Hotel Atelier Sul Mare: A Museum in A Hotel
Who would have thought that in a rural Sicilian and seafood could be found one of the most original museums in Europe? And what this museum was, in fact, a three-star hotel? As this was the big surprise that I got to know the Atelier sul Mare, a contemporary art museum located within a hotel.
The Hotel Atelier sul Mare Castel di Tusa is a quiet fishing village north of Sicily parks tucked between Le Madonie and I Nebrodi. The building is in front of the sea and offers guests private beach.
Upon entering the hotel you come across a single receipt, in whose walls can read sentences like “Protect me from what I” that reflect the Zen philosophy of the hotel owner Antonio Presti, a tireless “devoted to beauty” that has his whole life dedicated to the promotion of art.
The hotel has forty rooms, half of them unique and original commissioned from renowned international artists. Guests, when available, can sleep one night in each. And the truth is worth it because each room is a work of art in itself.
Any corner of the Hotel Atelier sul Mare can hide an art object
One of the most requested is “The poet’s room” dedicated to the Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. However, three of which struck me most, not only by the fact that sleep in them but for their originality, were the room of the “Terra e del Fuoco” by Luigi Mainolfi, “Mare Negative” by Fabrizio Plessi and “Mistero per la Luna” Nagasawa.
Room Terra e del Fuoco of Luigi Mainolfi
The first is a room completely naked, with paneled walls and terracotta fragments with a decorative element rather daring and unusual turn: a mass of twisted metal that only has a decorative function in the room and certainly calls attention. The bed, located in the center of the room is an altar from which you can see the sea. Sleep in the room “Terra e del Fuoco” is a relaxing experience, in turn, disturbing.
In this sense, the Hotel Atelier sul Mare is not a conventional setting, ie we should not seek comfort in their rooms because, frankly, does not exist. It is a hotel to appreciate art, so you have to go with an open mind to accept the few amenities offered there.
Linea d’Ombra Room Michele Canzoneri
The room of the “Mare negative, for its part, stirs emotions and feelings, both positive and negative.
That itself is a place not suitable for people who suffer from some kind of phobia as it is a somewhat somber room whose walls simulates a row of wooden doors (once inside it is difficult which one is the output).
Left room Lunaria – Contrada senza nome, Vincenzo Consolo, Umberto Leone and Ute Pika. Right, Mare negative, Fabrizio Plessi
Furthermore, since the bed you can see some monitors projecting the same images (ocean waves breaking on the beach).
I do not know if the intention of the author, Fabrizio Plessi, was to relax the occupants.
In my case it was the opposite, this is a room totally disturbing. Plessi undoubtedly awakens guests their hidden fears.
La Bocca della verità Room Mario Ceroli
Finally, a stay in which it manages to convey a sense of inner peace is “Mistero per la Luna” Nagasawa, a room completely bare of furniture, painted in earthy colors and inviting to meditation.
But not only can you find art in hotel rooms and the corridors and common rooms are also decorated with sculptures, paintings and photographs by famous artists.
Everywhere in the hotel is a place for art
Also noteworthy is the ceramic room, where every day is to work a potter, and where guests can create their own works because it also has a baking oven where the parts.
Ceramic Workshop Atelier sul Mare Hotel
New for 2011, the Atelier sul Mare Hotel will open two new art rooms, one entirely decorated by the owner of the hotel, Antonio Presti. Presti is truly a remarkable man. Shy and nervous, this patron of the XXI century is behind various art projects on the island of Sicily as the Fiumara d’Arte, one of the monumental sculpture parks of Europe’s largest, poetry recitals Castelbuono or The Gate of Beauty Librino the district of Catania, a wall decorated by renowned international artists and played an important role children in this area, one of the most marginal of Sicily.
Hotel Atelier sul Mare
Via Cesare Battisti 4
98079 Castel di Tusa (ME)
Sicily
tel: +39 0921 334295
fax: +39 0921 334283
www.ateliersulmare.it
mail: info@ateliersulmare.it
How to reach the hotel?
By Car from Palermo: Highway A19 or A20, exit Tusa, SS 113, e Castel di Tusa
By plane: Palermo Airport Falcone and Borsellino. 100 km
By train: Direct trains Palermo-Messina-Palermo and Messina stop in the village of Tusa. The station is about 600 meters from the hotel.
How to get to Sicily?
Vueling offers two weekly flights to Palermo from Barcelona from 30 euros each way all inclusive. In connection means you can get from Barcelona: A Coruña, Alicante, Amsterdam, Asturias, Bilbao, Brussels, Ciudad Real, Granada, Ibiza, Lisbon, Lleida, Málaga, Mallorca, Menorca, Paris, Santiago, Seville and Vigo.