SITU FESTIVAL 2025: An itinerant artist residency in Sicily across historical buildings and sacred spaces
6th Edition – Ficarra (ME), Sicily
Residency: August 18–28
Festival: August 29–31
August 29–31, 2025
Opening: Friday, August 29, 5:00 PM – Palazzo Milio, Ficarra (ME)
SITU Festival reaches its sixth edition in 2025, taking place in the evocative village of Ficarra (ME) from August 18 to 31, in collaboration with La Stanza della Seta. Founded in 2020 from an idea by artist Nicola Tineo and promoted by the association A.p.s. Zona Blu, the festival is a territorial enhancement project that rethinks the places of art and the relationship between culture and landscape through site-specific practices and an interdisciplinary, participatory approach. The name “SITU,” which in Latin and Sicilian means “place,” reflects the very essence of the project: artworks and artistic interventions are created in relation to the context in which they develop. This edition takes shape thanks to the synergy with La Stanza della Seta, a cultural project based in Ficarra that promotes artist residencies and a continuous dialogue between contemporary art, memory, and territory. Located in the 17th-century Palazzo Milio, La Stanza della Seta has opened its spaces and its network of exhibition windows throughout the village, offering fertile ground for interaction between artists and the community.The aim of the festival is to activate dialogue between artists, territories, and inhabitants, fostering inclusive cultural practices and collective regeneration processes in Sicily’s inland villages. Each year, the festival is divided into two distinct phases: a first phase dedicated to the artist residency (August 18–28), during which artists selected through an open call live and work in the territory to create site-specific works in dialogue with the social, historical, and architectural context; and a second phase, the public festival (August 29–31), which presents the results of this work to the community through exhibitions, performances, talks, guided tours, workshops, and musical events.
The artists in residence this year are Alessia Talò, Camila Curiel, Margot Kalach, Rosa Frazzica & Gregorio Vignola, Rossana La Verde, Montesano Vittoria & Lorenzo Finotti, Silvia Muscolino, who will work directly in the exhibition spaces transformed into temporary studios for an immersive dialogue with the site. Alongside them, the festival will host special interventions by artists Diego Miguel Mirabella, Alfredo Pirri, Luca Vitone, and Massimo Bartolini. The exhibition path involves numerous symbolic sites of the village and is integrated into the Museo Diffuso di Ficarra and La Stanza della Seta, initiated by artist and current cultural delegate of Ficarra Mauro Cappotto. It includes venues such as Palazzo Milio, Convento dei Cento Archi, Fortezza Carceraria, Palazzo Ferraloro, Museo della Ceramica, Palazzo Busacca, Chiesa di San Marco, and several exhibition windows scattered throughout the historic center. The festival is organized with the support of the Municipality of Ficarra, Unione dei Comuni Terra dei Lancia, and the Region of Sicily, in collaboration with Fondazione Oelle, Fondazione Brodbeck, Fondazione Riv, Pulcherrima Res, and La Stanza della Seta.
In addition to exhibitions, SITU Festival offers a rich free program, including afternoon talks at Palazzo Milio with curator Mario Bronzino, partner foundations, the transnational collective Studio Rizoma, and guest artists. The evening program at the Convento dei Cento Archi includes sound performances and DJ sets featuring Sam Zanardo, Sara Firrarello, Vittorio Auteri, the collective TRDE, Mac Tire, Oleksandr Stoliarov, Sumbakkos, and Ice Granita. The closing night will feature a food performance by Aterraterra (Fabio Aranzulla and Luca Cinquemani). Every day from 6:00 PM, guided tours with curators and artists of the sixth edition will take place in the exhibition spaces. Before the public program, SITU Festival presents a special Fuori Festival event with a distinguished guest: artist Luca Vitone, who on Friday, August 23 at 8:30 PM at Palazzo Milio will present his new project Pro tempore, winner of the Italian Council 2025, followed by the screening of the film Romanistan (2019), a journey tracing the origins of the Roma people. This event anticipates the official festival days, opening a reflection on the themes of travel, identity, and memory in the heart of the Sicilian village. SITU Festival is also a formative experience: every year, in collaboration with the Accademia di Belle Arti di Catania, the project hosts interns who actively participate in production, living an immersive experience in close contact with artists, curators, and cultural operators. The festival thus acts as a platform for shared growth, capable of activating synergies with the territory and generating new cultural connections. The team of the sixth edition is composed of Nicola Tineo, Viola Lo Monaco, and Francesca De Chiara. Special thanks for the support to: Pistì, Lenzo Winery, Plastitalia, Quarter, and Dueerre Printing.
A project by A.P.S. Zona Blu in collaboration with La Stanza della Seta, with the patronage of the Municipality of Ficarra and the Region of Sicily.