Jacopo Di Cera's 'Between' Brings Daily Life to Burri's Cretto in Gibellina

Italian artist Jacopo Di Cera has created 'Between', a video installation set within Alberto Burri's Grande Cretto in Gibellina, Sicily. The work was produced during an artistic residency and is presented as part of Gibellina Photoroad 2026. It features fourteen local residents engaged in ordinary activities—playing cards, hanging laundry, passing a ball—filmed from a zenithal perspective. These actions, presented as circular loops, contrast the monumental scale of Burri's concrete artwork, which entombs the ruins of the old city destroyed by the 1968 Belice earthquake. Di Cera's intention is to 're-inhabit' the space without superimposing on its history, drawing on his earlier experience documenting the aftermath of the Amatrice earthquake in 2016. The artist emphasizes the role of the community, noting that residents' participation transformed the project into a 'real presence'. The work aims to show that the Cretto is not separate from contemporary life but remains connected to those who live in Gibellina Nuova today. Di Cera describes the zenithal view as a means to flatten hierarchies and highlight the fragility of human presence against the enduring memory embedded in the landscape. 'Between' is conceived as a bridge between past, present, and future, where time becomes non-linear. The project underscores the cultural and human ties that bind the community to the artwork, which was created with the help of local residents starting in the 1980s.