Una Boccata d'Arte

Una Boccata d'Arte arrives in Ficarra

Una Boccata d'Arte is one of the most extensive widespread contemporary art projects in Italy, conceived and promoted by the Fondazione Elpis of Marina Nissim. Every year, the initiative invites twenty Italian and international artists to create a site-specific work in as many villages across the country, one for each region. With the 2026 seventh edition, the project reaches the milestone of 140 interventions carried out in 140 Italian villages. For Sicily, the chosen stop is Ficarra, a small village in the Nebrodi mountains in the province of Messina.

The 2026 work: 'Qui il vento ricorda per noi'

In Ficarra, artist Irene Macalli (Sant'Agata de' Goti, 1999), curated by Giulia Monroy, presents the installation Qui il vento ricorda per noi (Here the wind remembers for us). The intervention stems from a participatory process with the community: residents paint words, signs, and images on 'memory tiles', displayed in Piazza delle Logge, where light and wind become narrative elements themselves. At the heart of the project is a sculptural work engraved with a phrase from the book Ficarra libro mio, created in collaboration with local stonemasons, highlighting the bond between contemporary art, artisanal tradition, and local identity.

A Nebrodi village turned into an open-air museum

Nestled in the Nebrodi hills, the municipality of Ficarra is a historic village in the province of Messina known for its old town, churches, and views of the Tyrrhenian Sea. During the summer, thanks to Una Boccata d'Arte, its squares and alleys transform into an open-air museum: the contemporary work engages with traditional architecture and the daily life of the community, in line with the project's mission to create new relationships between art, landscape, inhabitants, and cultural heritage.

When and how to visit

The work can be visited from June 20 to October 4, 2026, with an inauguration on the weekend of June 20 and 21 (opening Saturday, June 20 at 6:00 PM). As with all stops of the project, the visit is free and accessible to anyone passing through the village. Una Boccata d'Arte thus proposes, in Sicily as in the rest of Italy, a slow and widespread way of experiencing contemporary art, far from large exhibition centers and immersed in the local territories.