The relation between luxury hospitality and art is one of the most controversial of our age : while some properties have turned the relation bewteen their spaces and contemporary/modern art into an asset, like The Conrad in NY and The Dolder Hotel in Zurich, there is a large portion of the art community that is horrified by the idea of seeing their work exhibited into a commercial space instead of a traditional art gallery.
Finding a personal balance to this relation has been The HotelSphere Hotel Collection’s most fascinating challenge in the past ten years, faced with two different projects : The HotelSphere for the Arts, its hospitality partnership campaign, and the temporary exhibition project called The HotelSphere Art Gallery.
The HotelSphere for the Arts stems from two historical cooperations : first and foremost, the tecnical sponsorhip of the Opera and Ballet Season of Fondazione Teatro Massimo, Palermo’s opera house, one of the most amazing sights in the city, which dates back to 2007. The second is the cycle of exhibitions Sicilia Under 40, hosted in the Modern Art Gallery of Palermo by Ars Mediterranea, where The HotelSphere contribution as a hospitality partner was essential.
Proud of its involvement with such important experiences in the city, the group has therefore decided to divert its marketing investments from traditional hospitality advertisment to the active support as a technical sponsor to some of the most stimulating art and culture events taking place in the city of Palermo.
These include Manifesta12, the European Contemporary Art Nomad Biennal, where the group was the official hospitality partner, the Guatemalan artist Regina José Galindo solo exhibition Estoy Viva and her site-specific performance Raices, organized by Ruber Contemporanea, the performance Candidate and the solo exhibition All my colors turn to clouds, by Lovett/Codagnone, organized by Francesco Pantaleone Arte Contemporanea and by the Palermo Pride Steering Committee, but also the series of contemporary art exhibitions in the Museo Civico di Castelbuono, hosting artists like Manfredi Beninati, Carlo and Fabio Ingrassia, Pino Pascali, Salvatore Arancio. The group was a sponsor for several editions of the Efebo d’Oro International Film Prize, the Porto d’Arte Music Festival and countless literary events hosted by the Modusvivendi independent bookstore involving Peter Cameron, Jumpa Lahiri, Jami Attemberg, Jenny Offill, Diego de Silva, Erri de Luca, Stefano Benni.
The hotels have also dedicated their common areas and some of the rooms to the The HotelSphere Art Gallery, with works by some of the most interesting artist of the Italian contemporary scene have been on display within the property, with the aim to create a more intimate and immediate relation with the artwork, out of the formal frame work of traditional galleries. Some artists are permanently featured within the property own collection, while others have been temporarily on display, alongside with their solo or collective exhibition in the city. The project has involved, among many others Daniela Balsamo, Manfredi Beninati, Davide Bramante, Desideria Burgio, Simona Cavaglieri, Luigi Citarrella, Fulvio di Piazza, Francesco Lauretta, Rori Palazzo, Laboratorio Saccardi, Francesco Simeti, William Marc Zanghi.
Hotels have also hosted site-specific exhibitions, like The Trace of Dreams by Brea Souders and Aura by Simona Cavaglieri, or the artistic action by Desideria Burgio Tell me what you think (About Palermo). Within this intervention, hotel guests during the three summer months were given a postcard as a gift – such postcards were realized using Burgio’s four different photographs, depicting a dream-like Palermo. Guests were asked to mail it from their hometown to the hotel or drop it in the suggestion box to tell the artist what they thought about the city they had visited.
