original title:
L’incontro - Viaggio di una collezione a Palermo
directed by:
editing:
music:
producer:
production:
country:
Italy
year:
2020
film run:
67'
format:
colour
status:
Ready (16/11/2020)
Massimo and Francesca Valsecchi are two internationally renowned collectors of contemporary art, owners of one of the most extraordinary and significant collections in the world, which consists of more than 800 works collected for over fifty years in total confidentiality.
Enlightened patrons of great artists such as Gerhard Richter and Gilbert & George, after living in Milan, London and New York, Massimo and Francesca wanted to find a place to show the interconnections between art objects, between past and future, and they identified in Palermo the perfect combination of these elements: a city symbol of integration between cultures, the concept behind their prestigious collection. They therefore decided to reunite it within the historic Palazzo Butera.
Monumental complex of the eighteenth century, located on the waterfront within the historic district of Kalsa, Palazzo Butera is the "gateway" to Palermo, from which it dominates the entire gulf, a border barrier between Europe and Africa. A structure of nine thousand square meters, one hundred and thirty meters long, enriched, architectural rarity, by two noble floors.
Transformed several times over the centuries, the palace has experienced splendor and decadence. Massimo and Francesca bought it not only as a permanent home for their collection, but also as their new home, animated by a deep desire to restore the palace to its former glory through an impressive restoration work, preserving the traces of the past but with a great opening towards a new future, so that the Sicilian capital, through art and beauty, can return again to the center of Europe.
While more and more walls and barriers are born in the world, Massimo and Francesca decide instead to open their doors wide. They consider Palermo a city that can teach tolerance and hospitality to the rest of Europe. From the sea, through a passage, you enter the building which becomes the main corridor to access the city, old and new, available to everyone.
The Meeting – A Collection’s Journey to Palermo leads the viewer along this adventure, not only through the restoration of an amazing place but as a privileged witness to the birth of an extraordinary cultural project.