Palai is a collaborative cultural project that brings together works of over forty contemporary artists, including Klara Liden and Martine Syms, selected by ten international galleries at Palazzo Tamborino Cezzi in Lecce.
Emerging from the desire to rethink new modes of exhibition-making, Palai presents works spanning a range of media in dialogue with the classical architecture of the nineteenth-century residence in the historic center of the Apulian city.
Palai means "palace" in the local griko dialect, although the word retains similarities and meaning in many languagesand nationalities of the galleries involved in the project. As a space dedicated to welcoming works of art and as an architectural work in itself, with Palai Palazzo Tamborino Cezzi returns to its centrality in the socio-cultural fabric of the city, opening itself to welcoming the communities it hosts. Throughout the summer the works are presented in dialogue and coexist in spaces rich in evidence of the past, offering visitors a unique experience of contemporary languages, their histories and landscape.
Participating artists include: Theodora Allen, Alma Allen, Amber Andrews, March Avery, Alex Ayed, Julie Beaufils, Anna-Sophie Berger, Jonathan Binet, Camille Blatrix, Regina Bogat, Xinyi Cheng, Isabelle Cornaro, Morgan Courtois, Horacio Alcolea Crespo, Enzo Cucchi, Alfred D’Ursel, Simone Fattal, Louis Fratino, Owen Fu, Anya Gallaccio, Francesco Gennari, Breyer P-Orridge / Eric Heist, Benjamin Hirte, Yu Honglei, Yukie Ishikawa, Jutta Koether, Friedrich Kunath, Mimi Lauter, Klara Liden, Florian Maier-Aichen, Jonatah Manno, Beaux Mendes, Ketuta Alexi Meskhishvili, Monique Mouton, Chalisée Naamani, Kayode Ojo, Ser Serpas, Aviva Silverman, Martine Syms, Alexander Tovborg, Damon Zucconi.
Participating galleries include Antenna Space, Shanghai; Balice Hertling, Paris; Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo; Ciaccia Levi, Paris; Sadie Coles HQ, London; Bill Cournoyer / The Meeting, New York; Layr, Vienna/Rome; LC Queisser, Tbilisi; Veda, Florence; and ZERO…Milan.