The book recounts the project "Il taglio, l'innesto, il castello" (The Cut, the Graft, the Castle) by the artists Domenico Mangano & Marieke van Rooy, winner of the PAC - Plan for Contemporary Art 2020 - Linea committenza (Contracting Line), promoted by the General Directorate for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture, curated by Valentina Bruschi for the Civic Museum of Castelbuono (Palermo). This is a participatory operation conceived with the aim of involving the community and the natural environment, involving both the ecological and social spheres. The origin of the research is an artistic experiment in ceramic workmanship, obtained by grafting with manna, a resin extracted from the carving of the trunk of ash trees, typical of the Madonie mountains. The title refers to the wound from which the manna flows, a sort of healing incision that generates new lymph and new forms when grafted into another material. The artists adopted a process of experimental research conducted during their artistic residency in the 14th-century Ventimiglia Castle, home of the Civic Museum of Castelbuono, an architectural archetype of a noble residence, later transformed into a civic institution, destined to host cultural activities for the community and the public. The publication bears witness to the complex phases of the creative process and its final outcome with the creation of a sculptural and performative installation that involves the spectator in a physical as well as visual experience. The group of sculptures finally enters the permanent collection of the Civic Museum of Castelbuono.

The duo Mangano & van Rooy formed in 2014 in Amsterdam. Their research and artistic practice address issues of a political nature and social architecture, with the aim of realising participatory projects and educational processes returned through different media, such as film, sculptural installations, performances and publications.