Cultural events in relation to heritage: House Of Narrative reviewed the impact of nomadic art biennale Manifesta in Palermo, Italy.
Manifesta, known as a nomadic art festival, first emerged in the wake of the Cold War, weaving a dynamic tapestry of contemporary art throughout Europe. It was founded in 1996, inspired by the transformative geopolitical shifts marked by the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of apartheid. Conceived as a platform to foster dialogue and explore a reimagined European identity, Manifesta chooses a different host city for each edition, allowing it to reflect and integrate the distinctive cultural and social nuances of each location. Although it may not possess the historical prestige of older biennales, Manifesta has carved out a niche for itself, celebrated for its originality and innovative approach. To date, the event has been hosted in fourteen different cities and continues to attract a significant audience, with around 100,000 visitors attending each edition.
Interesting is, Manifesta, like many major biennales and festivals, makes bold claims about its transformative impact on host cities. The impact of cultural events has already been highly studied in the recent years. Multiple fields have proved the economic and social contributions of festivals to places and time. Curators always plan to achieve a long-term impact on the city and its citizens. But did that really happen? In 2018, the focus shifted to Palermo, the beautiful Sicilian city emblematic of contemporary challenges like migration and climate change. ituated at the crossroads of Europe and Africa, Palermo's rich history provided a poignant setting for Manifesta 12. The festival, running from June to November, adopted the theme "The Planetary Garden: Cultivating Coexistence," aimed at exploring coexistence amidst expanding cultural and ecological boundaries, with a primary goal of cultivating a new cultural identity for Palermo.
To make real change, director Hedwig Fijen invited the Rotterdam-based Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) to undertake an urban study of Palermo, a first in the biennial’s history. This urban study, titled Palermo Atlas, brought together the views of local observers , along with critical texts by experts, to ask whether Palermo might serve as an urban prototype for a future world. There's a real concern that despite good intentions, Manifesta might have used Palermo mainly to boost its own image. The Palermo Atlas, produced during the event, pushed the festival's expert opinions and aesthetic choices onto the public. This move could be seen as turning the event into a kind of elite carnival, attracting mainly Western, educated attendees, where the unique aspects of the location are just pretty backdrops. These actions raise questions about the authenticity of Manifesta’s contributions and whether it truly enriches the cultural heritage it aims to celebrate. This mismatch between intent and impact prompted a deeper look into how such festivals truly fit into and benefit the practice of cultural heritage.
Through rigorous thesis research, House Of Narrative examined the relationship between Manifesta and its host locales, particularly how it influenced and interacted with Palermo’s cultural heritage. By selecting and emphasizing specific elements of Palermitan heritage, Manifesta aspired to be more than an art exhibition—it aimed to profoundly engage with the city's identity and envision its future. This investigation utilized a cultural heritage framework by Ashworth and Tunbridge, viewing history as a resource selectively utilized to shape cultural narratives. The study critically assessed the festival's curatorial practices and explored whether Manifesta's efforts could be considered a form of heritage practice, thereby enriching or complicating discussions on heritage.
In the House of Narrative research, you'll find the following insights. First, the study aims to understand how cultural events, particularly art biennales like Manifesta, fit within Heritage Studies. It explores how these events might be viewed not just as temporary spectacles but as ongoing contributors to our understanding of cultural heritage. Second, the thesis provides an in-depth look at how Manifesta selects and highlights Palermo's unique heritage. It dives into the choices made by the curators, questioning what they decide to showcase and why, giving a clearer picture of their influence on the city’s cultural identity. Third, it evaluates whether Manifesta’s efforts in Palermo can genuinely be considered a form of cultural heritage practice, asking if these activities enhance or merely exploit the local heritage. Lastly, the research aims to fuel further study and offer practical advice for those working in heritage. It suggests seeing heritage as a dynamic creation, a product of imagination and interpretation. This perspective could open new ways to appreciate and manage cultural legacies. The central question driving this investigation is: "In what ways have the curators of Manifesta 12 selected and targeted the cultural heritage of the city of Palermo?" This query seeks to uncover the deeper impacts of the biennale's interaction with the city.
Manifesta, in its ambition to weave contemporary issues with local heritage, paradoxically ended up reinforcing the image of Palermo as a ‘cultural other’. The event, lauded for incorporating unrenovated heritage sites, inadvertently presented the city as a picturesque tableau of decay, potentially alienating the very local communities it aimed to engage. This aestheticization of imperfection, while visually compelling, risked recolonizing and gentrifying the inner city, casting it as an exotic backdrop for art rather than a living, evolving urban landscape. Moreover, Manifesta’s attempt to blend timely global themes with the specific historical and traditional context of Palermo often felt naively oversimplified and superficial, creating a disconnect rather than a dialogue between the global and the local.
For instance, what tangible benefits do the abstract artworks showcased at Manifesta offer to the everyday lives of local residents? Could the substantial funding directed towards showcasing these artworks have been more effectively used to restore and preserve the historically significant yet deteriorating palazzos that serve as venues? Moreover, who exactly benefits from the educational aspects of such a festival? Are the themes and discussions presented at Manifesta's lectures and artworks resonating with or even accessible to the local population, or do they cater primarily to an international audience already familiar with such discourse? How does the festival navigate the fine line between enhancing cultural understanding and imposing an external cultural agenda on a city with its own vibrant traditions and challenges?
Despite Manifesta's lofty goals, the festival shied away from making bold, definitive statements, opting instead for a 'democratic' approach that, while inclusive, diluted the potential impact of its political discourse. The festival's insistence on presenting itself as a long-term, scientifically grounded intervention belied its inherent transient nature and artistic core. This approach led to a biennale that was overloaded with information and lacking in tangible connections to the place it occupied. The Palermo Atlas, meant to be a tool for reimagining the city, instead turned the event into an overwhelming, didactic experience that transported the imagination of visitors anywhere but Palermo. In prioritizing art over space, Manifesta failed to fully activate the local heritage it celebrated, leaving a legacy of missed opportunities and unfulfilled promises in its wake.
A commissioned article on how what many consider the oldest concert hall in the world connects with new audiences.
On the content production featuring regenerative architectural practices in Rotterdam, a collaboration between Sabine van der Vooren, the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam and House of Narrative.
House Of Narrative and Alastair Parvin reflecting on the 11th IABR edition closing.
