Migration and climate change will be on the agenda at the 12th Manifesta biennial when it launches in Palermo, Sicily, in 2018. The organisers of the roving exhibition say that these “two important issues that identify contemporary Europe” will be explored in the multi-cultural capital of the Mediterranean island, a bridging point between North Africa and Europe.
In a statement, the director Hedwig Fijen says: Manifesta 12 will raise questions such as “who owns the city of Palermo?” and “how to claim back the city?". In the past year, thousands of migrants fleeing North Africa have arrived on Sicily. "The city's migration problems are symbolic of the far wider crisis situation, which the whole of Europe is facing right now.”
The mayor of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, has criticised EU leaders for failing to respond to the migrant crisis. After more than 200 migrants drowned crossing the Mediterranean earlier this year, he told the UK newspaper The Independent that “in the future, the European Union will be held responsible for this genocide, exactly like we held Nazi fascism responsible for genocide 70 years ago.”
He is throwing his weight behind Manifesta, saying that it “will be a fantastic opportunity for the city to reinvigorate its local and international identity. It is a moment for Europe to appreciate the significance of [Palermo’s] Mediterranean dimension and identity.”
Manifesta 12 in Palermo will “act as a platform for social change”, the organisers say, supporting the city’s local communities through cultural projects. “A specialised team of creative mediators” working on the island will be appointed early next year. Manifesta, which was founded in 1993, launches its 11th edition next year in Zurich under the title What People Do For Money: Some Joint Ventures.
