Design initiative Young Architects Competitions (YAC) has joined forces with the Italian government to launch ‘Art Prison’, an ideas contest for the refurbishment of a fortress on a remote island in southern Sicily.

The fortress of Santa Caterina stands over the peak of Favignana, an isle in the Mediterranean Sea. It was once a prison but has stood abandoned for more than a century.

Over time, it has become a tourist attraction and the municipality want to take advantage of its growing popularity by transforming the site into “one of the most atmospheric centres of contemporary art in the Mediterranean”.

Competition organiser YAC has been enlisted to oversee the search for design concepts.

According to their brief, the museum will have to be “a sublime place of encounter, culture and creative research” that can “inspire artists’ imagination and help them express the real essence of their inner self".

“This competition invites designers to get involved with the lure of solitude,” it adds. “By doing so, they will create a mystic architecture able to whisper into the heart of visitors.

"The isle will become a sacred place, a shelter for artists, creative talents and curious people.”

Architects Daniel Libeskind, Manuel Aires Mateus, Felix Perasso and João Luís Carrilho da Graça are part of the competition jury.

Design submissions will be accepted from 12 February and the results will be announced on 30 April, with the winning architect receiving a cash prize of €20,000 (US$24,800, £17,400).