Sicily Photo Masterclass Fosters Artistic Community in Earthquake-Affected Region

The Sicily Photo Masterclass, founded by photographer Mimi Mollica, is an annual residential workshop held each late spring since 2018 at Casa Mollica in western Sicily's Belíce Valley. The program brings together photographers for a week of collaborative work, peer critique, and project development in a supportive environment. The masterclass was inspired by Mollica's earlier Photo Meet initiative in London and aims to provide sustained engagement among practitioners. A central component is 'The Valley' collective project, which responds conceptually to the devastating 1968 earthquake that struck the region on January 14, killing hundreds and displacing over 100,000 people. The project explores themes of fracture, gravity, and threshold through photographic work. The 2026 edition will feature guest tutors Simon Bainbridge, former editorial director of British Journal of Photography, and Vivienne Gamble, director of Stills Centre for Photography. The program includes an Alumni Scholarship Fund supporting photographers from underrepresented backgrounds.