Some legacies are not measured by what is left behind but by their ability to keep generating ideas, connections and the future.
Some legacies are not measured by what is left behind but by their ability to keep generating ideas, connections and the future. In Salina, one of those legacies bears the name of Clara Rametta.
Together with Michele Caruso, she founded Signum in 1988 with the vision of creating a place where hospitality would be deeply connected to the island’s identity. Yet her perspective reached far beyond that. For Clara, caring for Salina meant celebrating not only its hospitality but also its cultural heritage, convinced that art, music and beauty could foster dialogue and open the island to the world without ever altering its essence.
This vision led to the creation of the Didime 90 association in 1990, which still manages Palazzo Marchetti today, an elegant early twentieth-century residence surrounded by the greenery of Malfa that has become one of the Aeolian Islands’ leading cultural landmarks.
Festivals, concerts, exhibitions and cultural events continue to bring these spaces to life, preserving the spirit in which Palazzo Marchetti was conceived: a place where culture and landscape meet naturally.
Today that same vision continues through the Caruso family.
Luca and Martina have embraced a legacy that extends beyond hospitality to include a deep responsibility towards the island by supporting initiatives that enrich Salina’s cultural life and encourage encounters between people, cultures and perspectives from around the world.
It is within this journey that Signum supports Love at First Sight, the solo exhibition by Brazilian artist Marina Perez Simão, presented by the international gallery Mendes Wood DM and curated by Mirta d’Argenzio.
From 2 July to 15 October 2026, Palazzo Marchetti will host an exhibition designed to engage in dialogue with Salina where the artist’s works will interact with the island’s light, landscape and atmosphere.
Born in Vitória, Brazil in 1980, Marina Perez Simão is now recognised as one of the leading voices in the international contemporary art scene. Her work exists on the boundary between abstraction and figuration, transforming colour, light and memory into a painterly language that evokes the landscape rather than depicting it.
Through layered colours, fluid forms and essential lines, her paintings convey an intimate perception of nature inspired by Brazilian landscapes, geological phenomena and the ever-changing qualities of light.
It is an artistic exploration that finds a natural harmony in Salina.
Here the light changes constantly, the dialogue between the sea and the volcanoes reshapes the landscape throughout the day and time itself seems to follow a different rhythm. It is precisely this dimension that captivated the artist.
During her stays at Signum, Marina Perez Simão developed a deep connection with both the island and the Caruso family, recognising in Signum the same sensibility that defines her artistic practice: an appreciation for beauty, respect for nature and the value of time.
The exhibition will open on 1 July at Palazzo Marchetti. The evening will continue at Signum with a cocktail reception accompanied by signature bites created by Martina Caruso in a gathering where art, cuisine and hospitality come together in a single narrative.
One of Marina Perez Simão’s works will also become part of Signum’s spaces, sealing a relationship that the Caruso family hopes to nurture over time by welcoming a new artist, a new perspective and a new opportunity for dialogue to Salina each year.
Because art, just like hospitality, begins with an encounter.
And perhaps this is Clara Rametta’s most precious legacy: imagining Salina as a place capable of opening itself to the world while never ceasing to remain profoundly true to itself.
The exhibition invites visitors to observe and interpret, leaving room for a personal gaze. Marina Perez Simão’s compositions evoke the movement of waves and the resonance created when a stone touches the water, guiding the eye through the painting in a journey of balance, depth and imagination.
The opening will take place on Wednesday 1 July at Palazzo Marchetti. Afterwards, guests will be welcomed at Signum for a celebratory cocktail bringing together artists, collectors, enthusiasts and visitors in one of the symbolic places of Salina’s hospitality.
For those who choose Salina, summer thus becomes an opportunity to discover not only the sea, the trails and the flavours of the island, but also its cultural vitality. Hotel Signum continues to accompany this narrative, helping to create moments of encounter that enrich the journey and leave a memory destined to last over time.
