Every first Sunday of the month the #Catania Street Art Bus Tour returns to Catania, which starts its “race” between public art and memories of the past. The project aims to introduce Catania citizens and tourists to some of the most relevant public art interventions in Catania, offers moments of sharing among citizens of different neighborhoods and sensitizes them towards use of public transport and the recognition and protection of the cultural and artistic heritage of the city.

The first appointment will be on Sunday 2 February at 10.00. For this occasion, the participants will be accompanied by Grazia Previtera, an Authorized Tourist Guide and the artist Alice Valenti. We have interviewed her to find out more.

How did the #Catania Street Art Bus Tour project come about? Tell us about the initiative and the new proposal.
The Street Art Bus Tour was born in the most beautiful way possible, that is, exchanging thoughts and intuitions with people close to me. At a certain point you realize that a project has just been born that has to do with the world you would like. To use the bus, the public transport par excellence, to reach neighborhoods outside the usual routes and to see the city and its urban art from a new perspective. Thanks to AMT and the Municipality of Catania, the Street Art Bus Tour becomes monthly for an entire year (every first Sunday of the month). At my side Sarah and Bice of CityMap, Valentina Barbagallo and Grazia Previtera are the wonderful professionals who have ferried this vision into reality.

How do you think the Street Art Bus Tour #Catania can contribute to introduce the city of Catania to the contemporary?
Contemporary art does not wait, it is already everywhere around us, both in places dedicated to culture and elsewhere. The point is to enjoy it. The Street Art Bus Tour is a fun way to approach urban art by explaining its many facets and motivations. It is also an immense honor and pleasure for me to tell my travel companions about the works of artists that I love and that make me live my city better.

Public art and memories of the past of the city of Catania. How do you think these two realities can meet and compare?
Tradition and modernity are the poles along which my artistic path has always unfolded. I think it is a great privilege for an artist from Catania to feed on such a rich cultural heritage. Knowing the past is a tool for understanding the present and opening gashes on the future. Even the artists who come from outside cannot ignore the layered reality in which they find themselves, and the results are incredible.
Regarding the coexistence between cultural heritage and urban art, I think that, excluding vandalism, the combination is wonderful and stimulating. The rest is controversy.

How do you think the citizens of Catania responded to the initiative of “physically bringing each other to home”? And how can their contribution be essential for the success of the Street Art Bus Tour #Catania?
Tourists and people from Catania are the ones we want to involve, even if I think the experience is deeper for them.
During the October “pilot” tour I was able to see and rejoice in the enthusiasm of the participants in living an apparently simple experience. I saw the emotion that I felt years ago in reaching Librino by bus or going into the San Berillo neighborhood and listening to the stories that gave birth to the murals. This little adventure has an “other” value: it means entering the dynamics of the city, seeing usual things with a new eye, and finally knowing more closely the artists who have left a “mark”. Finally we must recognize that only the bus can save Catania.

Info and booking:

www.citymapsicilia.it