Alberto Burri, Cretto di Gibellina, 1984
The city of Gibellina was completely destroyed by 1968 earthquakes in the Belice Valley, Sicily. In the reconstruction effort that followed, many eminent artists and architects were called to contribute. Among them Burri, that recreated one of his Cretto paintings as big as the city was, located exactly where Gibellina was, using the ashes and the ruins of the destroyed city to create a grand piece, anticipating the work of the artist Christo. The place is a veritable grave, containing the poor remains of the city of Mergellina, a place for mourning able to last for centuries, a mausoleum.
