Art and participation urban cultural regeneration

Local transformation policies increasingly refer to culture and art in cities. This approach, which concerns the imagination, memory, traditions of people and territories, is an important framework for local sustainable development and social inclusion. Cultural and public art initiatives are often aimed at achieving regenerative objectives with not only economic spillover but also community wellbeing enhancement. The proliferations of art biennials, and their installation works, are site-specific with a social, participatory and experiential function. Biennials were born in contexts in which profound cultural-political changes occurred as Manifesta, European Biennial of Contemporary Art, linked to the fall of the Berlin Wall. The 12th edition of Manifesta, held in Palermo in 2018, aims to create an ideal laboratory for re-imagine, from a Mediterranean vision, shared liberal values.