Cretto di Burri - Alberto Burri

A photographic study of Alberto Burri's monumental land art installation in Sicily, which memorialises the town of Gibellina following the 1968 earthquake.

The Cretto di Burri, also known as the Grande Cretto, is a monumental work situated in Gibellina, Sicily. Alberto Burri conceived this piece as a memorial to the town of Gibellina, which was destroyed by the Belice earthquake in 1968. The artist covered the ruins of the old town with a massive expanse of white concrete, following the original street plan of the settlement. The concrete blocks are separated by deep fissures, which correspond to the former streets and alleyways of the town. These cracks allow the earth to remain visible, creating a stark contrast between the man-made surface and the natural terrain. Burri, who trained as a physician before turning to art, often utilised unconventional materials to explore themes of trauma and physical transformation. In this work, the concrete acts as a shroud, preserving the memory of the lost urban space while simultaneously sealing it beneath a geometric, minimalist surface. The scale of the installation is immense, covering approximately 80,000 square metres. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadows within the fissures shift, altering the appearance of the work throughout the day. The white surface reflects the intense Mediterranean light, creating a sense of stillness and austerity. This piece is a significant example of land art, where the environment itself becomes the medium. It does not merely represent a site of destruction, but physically incorporates the history of the location into its structure. The work remained unfinished at the time of Burri's death in 1995 and was finally completed in 2015, adhering to his original plans and sketches.