Historical Museum of the Landing in Sicily 1943
THE EXHIBITION SPACE
Phil Stern Pavilion Historical Museum of the Landing in Sicily 1943 The Ciminiere Catania
Over 300 square meters dedicated to the images taken by Stern during Operation Husky, the Anglo-American landing in Sicily in July 1943. The exhibition space is located in the final part of the "Historical Museum of the Landing in Sicily 1943", created in 2002 by the then Regional Province of Catania (now Metropolitan City) and dedicated to the historical event that changed the fate of the Second World War. An area of the Pavilion also displays some photographs taken by Stern in North Africa, between 1942 and 1943, during Operation Torch. Another large area is reserved for temporary, historical and contemporary photographic exhibitions, on themes related to the Museum of the Landing in Sicily.
The Phil Stern Pavilion was born in 2017 thanks to the Fondazione Oelle Mediterraneo Antico and its president Ornella Laneri after the great exhibition, and the return to Sicily in 2013 of the American photographer, conceived and curated by the historian Ezio Costanzo. The space was created thanks to the agreement between the Metropolitan City of Catania, manager of the museum structure and the Fondazione OELLE Mediterraneo Antico Ets, which financed the installation also granting on loan for use the works of Phil Stern, donated by his heirs to the Foundation. The project of the pavilion was born in the summer of 2013, on the occasion of Phil Stern's return to Sicily. The great photographer expressed the desire that some of his works be exhibited inside the Museo Storico dello Sbarco in Sicilia 1943. A desire welcomed and fulfilled by the Fondazione OELLE. Phil's sons Peter and Tom Stern were present at the opening of the Pavilion, and they said: "This place tells the documented story of the photographs of a man who came to Sicily twice: the first time to clarify and document an invasion; the second time to ensure that 70 years later anyone who walks through this space can experience the same emotions and share his feelings." There are currently around 120 photographs permanently on display.
Curator of the Pavilion is the historian Ezio Costanzo, of the scientific committee of the OELLE Foundation and representative of the Stern family in Italy. He is responsible for the return of the great American photographer to Sicily in 2013 after the discovery of the vast heritage of unpublished images kept by Stern in the attic for over seventy years.
The pavilion also features numerous photographs of the years Stern spent on the sets of Hollywood cinema and in the world of Jazz. A section is dedicated to his return to Sicily and also includes three portraits taken by photographer Carmelo Nicosia in the summer of 2013.