Genuardi/Ruta Create Football for Palermo Juvenile Prison Art Project

The Spazio Acrobazie project, curated by Elisa Fulco and Antonio Leone, uses artistic mediation to rehabilitate and regenerate prison spaces in Palermo. Initiated in 2022 with artists Paolo Gonzato, Flavio Favelli, and Marzia Migliora, the project now includes the duo Genuardi/Ruta (Antonella Genuardi and Leonardo Ruta). They collaborated with young inmates of the Istituto Penale per minorenni di Palermo Malaspina to design a football, which was adopted and distributed by Palermo FC. The football is part of a larger intervention to renovate the institute's common areas, begun in 2022, which includes a geometric wall painting. Proceeds from the sale of the football and a collection of objects will fund a summer 2024 artistic intervention in the Malaspina garden. Until January 14, 2024, the Museo Riso di Palermo displays the football installation in the windows of Palazzo Belmonte Riso. The football is also sold at bookshops of Palazzo Branciforte, Palazzo Butera, Giardini del Massimo, and Museo Riso, as well as online via Palermo FC's store. The artists stated they listened to the inmates' needs and built community through creativity, starting with drawings on paper and then digitizing the design.