Noto (Sicily) –  a jewel of late Rococo Baroque  style. Nicknamed “Stone Garden” and UNESCO Heritage Site.

Noto, a brilliant shining past of cultural orgies and educational promotion, today almost a desert of opportunities for youngsters and whoever has no friends’ of friends. Nevertheless, sometimes good things happen also in Noto, “THIS IS NOT ARTE” is one of these. Tonight, local public politicians  and policy makers will attend and present the 10th edition of this annual date with the arts in the region. Vincenzo Medica, artistic director of the event, has shown a perseverance and willingness to show local talents that has brought him to blow the first 10 little candles on the metaphorical cake of this appointment. There is still room for improvement and new ideas, but the background philosophy underpinning  the event is remarkable.

If you are passing by this small south-eastern city in the most remote corner of Sicily, stop by and check this event out. The city offers one of the finest example of architecture of late 19th century and local patisseries are definitely exceeding expectations.

Should you not be sure, you can read the press release – I have the feeling is charming enough to attract the attention of Artemporary’s passers-by.

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Press Release – This is NOT ARTE (50 Artists for Noto)

Only10 years ago Noto was a very different place but with its eyes still half open it chose different turn of events, just like after a period of hibernation, it had already lost its old skin and discovering its new skin, tender and sweet like honey, it opened up its eyes and arms to a new future.
It is within this context that the city’s contemporary art group’s need emerged, but they still had no meaningful opportunity to present themselves to the public, to find a showcase that would witness each individual journey.
This was the fertile ground for the NotArte Project: an Arts Festival in the broadest sense, without too many goalposts that would condition each artist’s expressive ability in the various disciplines i.e., painting, sculpture, theater, music, dance and poetry. Always on the lookout for new emerging artists and medium, often bringing together different styles.
Today Vincenzo Medica still manages the Arts Festival. In 2003, together with the artist Mario Zuppardo, he attempted something new; to create a regular event marked by a unifying theme, an exclusive summer event that offered Noto an added value, that could involve an increasing number of participants, between artists and regular customers.
After several proposals, the idea was to fill Nicolaci Road with art, this road which has become the emblem of the city’s charm in midsummer, now also recognized, thanks to the Flower Festival, as the Artist’s Road. It was approved right from the beginning with the participation of more than 30 artists in the first edition of the Festival, with no certainty that it would ever happen again.
Once again NotArte today presents its own mixture of bodies, shades, paintings, sculpted heads, sounds, landscapes and dances in the soft light of the sunset, that move, reducing the powerful contrast between the golden stone and the gray paving of the road, giving ever more life to the rich and colorful evening spectacle, looked forward to by the artists who meet and compare their work, by the people of Noto and by the tourists as an exhibition to take part in or they can attend some of the unique fringe events that NotArte Festival also has on offer, or just sit on soft cushions on a warm August night and soak in the beauty.
NotArte, now in its first decade, with many of the founding artists still present and often with the support of critics and outside curators, retains its goal of being an open space to be lived, of being a simple setting, which is perceived not only as an excellent exhibition area but as a laboratory of ideas and projects, a cheerful and free opportunity to present one’s own Art or Not-Art: free from clique rules, styles, fashions and trends, a free expression of the passions that keep the evocative South-Eastern Sicilian warm and alive.
Rosario Balistreri

50 ARTISTI PER NOTO:

Caterina AIDALA / Gianni ANDOLINA / Angela ARGENTINO / Giuseppe BELFIORE / Ersilio BELLASSAI
Anna BIALECKA / Gaetano BUFALINO / Turi CALAFATO / Massimo CARNEMOLLA / Maria CARUSO
Francesco CASSIBBA / Salvatore CASTELLINO / Carmela CIRINNA‘ / Anna CORSINI / Chiara DI ROSA
Fabrizio FOTI / Pietro GIANNONE / Corrado GIUSPINO / Paolo GOLINO / Alberto GRANDE
Cettina LAURETTA / Fabio LISTO / Salvatore LUPO / Vincenzo MANTELLO
Roberto MINARDA / Concetto MONACO / Fabio MONTALTO / Stefano MUSSO / Gianni MUTTON
Maria NANZARELLI / Alessandro NIGRO / Orazio ONORIFICO / Doriana PAGANI / Cristina PANE / Enrico PARADISO
Julia PERSTINA / Lucio PINTALDI / Benedetto POMA / Francesca PRIVITERA / Joseè RABITO
Mimma RAGONESE / Maria SARAFIANOU / Marinella SCIVOLETTO / Cettina TROVATO / Anna TURCO
Lina e Santi VALENTI / Paolo VENDETTI / Rosalba ZAMMITTI / Vincenzo ZARBO / Vincenzo ZIRINO

MOSTRE COLLATERALI

TUFFATORI – pitture di SERGIO FIORENTINO – Studio Barnum – fino al 30 sett

SICILIA IMMAGINI – Antologica di pittura di MARIO ZUPPARDO – ex Convitto Ragusa fino al 3 sett

IL BIANCO E NERO NEI RITRATTI DI PAOLO NITTO – Bassi Palazzo Ducezio fino all’8 sett

L’ARTE DEL TEMPO DI MEZZO-contemporaneo e antiquariato-Palazzo Nicolaci-a cura di DANIELA DEL MORO e CLAUDIO FAYER

LOCUS AMOENUS fotografie di VINCENZO MEDICA – Baglietto della Riserva – Vendicari

EVENTI NELLA VIA

PUNTO DEL SONNO-performance di MARIO RAPISARDI da un’opera di S. Castellino e A. Artuad
UNA STRADA PER IL TEATRO – Compagnia VuotoPerPieno
DUO ANGELA NOBILE voce e SALVO ADORNO piano
DEBORA MARZIANO special cover
POESIAinJAZZ a cura di GIOVANNI PARENTIGNOTI

CREDITI

Direzione artistica: Vincenzo Medica*
vimedica@studiobarnum.it

Coordinamento: Rosario Balistreri
Scenotecnici: Gianni Andolina, Domenico Medica, Lucio Pintaldi
Segreteria: Mariella Argentino
Logistica: Andrea Basile, Corrado Bufalino
Mood: Erika Serravalle
Traduzioni: Susan Duncan
Ufficio Stampa: Cetty Amenta