This year marks the beginning of a new and decisive chapter for Teatro Garibaldi in Palermo and for the city. With the City Council’s approval on December 19, 2025 of Fondazione Studio Rizoma’s proposal for the reopening of the theatre, a shared responsibility is set in motion: to care for a symbolic place layered with memory and return it to the city as a living, accessible, and collective space. Conceived not as a container to be simply reactivated but as an organism to be reconnected, Teatro Garibaldi is envisioned as an open cultural infrastructure, rooted in Palermo and the Mediterranean, where artistic co-creation, research and education intertwine with the life of the city, activating an exchange between local and international perspectives, contemporary languages and diverse communities.
Through Fondazione Studio Rizoma, we are launching two complementary open calls for the 2026 and 2027 programme of the theatre. These open calls are launched in parallel with an ongoing process of consultation and dialogue with local cultural actors, communities, institutions and partner organisations. Each call addresses a distinct yet interconnected dimension of Teatro Garibaldi’s mission and vision, inviting diverse practices, perspectives, and forms of engagement to contribute to the development of a shared cultural space.
The Teatro Garibaldi Open Calls represent a concrete step in activating the theatre’s mission: to function as a living space where artistic creation, global civic reflection and local participation intersect. Conceived as an open and evolving platform, Teatro Garibaldi aims to open dialogue between artists, communities and contemporary social questions, while remaining deeply rooted in its local context.
OPEN CALL 1: ARTISTIC PROGRAMMING
For artists, artistic collectives, institutions, and cultural operators based in Europe and the Mediterranean region. It supports works and productions that explore identities, migration, climate justice, democracy, and processes of social transformation.
OPEN CALL 2: DAILY PROGRAMMING
For local socio-cultural operators, educators, and groups based in Palermo. It supports everyday practices that make Teatro Garibaldi an open and inhabited space, in dialogue with the Kalsa district and local communities.
DEADLINE: 1 August 2026