What we do?
The Foundation has already initiated a series of international partnerships using the spaces of Palazzo Butera.
University of Oxford
Since 2018 we have been collaborating with Jeremy Johns, professor of Islamic Mediterranean Art and Archaeology, and Jonathan Prag, professor of ancient history, recipients of European Research Council funding for a project on ancient epigraphy in Sicily.
Professors and fellows in the program have the opportunity to use our residential and educational spaces to develop their research.
Istituto Svizzero
Under the title Palermo Calling, the Istituto Svizzero offers two three-month residencies in Palermo at Palazzo Butera (from September to December) addressed to artists (visual arts, design, architecture, literature, dance, theatre and music) who have proven experience in the arts or who have completed an education (Bachelor, Master or other) and researchers doctoral/postdoctoral students (social, human, natural and other sciences).
More information at: direzione@istitutosvizzero.it
Together with the Swiss Institute, we also organized:
- the summer school Stones of Palermo. Cultures of Marble at the Mediterranean Crossroads (University of Zurich, July 2022).
- The concert Le Recueil de Miracle (July 21, 2022), curated by Louis Schild
University of Rome,
La Sapienza (2019-2022)
For three years we organized a course with Valter Curzi, professor of modern art history at Sapienza University. The course was held for three years and focused on museums in Italy from the 1950s to the present.
Lectures from the course were published by Skira in the volumes:
- “Musei italiani del dopoguerra (1945-1977) – Ricognizioni storiche e prospettive future”
- “Museo e territorio (1972-2000) – Politiche culturali nella stagione delle riforme”
- “Musei e patrimonio culturale – Forme di narrazione della contemporaneità”.
Teatro Massimo
The Palazzo Butera Foundation and the Teatro Massimo Foundation from August 2022 signed a collaboration agreement to share cultural initiatives and artistic and organizational activities.
The collaboration includes the involvement of artists close to Palazzo Butera in designing the graphic concept of the Teatro Massimo’s upcoming seasons.
The agreement, signed by Superintendent Marco Betta and the president of Palazzo Butera, Silvia Le Marchant, sanctioned a path of collaboration that has seen the sharing of artistic, cultural and social inclusion projects, such as Elisabeth Scherffig’s exhibition, “Contrappunto”(May 14-November 5, 2023) that ideally linked the halls of the 18th-century palace overlooking the sea with the Theater, as well as a series of mutual concessions, such as a single reduced ticket to visit both cultural institutions.
The OPERART ticket gives access to a guided tour of the Teatro Massimo and the Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi art collection at Palazzo Butera.
The graphic image of the 2024 season has been entrusted to British artist David Tremlett. The series of thirty drawings chosen for the communication campaign was designed especially for Palermo; in fact, they are the preparatory drawings for the false ceilings of Palazzo Piraino, which will become the Study Center of the Palazzo Butera Foundation. They will be made by the English artist when the restoration work is completed in 2024.
Palermo Mediterranean Gateway
PMG is a nonprofit organization designed to incubate the best local regenerative projects and initiatives. These focus on social and economic regeneration through art, history and culture. The most prominent among them is Scuola Diffusa di Arti e Mestieri QuattroPuntoZero. (4.0)
Other residency program
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- Kultur Ensemble, a collaboration with the Institut Français and the Goethe-Institut in Palermo
- Institut Français, Nouveau Grand Tour
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- Atlas Literary Translators (atlas-citl.org)
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- Max Mara Prize for Women Artists
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- Customized residencies for international academics
Didatics
The didactic programs, differentiated by school groups, are partly thematically related to the collections and partly connected to the history of the palace and more generally to the history of the city.
The intent of all the educational activities is to impart knowledge to young students about the different types of arts, cultures and knowledge held within the palace, and at the same time to stimulate pupils to look at the city from a new point of view, to arrive at a greater understanding and awareness of Palermo’s role at the center of the Mediterranean.
PCTO
Since 2018, Palazzo Butera has been offering an interdisciplinary educational program focusing on the themes of contemporary art and design.
The purpose of the educational program is to complement the training on art history proposed by the school curriculum. An introductory project on contemporary art and the history of design, which aims to promote the knowledge and dissemination of other languages in order to communicate them to increasingly wide and differentiated audiences.
The encounter between different disciplines is at the heart of the program, the goal being to make art not the end but an innovative tool to offer opportunities for learning about subjects seemingly far removed from the art scene.
Disciplines such as psychology, history, sociology, and anthropology will be called upon to collaborate, in the reading of the works of art in the Valsecchi collection, in an open approach that aims to build new knowledge.
Customized paths can also be structured, based on the requests of the educational institution.
Visits and workshops for children
Appointments dedicated to younger visitors and their families, related to the discovery of the palace and its collections. Guided tours and educational workshops aimed at children from 7 to 10 years old.
During the meetings, young visitors have the opportunity to learn about some of the most representative artists in Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi’s collection through a guided tour tailored just for them, concluding the experience with a creative workshop dedicated to one of the artists in the exhibition.
Humanus
An educational project developed by Eng. Ferdinando Foresta. Humanus is a multidisciplinary program that develops synthetic problem solving skills using a wide range of stimuli, including intuition, knowledge, senses and learning.
Beginning with simple considerations related to current social, economic, and environmental issues, in a logic of open dialogue between the speakers and the young participants, the different disciplinary, literary, artistic, scientific, philosophical, and theological fields are addressed.
European Collectors as Patrons
Three-day masterclass on the topic of patronage seen as support and sponsorship of artistic and cultural activities, in partnership with MAMA – Master in Arts Management of SDA Bocconi School of Management.
Over the three days, Bertrand du Vignaud and Claudio Gulli presented various case histories of European collectors who, over the past three centuries, have served first and foremost as patrons, working to build important private collections while at the same time committing themselves to art and culture.
A contribution to understanding the economic sustainability aspects of projects such as these was provided by Andrea Rurale and Piergiacomo Mion.
The days were structured in such a way as to alternate theoretical moments that took place in Palazzo Butera with visits aimed at introducing people to more or less well-known places in the city of Palermo.
For information and reservations related to all educational activities write to info@palazzobutera.it