy, literature, food, cinema, anthropology, social design, storytelling and more. Further details on the Manifesta 12 participants and projects will be unveiled as the biennial approaches its opening.