Tracks

Residence for artistic creation and exhibition of Jean-Baptiste Jannisset in Palermo

As part of Millennium 2027 – European Year of the Normans, the Les Dominicaines Art Center and Art Library of Pont-l’Évêque promotes the project “Traces – Resonances of the Norman imprint,” entrusted to contemporary artist Jean-Baptiste Jannisset.

The initiative will begin with an artistic residency in Sicily, which will constitute a fundamental phase of the research and production of the works. The project will then develop through a first exhibition in Normandy, in the summer of 2027, featuring a large show hosted both in the spaces of the Les Dominicaines Art Center of Pont-l’Évêque and in various public locations throughout the city.

A second exhibition stage will then be organized in Palermo, strengthening the cultural dialogue between the two territories. Through a contemporary language, the project proposes a reflection on the material and immaterial traces left by the Normans over more than a thousand years of history, linking memory, heritage, and artistic creation.

Through research based on the collection of imprints, faithful casting, and the transformation of elements belonging to historical heritage, the artist explores architectural, religious, funerary, and symbolic vestiges that testify to the Norman legacy. These fragments are reinterpreted and transformed into contemporary works capable of questioning the themes of memory, cultural transmission, and the identity of places.
The project takes on a strong European dimension thanks to the planned artistic residency in Palermo in the autumn of 2026, at a location yet to be finalized (probably the Sant’Elia Foundation), which will allow for the dialogue between the traces left by the Norman presence in Normandy and those preserved in Sicily, one of the most significant territories of the Norman expansion in the Mediterranean. From the comparison between these heritages, new works and new narratives will emerge that highlight the historical and cultural links that unite the two regions.

Alongside the exhibition, the project includes a wide-ranging cultural mediation program aimed at schools, associations, and audiences of all ages. Urban paths, digital tools, workshops in casting, sculpture, and metalworking will allow participants to actively and participatively engage with both the Norman heritage and the languages of contemporary art.
Through an innovative approach that combines heritage research, artistic experimentation, and international cooperation, “Traces” aims to offer a contemporary reinterpretation of the Norman legacy, creating an ideal bridge between past and present, between Normandy and Sicily, while contributing to strengthening the cultural and European dimension of Millennium 2027.

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