Palazzo Butera: rinascimento culturale nel cuore della Kalsa

Palazzo Butera: a cultural renaissance in the heart of Kalsa

We find ourselves in Kalsa, Palermo’s Arab quarter, a fascinating vortex of ancient history and unparalleled culture. Its name comes from “al khalisa,” meaning “the chosen one,” as it guarded the fortified citadel chosen by the emir as the seat of his court. Here stands majestically one of Palermo’s most sumptuous architectural gems, Palazzo Butera, amid streets brimming with charm, overlooking the Foro Italico and the blue embrace of the sea.

Butera: rising like a Phoenix

Splendor and decadence is the narrative that often surrounds the sumptuous palaces of Palermo, a legacy of ancient brilliance rendered dim by years of decline and architectural abuse, such as the infamous “Sacco di Palermo” of the 1950s and 1960s, which stripped the city of its precious Liberty-style buildings in the name of rampant real estate speculation. But Palazzo Butera managed to rise like a phoenix thanks to Massimo Valsecchi, a former history of industrial design professor, broker, and Genoese art collector, who acquired the building in 2015 and initiated an ambitious restoration project with the aim of restoring it to its former glory and transforming it into a hub of revitalization and regeneration.

Valsecchi and Palermo: Love at first sight

Although he had never set foot in Sicily before, Valsecchi’s first visit to Palermo was an epiphany. He was struck by this city, which from its Greek name Panormos means “all port”: a decadent yet kaleidoscopic city, a crossroads of cultures, and always open to hospitality. Thus, he chose Palazzo Butera as the location for the extensive and precious contemporary art collection he shares with his wife, Francesca Frua De Angeli, that includes archaeological pieces, rare 18th-century porcelain, and early 20th-century furniture.

Much more than a Museum

In addition, Palazzo Butera has been transformed into a multifunctional cultural space, an experimental laboratory that embraces ever-evolving culture, art, science, and knowledge. Valsecchi’s goal is to return the Palace to the people, integrating its ancient splendor with contemporary and avant-garde interventions, creating a living project, continuously evolving like the city that hosts it.

Exhibition spaces dedicated to contemporary art dominate the ground floor, along with an installation by Anne and Patrick Poirier specially designed for Palazzo Butera. Then there are the frescoed halls and the delightful terrace on the first floor, while the second-floor houses rooms open to the public and the tower that rises above the Gulf of Palermo. The guest quarters serve as a vibrant space where artists, scholars, enthusiasts, and art curators work on research projects for exhibitions and cultural activities.

Innovation guided by Art

For Valsecchi, art is the key element for generating innovation and reviving the spirit of the Sicilian people, where politics have failed. The complex restoration work of the Palace involved over a hundred local artisans, including architects, engineers, surveyors, restorers, and laborers, making a valuable contribution to the local economy.

At Palazzo Butera, the past and present meet without conflict, generating a fertile idea of the future. Palermo, always a catalyst for stories and cultures that blend, becomes the starting point for rethinking European identity. And the Kalsadistrict, which in the recent past was a symbol of urban decay, is reborn to new life, as art and knowledge flourish in unprecedented forms.

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