Palermo's Villino Favaloro to Become Photography Museum Named After Enzo Sellerio

Villino Favaloro, a historic Liberty-style villa in Palermo, will be transformed into a Museo della Fotografia dedicated to photographer and publisher Enzo Sellerio. The announcement was made during the Le Vie dei Tesori festival. Built in 1889 by architect Giovan Battista Filippo Basile, the villa was completed in 1914 by his son Ernesto Basile, who added an octagonal tower with mosaic decorations by Salvatore Gregorietti and a winter garden. Closed since 2002, it reopened temporarily in September 2015 for the contemporary art exhibition Le Stanze d'Aragona. The restoration and museum setup tender is expected in spring 2018, with an 18-month timeline for completion. The project is part of the Pon Cultura program with a budget of €1.4 million. The museum will house the photographic archives of the Region of Sicily, including collections from the Interguglielmi and Bronzetti families, daguerreotypes, prints, plates, and period instruments. Caterina Greco, director of the Centro Regionale del Catalogo, stated that the restoration will narrate the history of Sicilian photography and showcase the Centro's documentary heritage. She hopes the tender will be awarded by year-end and envisions a management model involving a scientific committee.