It’s really true: origins call you back. Archi- tect Gianni di Matteo, divided between Palermo and Milan, never thought about going back to Sicily; he asked himself more than once “what am I doing here”, and therefore moves to Milan. He works for the Eu- ropean Design Institute, the Triennale and the Opos Gallery, he writes for Gap Casa, Ottagono and for Padjournal as Managing Editor, and must have great professional satisfaction. In the year 2000, he becomes a father and decides, together with his wife, to go back home to Mazara del Vallo. Although the cord that connected him in a visceral way to his region never broke, he regains the pleasant habit of Mediterranean scents and colours that only the sunsets of the saltpans in Trapani can offer to those who live in the area. Today, he teaches Sociology of cultural processes at Abadir Academy, and since 2015 he’s president of ADI Sicilia.
A title strikes me when reading your articles: “What am I doing here?” Do you keep on wondering about this question?
Actually, Bruce Chatwin wondered about the question while hospitalized at the end of his days. Let’s say that, indeed, I am still wonder- ing about it, fortunately in a less tragic situ- ation, because this is the question of those who are constantly traveling, it’s the question of compulsively curious people, those desir- ous of experience and of things to observe, of those who raise the problem of “where to be”, not in an affirmative, but doubtful way. Hence, it’s a design question par excellence.
In the professional sphere, which was the encounter that left a mark in your life?
The answer can be found above; in fact, Ta- mara Molinari, former director of Gap Casa en- titled my first article “What am I doing here”. She made me discover the sense of opportunities, which is put down a lot in Sicily. I was a young man from the south that just arrived in Milan without any experience, least of all from a journalistic point of view, and was asked to write a short note about the Design Institute of Palermo University. Instead, I wrote a very long article about the sense to do design in Sicily in one go. Some days after I met her and she asked what I was doing in Milan. I told her I was trying to find out. She published the entire article and it was a positive shock for me. Then the encounter with Ettore Sottsass. I went to his office looking for a job; he made me stay almost the whole morning. He didn’t hire me, but I walked happy and enriched.
The project that excited you most and the one (if any) still to be fulfilled.
The most exciting project was the creation and organization of the Ri-usi exhibition at Milan’s Triennale in 1997, still with Tamara Molinari and Marco Ferreri, and strongly wanted by Rodrigo Rodriquez. As for Sicily, I cannot but mention Favara Urban Network, the cultural project imagined by Andrea Bartoli, founder of Farm Cultural Park together with Florinda Saieva, for Chiaramonte Castle in Favara in 2013. My drawer is always full of projects; one is about design of southern Italy, and you’ll maybe see something soon, the other one is more ambitious and complex and will include the Mediterranean area.
A year ago, you became president of ADI Sicilia, succeeding Vincenzo Castellana. What kind of activity did you carry out during these months, and what are future projects?
With ADI, I managed to continue the research of design in the field. I had the pleasure of seeing 10 Sicilian project be included in the prestigious ADI Design Index 2015 volume. The Farm fest visited by very many people was another important initiative. For that occasion, we set up a big exhibit dedicated to Sicilian designers where Moak was one of the main companies of the Foodss project created by Vincenzo Castellana. Now there is a full schedule of appointments as representatives waiting for us: “Villa Pennisi in Music” in Acireale, “Design in Town” in Syracuse, and the “Tao Award Talent Design” event in Taormina. While in September, we are involved in an extraordinary appointment: the meeting of ADI National Board of Directors in our region. Lastly, appointment in Palermo for the fifth edition of I-Design, November 12 to 20.
