Gibellina is a small Sicilian town known for its contemporary architecture, which was built as a bandage after the devastating earthquake of 1968. The abandoned site of the old city was replaced by a Land Art masterpiece by Alberto Burri, the Grande Cretto, built between 1985 and 1989. It is a monumental work, for which the artist imagined a huge pour of white cement falling down the side of the mountain. Large trenches have been built, following the layout of the streets of the old city, allowing visitors to move around within this white labyrinth.
In 2007, this concrete labyrinth with Minotaurian proportions was the surreal setting for the intimate choreographies by Manuela Rastaldi, rendered in a beautiful setting wrapped in Thierry De Mey's images in "Sicilia: Life of Gibellina", whose aesthetic, so characteristic, leaves you speechless.
In 2018, 50 years after the earthquake, Stéphane Orlando composes a new music on an 18-minute version of Thierry De Mey's film for the Hopper Ensemble, to magnify the creative impulse of artists, ever stronger to overcome devastating disasters, whether natural or human in origin!
Stéphane Orlando – Gibellina
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