GIFT – A gesture of return

A poetic narrative of Sicily, where the act of sharing becomes a collective experience and a reflection on the future rooted in shared memory

On the occasion of the Co-Creating Cultures for the Future Week at Expo 2025 in Osaka, the Sicilian Region presented GIFT – A Gesture of Return, an artistic and participatory installation that intertwines ritual, memory, and sustainability. The project tells the story of Sicily through one of its most ancient and emblematic symbols: wheat, a cornerstone of the collective imagination that spans the island’s history, myths, and landscapes.

ETT, appointed for the technical, logistical, and multimedia direction, coordinated the entire development of the project, ensuring the integration of artistic vision, performative activities, and the participation of local communities. ETT supervised the production of video and sound materials, managed logistics and physical elements, and supported the laboratory activities with Sicilian communities, ensuring consistency between the artistic objectives and the visitor experience. The artistic vision is by Gandolfo Gabriele David, and the original music is by Maestro Gianni Gebbia.

The installation draws inspiration from Sicilian myths, rituals, and traditions related to bread and the wheat cycle, fundamental elements of the island’s culture and identity. It evokes the votive altars of Saint Joseph, reinterpreting their iconography in a contemporary key. A wooden structure, characterized by intertwined vertical supports, forms a dome that enhances the sacred dimension of the space. At the center, a large table made of four white wooden planks hosts small bread sculptures, created by the Sicilian communities involved in the project, alongside writing tools.

The title suggests that giving is not only an offering but a circular act, born from something received in the past and returned with awareness, gratitude, and creativity. Past and future merge in the “present,” a word that in Italian also means gift. It is not necessarily a literal “giving back” but a symbolic act that acknowledges and responds to something previously received.

The cycle of exchange begins with the bread given, followed by a written thought shared on the installation’s wall. Each gesture generates the next, creating a continuous flow that makes the artwork participatory and ever-changing. This process is a fundamental part of a work deeply rooted in tradition, yet capable of assuming new aesthetic forms.

It is a collective act: not only the artist gives, but the entire community is involved, and visitors actively participate as well. The artist and the community become threads of a collective fabric, finding in history and art a dynamic of alliance and renewal. The fabric—composed of earth and wheat, the quintessence of growth and cultivation as part of humanity’s heritage—conveys a spiritual dimension with a practical purpose: the ability to nurture others.

The installation is enriched by a multimedia component that amplifies the audience’s sensory experience. The central large monitor projects a video divided into three vertical sections, eliminating spatial and temporal references and creating a layered visual narrative. Mythologically inspired images evoke the figure of Demeter of Morgantina, symbolizing the cycle of life and regeneration, intertwined with landscapes and photographic memories of Sicily to form a mosaic of images and sounds. Videos placed in side niches highlight the craftsmanship of the bread sculptures, bringing the voices and work of the Sicilian communities into the exhibition.

The connection with the myth of Ceres and Persephone is further expressed through a reproduction of the Ceres statue from Morgantina, created with organic materials to seal the continuity between memory, nature, and artistic creation.

The central theme of the performance is the “gift”: each visitor receives a bread sculpture and, in exchange, writes a good wish on a card to deposit in a container at the center of the installation. Day by day, the cards are collected and arranged on a semicircular golden curtain that surrounds the table. This cascade of messages gives life to an installation in constant evolution, creating a visual flow that conveys a sense of shared and evolving memory.