The 1968 Belice earthquake is a distant memory, but the works of art in Gibellina keep it alive the memory. And not only to the Sicilians, evidently, because the cultural initiatives of rebirth are countless. That vast territory in the province of Trapani has come back to life and wants to develop again by regenerating crops, peasant traditions and sustainability. Gibellina remains the symbol of a natural misfortune in a part of Italy poor and mortified by the political choices of those who mattered at the time. The second is presented on Thursday 13 October in the Museo del Grande Cretto (Church of Santa Caterina). volume "Charm of places between Art History Nature and Environment of the Province of Trapani". It is the edition dedicated to Ludovico Corrao, a name that the Sicilians have never forgotten. Senator of the left, lawyer by profession, mayor of Gibellina for 25 years, he is recognized by all as the creator and protagonist of the reconstruction of the Belice. But he was also an aesthete, an art lover, an advocate of the driving force of artistic work. Art is synonymous with beauty, the pleasure of living, he said during the difficult phases of reconstruction. For this reason he brought artists of the caliber of to Belice Pietro Consagra, Alberto Burri, Ludovico Quaronso many others. He made a philosophy of open-air, exposed, living art in all places of power. He held together development, creativity, environment, human relationships, before being murdered in 2011 by a Bengali immigrant.
A reconstruction without art does not create pleasure of living
Those who visit the city see installations such as the Mac Ludovico Corrao, the Orestiadi Foundation, the Museum of Mediterranean Weaves, the Cretto. Thursday 13 October the book will be presented alongside the grandiose work of Land Art, at the Museo del Grande Cretto, commissioned by the Mayor Salvatore Sutera. The event takes place in the church of Santa Caterina, the only one left unscathed by the earthquake and then restored respecting the original architecture. On occasion they will be dozens of photographs and historical documentation on display with the projects of the Cretto created by Alberto Burri . We recall once again the potential of this territory, places steeped in history which, if skilfully exploited, will be capable of enriching the artistic and cultural offer, say the organizers. Experiments of this type connected to the uncontaminated environment and the vitality of the Sicilians have already been seen in other parts of Sicily. It can be done here too. The goal of the second volume - after the first of 2019 - is to stimulus for the new generations and to tell through reading, the curiosity of history, to arouse interest, enhance and enrich the millenary story of these places. The people are proud of their past and of an area with infinite potential. Mayor Sutera is convinced of this, for whom after so many years of focusing on culture, through initiatives aimed at enhancing the contemporary art heritage present in Gibellina "now we must aim to make this heritage economical for the city”. The Municipality wants to shorten the distances of Belice from the rest of Italy, making the city a symbol of the destruction of a forgotten Sicily, an attraction for tourism. Earthquakes, unfortunately, are still repeated, but the Belice and Gibellina are the example of where a reconstruction without memory in respect of the environment and traditions does not create pleasure or will to live.
