Project title
Description of initiative
The Urban Art District Badia Lost & Found of Lentini is a project of urban regeneration that has transformed the streets of the historical neighborhood Badia in an open art gallery and civic laboratory, with more than 40 artworks designed by local and international artists. It’s the first street art district in the province of Siracusa, in Sicily. Social innovation and urban regeneration through Contemporary Arts changed the social fabric of the territory and activated processes of cooperation and widespread hospitality. The artworks are not just “decorations” but are deeply connected to the territory and tell stories about Lentini and its surroundings, its myths, legends and its historical figures. They gave new value to the neighborhood and became one of the principal attractions of the city, as well as being welcomed by the citizens. Walks, activities, cultural exchanges helped regain a sense of belonging among the citizens. Moreover, public art interventions are positively impacting on the local housing market and on tourism, launching new opportunities for the economic fabric of the territory.
The organization aims to stimulate the local community to write the pages of its own future through a shared project. A dream, a vision, but also a concrete goal that they want to reach together. They firmly believe that being responsible for their territory means to return memory and dignity to it.
Badia Lost & Found is a project that uses art practices to regenerate the urban and social fabric. They intend art as a “new light” that makes people see what was in the shadow and project it to the contemporary environment: they not only study and archive the heritage, they update it, to reflect on the past cultural production engaging with today’s artists, by involving art galleries, foundations, archivists and scholars on different fields.
We have been working in contemporary art production by supporting new generations of artists, who are the necessary engine to the renewal of society. We curate artists residencies aimed at experimentation through the discovery and valorisation of cultural, artistic, historical, tangible and intangible heritage.
Themes: Culture and...
Keywords
Target group
Cultural field
Timeframe
Results, benefits, impact and lessons learnt
The organizers have realized more than 40 mural artworks, with the involvement of local, national and international artists. Moreover, they have organized many local activities and only over the last six months, they have done: 10 street art urban tours, 20 community walks, 5 thematical treasure hunts, 30 experiences and educational tours with students, all inspired by the 2030 agenda.
Thanks to their project of urban regeneration, in 2021 Lentini was selected among the six cities in Italy to participate in the project HollAndMe in collaboration with the Dutch Embassy and INWARD (National Observatory on Urban Creativity).
The story of the Urban Art District was also featured in prestigious Italian magazines and newspapers such as Il Sole 24 Ore, La Repubblica e Il Giornale dell’Arte e dell’Architettura.
They also took part as "Side Events" in the "New European Bauhaus Festival" launched in 2022 by the European Commission, organizing a 3-day local festival rich of events and workshops.
In addition to the aforementioned activities, the community of citizens is constantly involved in the decisional processes through periodical “neighbourhood meetings”, and in 2021 our cooperative was among the organizers of the celebrations for the 2750 years since the foundation of Leontinoi, the Ancient Greek colony, which saw a large participation of the citizens in both online (due to the pandemic) and in presence events, which consisted in talks, workshops, webinars (also on the role of public art) and the creation of a sculpture depicting the coin of Leontinoi put in the roundabout at the entrance of the city.