Our research, which was originally planned as part of DAAS’ public intervention and collective Dossier for Experimental Preservation of the fascist building Casa del Mutilato for Manifesta ’12 in Palermo, concerns self-managed cultural spaces in Palermo’s 1990s as forms of queer heritage. Alongside curator Rado Istok, I conducted research on Palermo-based LGBTQ+ bookshop Altroquando, placing its history within the context of the city. The essay concludes with a speculative proposal for a new use of the building by Palermo’s queer community which, among other initiatives, could permanently host the Biblioteca Autogestita Salvatore Rizzuto Adelfio (Self-Managed Library Salvatore Rizzuto Adelfio), which was inaugurated in 2016 in Altroquando’s new space. Simultaneously conceived as a memorial space, a cultural archive and a space of open encounter for the community, the “fumetteria” and library currently subsists in precarious conditions which depend on constant negotiation with local authorities to continue occupying the abandoned space of the Fiera Mediterranea on the outskirts of Palermo. The proposal was conceived as part of a pilot “Coalition for the Re-Use of Fascist Architecture”, held at Casa del Mutilato, in Palermo, in the context of Decolonizing Architecture’s collective research and public programme at Manifesta’12.
