Manifesta inspires Milan collector to open museum in Palermo

The Milanese dealer and collector Massimo Valsecchi plans to open a house-museum in Palermo in time for the Manifesta biennial, which opens in the Sicilian capital in 2018. He is renovating the 18th-century Palazzo Butera to house his eclectic collection of ancient artefacts, decorative arts and contemporary art. Valsecchi, who had been in talks to donate part of the collection to the Museo delle Culture in Milan, is a member of the Manifesta 12 board. “As Europe risks disintegrating, we should look to Palermo, where culture was based for millennia on exchange and migration,” he says.