Lipari Festival Calls for Art as Ethical and Political Resistance

The festival 'Il viaggiatore incantato' (The Enchanted Traveler) took place on the island of Lipari and in Palermo from September 22 to 28, 2023. Curated by artist Emanuele Lo Cascio, art critic Paola Nicita, and writer Evelina Santangelo, the event featured artists and authors from conflict-ridden regions including Africa, Iran, and the former Yugoslavia. The festival's title, inspired by Nikolai Leskov's story, framed art and narrative as tools for liberation and resistance against injustice, violence, and historical revisionism. Key participants included Ascanio Celestini with 'Radio clandestina', Shirin Neshat with 'Women Without Men', Sislej Xhafa with 'Whisper and Resistance', and the exhibition 'Poster From Teheran' curated by Maryam Ashrafi, focusing on Iranian women's rights under the slogan 'Women, Life, Freedom'. The festival transformed the concept of enchantment into disenchantment, confronting contemporary oppression. Lipari served as a refuge island, a cosmopolitan space for artists who have experienced forced migration and resistance. The event emphasized memory, hospitality, and the ethical imperative to break the conspiracy of silence. On September 27-28, at the Museo Riso in Palermo, Sislej Xhafa worked with students from the Accademia di Belle Arti on the convergence of art and resistance. The festival concluded that narrative must reveal what is hidden and challenge power structures.