The Archipelago Fixing program, initiated in 2017 by Philippe Terrier-Hermann, artist and professor

at ISBA in Besançon and ENSAV La Cambre in Brussels, explores the islands of the Mediterranean as spaces of research and creation. It is based on this archipelago - spaces of freedom and cultural hybridity - to question the notions of territory, migration, identity, and borders.

Sicily, Elba, Brioni, Frioul, Hydra, and the Princes' Islands have been experienced as fluid spaces of pilgrimage, memory, and temporary anchorage. Through films, photographs, and installations, the artists have developed an approach that intertwines archives, local stories, and contemporary practices, proposing an ethical and aesthetic reflection on the urgencies of the present, valuing nomadic thought and otherness.

In the summer of 2024, a part of the Franco-Belgian research group was hosted in residence at the Sant'Elia Foundation, the cultural operational arm of the Metropolitan City of Palermo. In return, four artists residing in Sicily were invited to present works that also explore the theme of Mediterranean insularity. The result of all these works is exhibited in the 500 m2 of the second floor of Palazzo Sant'Elia.

The exhibition is part of the contemporary art initiatives in Sicily.