Vita gazette – The XIII edition of Taobuk Festival SeeSicily, conceived and directed by Antonella Ferrara, with the support of the Sicilian Region, has ended. Over 200 guests from 30 different countries gathered in Taormina to exchange their reflections on the theme of Freedom.

The festival, which celebrates literature, art, dance and cinema, each year chooses a theme around which the calendar of meetings takes shape. This year’s theme was “Freedom”, an aspect that touches all branches of knowledge, including science, which has been elevated to a fundamental human right.

Extraordinary success also for the Taobuk Gala at the Ancient Theater of Taormina, with 4,400 admissions in the stands of one of the most beautiful theatres in the world. Over 200 guests from 30 countries, writers and journalists, philosophers, artists and musicians, doctors and scientists, jurists, politicians and economists, gathered in Taormina to exchange their reflections on the theme of Freedoms. A large attentive, involved public sold out the many meetings that enlivened the event’s five days.

The Taobuk Gala opened on the enthralling notes of Stayin’ Alive, admirably interpreted by world-renowned violinist David Garrett, accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania, musical co-producer of the evening. Garrett received the Taobuk Award from the hands of Hon. Manlius Messina. Many exciting moments alternated in the interviews with Azar Nafisi and Annie Ernaux, conducted by Antonella Ferrara and Joyce Carol Oates, who spoke with the journalist Elvira Terranova. The Taobuk for Literary Excellence was awarded to them respectively by Renato Schifani, president of the Sicilian Region, by Elvira Amata, Councilor for Tourism, Sport and Entertainment of the Sicilian Region and by Antonio Parenti, head of the Representation in Italy of the European Commission. The Science 2023 Taobuk Award was assigned to David Quammen by Elio Schiavo, TIM’s Chief Enterprise and Innovative Solutions Officer.

Great names in literature, art, entertainment and science were awarded the Taobuk Award during an evening hosted by Antonella Ferrara and Massimiliano Orsini. From the stage, framed by unique natural backdrops overlooking Mount Etna, the words of the awardees resounded – including the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature Annie Ernaux, the American author Joyce Carol Oates, the Iranian writer Azar Nafisi, the science writer David Quammen. As per tradition, on 24 June, the event will be broadcast on Rai 1 and simultaneously, for the first time on Rai Italia, revealed in 174 countries worldwide.

“The thirteenth edition of Taobuk took off on the wings of a theme – freedoms – which we have developed and represented in the plural for the infinite variations and claims it entails. An aspiration inherent in the evolution of humanity and, like it, continuously in progress. The public’s participation has exceeded all expectations, surpassing the already exceptional data of the festival’s previous edition. It makes us proud that a cosmopolitan audience has so much appreciated the proposals of a multidisciplinary agora that has also attracted international media attention. Once again, Vincente has proved to be the formula for a highly articulated program that has seen dialogue between writers, artists, thinkers, and exponents of the political and economic world. High vibrations and authentic emotions have animated a careful analysis of the present that looks to the future, with particular attention to the cultural and geopolitical centrality of Sicily and the Mediterranean”, says Antonella Ferrara.

Great art was also rewarded: Maestro Giuseppe Penone received the Taobuk Award from Francesco Paolo Scarpinato, Regional Councilor for Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity. The golden register of the Taobuk Awards has also been enriched by the name of Michele Placido, who, on the stage of the Ancient Theater of Taormina, receiving the award from the Mayor of Taormina Cateno De Luca, declared his outstanding cultural debt to Sicily, and announced that he is working on a new film about one of the island’s most illustrious sons: Luigi Pirandello. Singer-songwriter Levante, who wowed the audience with the rousing love song I miss you, also proudly reclaimed her Sicilian roots. Levante received recognition from Giuseppe La Boria, Calabria-Sicily regional director of BPER. Even the conductor Gianna Fratta was awarded the prestigious award by Gabriella Tigano, director of the Archaeological Park of Naxos and Taormina.

The actress and director Valeria Golino also paraded on stage, awarded by Sandro Pappalardo, ENIT Councilor, who interpreted The Art of Joy by the Sicilian writer Goliarda Sapienza and Edoardo Leo, the famous face of Italian cinema, awarded by Paola Campanella of Eni. The show was enriched by the magical choreography of the Kataklò dance company, directed by the choreographer Giulia Staccioli, and awarded by Daniela Lo Cascio and Giovanni Cutrera, respectively, extraordinary commissioner and superintendent of the Massimo Bellini theatre. A Taobuk Award was also awarded to the award-winning director, screenwriter and film producer Marco Bellocchio at the end of the masterclass Writing for Images, which saw him in dialogue with Federico Pontiggia, the curator of the cinema section of the festival, together with Francesca Calvelli, an of the essential editors in Europe.