The Castelbuono Civic Museum presents HEAVEN+EARTH, a project by John Sanborn and Ionee Waterhouse, curated by Laura Barreca
24 May – 30 August 2026
Opening: Sunday 24 May 2026 at 12 noon
The project is supported by PAC2025 – Plan for Contemporary Art, promoted by the Directorate-General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, under the patronage of the University of Palermo and the University of Bologna, and in collaboration with the MEET Digital Center in Milan and the Ypsigrock Festival. The exhibition will be presented in the spaces of the Ventimiglia Castle, home to the Civic Museum, from 24 May 2026 to 30 August 2026.
Commissioned by the Civic Museum of Castelbuono for the historic setting of the medieval Ventimiglia Castle, Heaven+Earth creates a dialogue between cultural heritage, digital technologies and human heritage. The project involves two leading figures on the international video art and digital experimentation scene: John Sanborn, a pioneer of electronic arts, and Ionee Waterhouse, known for her use of video mapping and new forms of generative animation.
Laura Barreca, Director of the Civic Museum, added: “Thanks to the collaboration with artists Sanborn and Waterhouse, the Civic Museum of Castelbuono is establishing itself as a space for technological and cultural experimentation. A project that allows technology to be used not only as a medium, but as a generative language, capable of integrating digital images, sculpture and sound design into a complex installation where historical and artistic heritage, creativity and new forms of participation enter into dialogue.”
Heaven+Earth marks a new chapter in the Civic Museum’s research journey, which for years has been developing original productions linked to radical community and site-specific practices, and to the reinterpretation of historical and artistic heritage through contemporary languages.
The exhibition is supported by a prestigious scientific committee comprising Sebastiano Bavetta, Alessandra Buccheri, Valentino Catricalà, Antonio Chella, Sandra Lischi, Filippo Lubrano, Sebastiano Maffettone, Diego Mantoan, Silvia Moretti, Maria Grazia Mattei, Francesco Spampinato, Pier Francesco Palazzotto and Valentina Valentini. The committee’s interdisciplinary expertise ranges from modern and contemporary art-historical research to robotics, from philosophy to studies on the relationships between art, science and technology, establishing itself as an experimental platform for dialogue and cross-disciplinary exchange, which helps to shape the very nature of the project as a work open to multiple interpretations.
The project includes a public programme with presentations at the University of Palermo (22 May), the MEET Digital Center in Milan (26 May), and the University of Bologna (27 May). In Castelbuono, a series of community meetings curated by Maria Rosa Sossai is also planned. These meetings will offer an opportunity to explore the theoretical and creative issues at the heart of the project, from immersive practices to the use of artificial intelligence for heritage enhancement. Heaven+Earth will also engage in dialogue with the Ypsigrock Festival in Castelbuono, recognised as one of Europe’s most important events in contemporary music culture, during the Festival (6–9 August 2026).
The project is accompanied by a catalogue published by Silvana Editoriale, edited by Laura Barreca and Stephen Sarrazin, featuring critical essays by members of the scientific committee.