TASTE ON DISPLAY_Sunday, September 21, 2025, 8:30 PM

On Sunday, September 21st, at 8:30 pm, the Società Operaia di Mutuo Soccorso in Modica will host "Gusto in Mostra," a collateral event linked to the exhibition Io, Renato Guttuso, curated by Giuliana Fiori and Anna Papale. Visitors can tour the exhibition—reservations required—and then participate in a tasting experience created by leading local chefs. Based on one or more of their works, they will create a custom dish paired with a wine.

The double event showcasing visual art and excellent food and wine is enriched by the presence of a new chef, Gabriele Camiolo. For the September edition, there will be not five, but six chefs . Six chefs—Francesca Barone, Gabriele Camiolo, Accursio Craparo, Claudio Ruta, Lorenzo Ruta, and Luca Stracquadanio—and six different wine pairings, all designed to enhance the visit to the Io, Renato Guttuso exhibition . Each gastronomic creation will be paired with a wine, carefully selected by Master Taster and ONAV-Modica delegate Giorgio Solarino.

During the evening, it will be possible to discover and savor dishes created specifically for the exhibition that inspired them. The common thread between the visual art project and the collateral event related to gastronomic art is the stories of Sicily and its culture, conveyed through the works of Renato Guttuso, the land, the knowledge of the past and present, and the projection into the future.

From Francesca Barone's dish “Onion, bread and broad beans” (onion braised in red wine with crispy barley bread and fried broad beans) to Gabriele Camiolo's “ Apples from Vucciria ” (apples, dried fruit, celery, sweet and sour) and Accursio Craparo 's “Expression of popular food" (bread meatballs with tomato); and again from Claudio Ruta's dish “Three people watching the eruption of Etna” (mozzarella, tomato and…) to Lorenzo Ruta's “Parmigiana di melanzane (glazed aubergine with onion base, tomato extract, Ragusano spread and basil cream) and, finally, Luca Stracquadanio's “Spicy Avocado Tuna Tartare” (spiced avocado with tuna tartare and wakame seaweed salad with Ispica sesame).

Each chef will also create a dessert inspired by the exhibition, which will be unveiled on the evening of September 21st, while Giorgio Solarino will propose a selection of Sicilian wines to accompany each individual dish.

As part of the tasting, participants will be taken on a detailed guided tour of the exhibition "Io, Renato Guttuso" (I, Renato Guttuso), located inside the Società Operaia di Mutuo Soccorso (Mutual Aid Workers' Association). They will discover the powerful and multifaceted spirit of Renato Guttuso through a selection of works spanning the mid-1930s to the mid-1980s. Each work on display will reveal a public or private side of his life.

I, Renato Guttuso is an exhibition/narrative of the artist that traces his various creative and life phases, along with the corresponding moods. From his nostalgia for Sicily to his move to Rome; from his affections/loves to Eros and his inspiring muses. And again, from his political commitment to the symbols of social values manifested in his still lifes and historically oriented canvases, in which he recounts the struggles for social equality. Finally, his prolific production of stage sets and his substantial collection of costume sketches, dating back to the 1950s.

The project enjoys the patronage of the Department of Cultural Heritage and Sicilian Identity , the Municipality of Modica, the ARS (Sicilian Regional Assembly), the Società Operaia di Mutuo Soccorso , Enjoy Barocco and MUSEUM Observatory of Contemporary Art in Sicily.
We would also like to thank the sponsors who made this project possible: Dr. Tarico Plastic Surgery, Tariskin, and DiCasaInSicilia; the partners: Casa d'arte San Lorenzo, Elenk'art; and the technical sponsors: Papercut, Miartè, Sikaniawood, and Lo Magno Arte Contemporanea. Media partners: Ragusa News and Balloon Project; and hospitality partners: Edel, 'a Lecca e 'a Mecca, and Ferro Hotel; and for their support: Sotto San Pietro, Salomone Assicurazioni, Cappero, and Inghiotto.