Artists The benches of wonder
Team The benches of wonder
Telling Sicily through wonder, celebrating culture, beauty and authenticity. Birra Messina starts a series of artistic and social projects that concretely involve the territory, the talent of our artists and the passion of an entire team that has chosen precise “symbols”, imbued with a nostalgical romanticism, to tell a land of the “wonders”.
The benches of wonders: art, territory and urban regeneration
“The benches of wonders” is perhaps the most emblematic example of this philosophy. Ten artistic benches, installed along the walk to the sea of Messina, have transformed an urban space into an open -air museum celebrating symbols and traditions of the nine Sicilian provinces, while the tenth pays tribute to the Messina brewery, as an icon of entrepreneurial rebirth.
The initiative illustrated last Tuesday, created under the patronage of the Municipality of Messina and the collaboration of the Port Authority of the Strait, was presented by Ilaria Zaminga, head of the external communication of Birra Messina; Gaetano Giunta, president of the Messina Foundation; Florentine dominque, representing the “second generation” of the Messina cooperative company, Eleonora Orfanò, representative of Aigu (Italian Unesco Youth Association) and by Magda Masano, artistic director of the work, in the presence of the mayor of Messina Federico Basile and councilor Massimo Finocchiaro. “We wanted to pay homage authentically to the hometown of Birra Messina – commented Ilaria Zaminga – to concretely renew the link with Sicily through a project that celebrates the art, culture and identity of the island and which transforms common spaces into wonderful places of meeting and sharing”.
Sicilian artists: 9 looks on the island
Behind each bench there is the hand and soul of a Sicilian artist. All interpreters of wonder, have already collaborated since 2021 with Birra Messina on the occasion of the creation of the limited edition glasses. Among them, the Catania Magda Masano who directed the artistic project and paid homage to the ceramics of Caltagirone with an essential and spiritual style. Melinda Alaimo, Ragusana, who merged the Sicilian Baroque with the prickly pears, creating an explosion of shapes and colors. Esther Ferrigno, Di Santo Stefano di Camastra, who chose pine cones as a symbol of family memory and ceramic tradition. From Noto Antonio Fratantoni reinterpreted the baroque elegance of the balconies of his city. The Ennese Michelangelo Lacagnina paid homage to the mosaics of the villa of the farmhouse by merging ancient art and pop art. Alessandra Pennino, from Agrigento transformed the almonds into a flower into a message of introspection and lightness. The Nissian Valerio Pirrone has modernized the frieze of the Mussomeli Castle, while the Palermo Tommaso Provenzano brought the Sicilian carts to a new pictorial dimension. And finally, Salvo Fencing, Trapani, reinterpreted the traditional festive lights in a geometric and contemporary key. The tenth bench, dedicated to the Messina cooperative company brewery, celebrates the courage and determination of the “15 heroes” who founded the factory, thus creating a story of wonder. As Dominique Fiorentino, representative of the second generation of the brewery says: “Our parents have left us an eternal legacy, thanks to them we built a bridge to bring our beer throughout Italy”.
The creative team: an all Sicilian soul
The strength of this project also lies in the team that made it possible. From the artistic direction to the concrete realization, all the work has been curated by professionals, including many Sicilians, deeply linked to their land. The project is an act of love for Sicily, a declaration of identity and a demonstration of how art can become a flywheel of change. In addition to the artistic director Magda Masano and Eleonora Orphanò, the Messina Birra Team Messina Gaia Barcelona, Communication Specialist, and the Messina Giovanni Parisi, Messina Brewerry Advisor, and the Palermo Valentina Lombardo of Monte Ite, communication manager and local media press office, are also part of the Messina beer team.
Beyond the island: the wonder arrives in Milan
The journey of wonder, however, does not stop in front of the strait. During the Milan Design Week 2025, Birra Messina brings the magic of the island to the heart of the capital of design with two new installations: a mural in via Tortona, signed by Magda Masano, who since last Tuesday and for the whole month of April reinterprets the Sicilian tradition into a vibrant key, transforming an urban wall into an explosion of colors and symbols and the wondering of the wonder in Piazza Morbegno, an immersive experience Art, tradition and taste, during which it will be possible to discover the two new limited edition glasses signed by Giuliana Pappalardo and Elisa Nicastro, students of the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania of the specialist two -year graphics, illustration and comics and comics and digital technologies coordinated by Prof. Ludovica Privitera. The newsstand represents a further tribute to Sicilian identity and its inexhaustible ability to inspire. Benches, murals and newsstands are part of a larger story: that of a Sicily that does not stop surprising and that transforms a simple daily experience into a wonder, capable of uniting people and enhancing an entire community.