The Palace of Culture, named after Antonello da Messina, was at the center of the second day of the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the exhibition on “Antonello and 1400s painting in Sicily” in 1953, an event which is finally remembered thanks to the plaque commemorative which was placed on the bust of Bonfiglio on the internal staircase of Palazzo Zanca on Monday, by thecultural association “Antonello da Messina”.
A day dedicated to high dissemination aimed especially at the new generations, as well highlighted in the introductory speeches by the art historian Giovanna Musolino, who curated the educational exhibition, at Gam, of reproductions of Antonelli’s works, and Milena Romeo, president of the “Antonello da Messina” cultural association and of “Cara beltà”, coordinator of the celebrations promoted by the Municipality. The municipal councilor for culture Enzo Carusopromoter of the “Messina city of Antonello” brand, announced the contest on the historical characters of Messina, and invited the many students (present from the “Antonello”, “Seguenza” and “Bisazza” institutes) to become “amplifiers” of Art antonelliana, a concept reiterated by both the mayor Federico Basile and the administrator Stello Vadalà.
This was followed by an engaging educational journey curated by art historian Katia Giannetto, who described the activity of “Antonellus Messaneus” and his “devotion” for the city, through a detailed analysis full of references and quotations, with some illuminating hypotheses, for example the presence of knots as a sign of the seafaring tradition of the Antoni family or the writing of the correspondence referring to a mercantile language. It followed the immersive itinerary, full of original animations, inside the painting of the great artist developed by Luciano Giannone, the Peloritan architect who created enveloping virtual reconstructions of pre-earthquake Messina.
In the afternoon, the protagonists will be “the tales of light in the experience of the exhibition space of Carlo Scarpa and Roberto Calandra’s installation at the Palazzo Comunale”, curated by the Venetian scholar Andrea Nalesso, who, after long research, has reconstructed some iconographic aspects of the Mostra del 1953, with the extraordinary photographs of the 24 rooms with the magnificent veils illuminated by the “light of the Strait”.
The architect Carmelo Celona he then exposed the characteristics of the future “Casa di Antonello”, an immersive cultural center and House-Museum which is already partly financed, to be set up in the former Ismig headquarters, close to PalAntonello. In the evening, inauguration of the philatelic exhibition on stamps dedicated to Antonello in the world by the Circolo Filatelico Peloritano, a truly unique collection of its kind that the journalist-philatelist Cesare Giorgianni has collected over the years, which shows the diffusion, since 1953, of the Antonellian works on the stamps of countries on every continent (Togo, Guinea Bissau, Jamaica, Yemen, including the 1968 Mexican Cultural Olympics). An extraordinary collection, visible until January 31st in the PalAntonello Foyer with a rich catalog published by Di Nicolò. The Italian Post Office has activated the special postmark dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the 1953 exhibition.