Ekphrasis

Poetry has the power to transform how we perceive places — to turn forgotten walls and frescoed halls into living stages.

Ekphrasis is a site-specific project that bridges visual art and poetry, reviving the ancient dialogue between word and image through contemporary performance. Conceived under the artistic direction of Eleonora Fisco, it was first developed between 2021 and 2022 with the Ritrovarsi Contemporary Art Festival in Sciacca’s marginalized district of San Leonardo, where poets created performances inspired both by street art and by encounters with local residents, later transformed into long-lasting podcasts.

In 2023, Festivaletteratura of Mantua embraced the project, expanding it into a residency with nine poets performing across two symbolic sites: Lunetta, a peripheral neighborhood marked by migration and street art, and Palazzo Te, where Giulio Romano’s Renaissance frescoes became the stage for a bold experiment in museum mediation.

By giving new visibility to neglected spaces and reimagining how audiences engage with heritage, Ekphrasis transforms poetry into a living guide — embodied, interactive, and deeply human.