Palermo Atlas

Palermo Atlas: Manifesta 12

OMA – Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli
Humboldt Books, May 2018



Paperback | 6-3/4 x 8-1/4 inches | 418 pages | English | ISBN: 978-8899385439 | €30.00

Publisher's Description:

Palermo Atlas is an interdisciplinary analysis of the city of Palermo commissioned by Manifesta 12 and undertaken by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture. The research explores the architecture, archaeology and anthropology of the city, its historical archives and personal stories. Contemporary Palermo is indeed a particularly fascinating object of study. On one hand, it is a mosaic of identities, cultures and ecosystems, the result of centuries of encounters and exchanges between civilisations. On the other, it is the stage of the great social and environmental challenges of our time, from the migration crisis to climate change. Drawing on this complexity, Palermo Atlas sets out to host a reflection on social and environmental renewal, outlining a research model capable of making a long-term impact on the city and its inhabitants. With introductions by the mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando and the director of Manifesta Hedwig Fijen, it brings together the views of local observers such as Letizia Battaglia, Franco Maresco and Giorgio Vasta, along with critical texts by Marina Otero, Nora Akawi and Giuseppe Barbera.

Manifesta is a European biennial of contemporary art based in Amsterdam. Manifesta takes place every two years in a different city: this year it will be hosted by Palermo. The curatorial project has been entrusted to a team of creative mediators, made up of the architect Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, a partner of the OMA studio, the Swiss-born Mirjam Varadinis, curator at the Kunsthaus in Zurich, the Spanish architect and artist Andrés Jaque, founder of the Office of Political Innovation, and the Dutch director and journalist Bregtje van der Haak. The theme of the twelfth edition of Manifesta is The Planetary Garden. Cultivating Coexistence.

dDAB Commentary:

One part of Léa-Catherine Szacka's Biennials/Triennials: Conversations on the Geography of Itinerant Display that stood out to me when I reviewed it last year was Manifesta 12, an art exhibition in Palermo, Italy, that included a book of research, Palermo Atlas, that was created before the opening of the exhibition. Manifesta is unique compared to other exhibitions in the way it moves to a different city in Europe every two years, and the 12th iteration was unique compared to other Manifestas in its hiring of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture to research the city and create the "atlas." This latter component must have been well received, as it set a precedent for at least one more exhibition, as Manifesta 13, scheduled to open next month in Marseille, France, will include a similar "pre-biennial urban study": Le Grand Puzzle, with research by MVRDV and The Why Factory.  (The opening of Manifesta 13 will be later in the year due to the coronavirus, but the date is to be confirmed.)

Szacka's book drove me to buy Palermo Atlas, which is attributed to OMA but is not a Koolhaas product, as some people might think when hearing those three letters. The publication was directed by partner Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, who actually bid adieu to OMA earlier this year "to pursue an independent career and to develop [his] own agenda." Nevertheless the book has the feel of an OMA document, with lots of often grainy photographs, data visualizations and maps, and an approach that draws attention to overlooked aspects of a place. In the case of Palermo, OMA hones in on the multi-ethnic demographics of the Sicilian city, a condition that arose from migration in recent decades, while also looking well beyond the city center that tourists tread but few venture beyond. (Manifesta 12 was spread around the city, but it was headquartered at Teatro Garibaldi in the historic center.)

Although I spent a semester studying architecture in Italy a few decades ago, I did not travel to Palermo, much less Sicily. If I had, I might appreciate more the research compiled and presented in the Palermo Atlas, not only because familiarity breeds interest, but because I would then have a stronger grasp on how much those recent changes have reshaped the city. Palermo Atlas was created for an event, one that lasted from June to November 2018, and I can easily see the value in digesting as much of the book as possible before trekking to Sicily to ingest the city and its temporary artworks on display. But with COVID-19 potentially making easy international travel a thing of the past, it's hard to consider the same pre-biennial preparation happening again: using Le Grand Puzzle, whenever it's done, to acclimate oneself to Marseille, for an exhibition that may not open this year — or at all. Perhaps the best way to absorb and enjoy Palermo Atlas and any such future publications is from home, as an armchair traveler in a world that is, at least for the time being, exclusively local.

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Author Bio:

Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli joined OMA in 2007 and is based in Rotterdam. A partner since 2014, Ippolito’s work at OMA/AMO has a focus on preservation, scenography, and curation.

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