Gibellina: Shared Memory of the Lands of Sicily and Tunisia

Gibellina, Sicily, will host an exhibition titled "Terres de Sicile et de Tunisie, mémoire partagée" (Lands of Sicily and Tunisia, shared memory) from September 5 to 24. This event is part of a larger celebration as Gibellina has been named the "contemporary art capital" for the current year. The city itself has a unique history, having been destroyed by an earthquake in 1968 and subsequently rebuilt with the help of world-renowned architects and artists, transforming it into an open-air museum and a major tourist attraction.

The exhibition is a collaborative effort between two amateur photography associations: "Didon et Enée" from Tunisia, founded in 2024, and "I Colori della Vita" from Trapani, Italy. The Tunisian association was initiated by Elimo Rizzo, who grew up in Tunisia after spending his childhood there, despite being originally from Sicily. The two associations were officially twinned in 2025, leading to their first joint exhibition, "Mer de Sicile et de Tunisie, d’une côte à l’autre" (Sea of Sicily and Tunisia, from coast to coast), held in Tunis and Trapani respectively.

This initial exhibition invited the public on an "ideal journey between the two shores of the Mediterranean, to give visibility to often forgotten places and people." The success of this endeavor, according to organizers, contributed to re-establishing a flow of exchanges between Sicily and Tunisia through the work of dedicated photographers. Building on this momentum, the photographers planned a second event focusing on the inland regions of both territories, a shift from the coastal focus of the first exhibition. This new focus is reflected in the exhibition's theme, where "the photographers' attention moves from the coasts to the hinterland, to discover landscapes and communities that embody resilience and the strength of rural roots."