In the heart of the Val di Noto, where the Baroque is not just a style but a spatial and cultural structure, Ragusa is set to become a four-day open cultural laboratory. From 4 to 7 June 2026, “Baroque & Neobaroque – Renewal: the time of materials in the architecture of historic centres” unfolds as a festival that brings together architecture, art, design and fashion, reading them as interconnected languages of contemporary practice.
Pop and Chic by Carlotta Oddone
Retro-Futuristic Robot Big Bang by Alessandro Trambaioli
Rather than treating the Baroque as a historical legacy to be celebrated, the festival activates it as a working tool. The historic buildings of Ragusa – from Palazzo Cosentini to Palazzo La Rocca, and the former Church of San Vincenzo Ferreri – are transformed into exhibition spaces where installations and site-specific works turn architecture into an immersive experience. The Baroque emerges here as a grammar of complexity: material richness, spatial intensity, and a constant dialogue between body, ornament and structure. The 2026 theme, “Renewal”, focuses on the role of materials in the architecture of historic centres. Local stone, lava stone, marble and granite are not treated simply as construction elements, but as cultural and identity-driven materials.
Opulence by Carlo Coniglio
Pearlamp by Marta Pietra (Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera)
Their contemporary use opens a dialogue between local craft traditions and experimental design approaches, restoring material to a narrative and expressive role beyond its technical function. The festival also operates as a cross-disciplinary platform. Architects, designers, artists and curators come together through talks and installations, while contributions from figures such as Antonio Marras, Roberto Semprini and Gilda Bojardi highlight the hybrid nature of the project, where fashion, art and design share a common field of research. Education plays a central role, with the involvement of the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and IULM University. Students take part in workshops that extend into an artist residency during the festival, turning the event into both an exhibition and a learning environment.
GLI DEI by Antonio Marras
Collezione FEMINA by Simona Bertolotto
In this context, Ragusa is not simply a backdrop but an active system. The reference to the 1693 earthquake and the reconstruction of the Val di Noto becomes a contemporary interpretative key, where renewal is not a historical episode but an ongoing design condition. “Baroque & Neobaroque” ultimately positions itself as a critical platform for rethinking the future of design in historic European cities. A space where the past is not preserved as a static image, but reactivated through material, space and contemporary practice.
