For three Italian cities, culture becomes a tool for renewal and recovery: Parma, Bergamo and Brescia are banking on their own excellence for economic and social revival after the pandemic.
Parma still has its chance: it will be Italian Capital of Culture in 2021 as well, thanks to the measure extending the title that was included in the government's Decreto rilancio. A small consolation for the city administration and for all the citizens involved, first in the candidacy and then in the organisation of a full year of events and initiatives that would have given the Emilian city great visibility.
Alongside this good news came the announcement of the joint candidacy of Bergamo and Brescia for the 2023 edition. The two cities, among the hardest hit by coronavirus, are joining forces and setting aside their historic rivalry in pursuit of a shared goal: to get back on their feet and, as far as possible, to transform the terrible experience they have lived through into an opportunity. For all three Italian cities, the starting point is culture.
Culture as an engine for renewal. This seems like the right path, taken thanks to the positive opinion expressed by the Government and by the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Activities and Tourism, Dario Franceschini, who accepted the request of an entire region calling for the extension of Parma's designation as Italian Capital of Culture. The request had in fact been put forward by the City of Parma together with Piacenza and Reggio and the Regione Emilia Romagna, and was also supported by the other cities that had been candidates for 2021, which agreed to push their own candidacies back to the following year.
Councillor Michele Guerra expressed his satisfaction, stating: "The concept of extension is important because it means that Parma 2020 is not stopping, but becomes Parma 2020–2021; we have the opportunity to reorganise and start again. With caution and care we are working to reorganise the programme and bring to completion what we were unable to achieve this year."
"In June" – says Parma 2020 coordinator Francesca Velani – "we will be ready with the new programme of activities and we will present a calendar that, between 2020 and 2021, will offer both the many activities that remain pending and new reflections born out of this very difficult period, which has seen and continues to see culture on the front line fighting against the disorientation and hardship caused by this terrible emergency."
Leggi anche: Parma è capitale italiana della cultura 2020, scopriamo perché
The shared belief is that without culture there could be no genuine recovery. Not only in Parma, but across a country that excels in this field, often without even being aware of it. Everyone's efforts and energies have been channelled towards ensuring that the enormous work done to bring prestige to Parma, to its many excellences, peculiarities and organisations active in the cultural sphere, is not wasted.
An age-old rivalry divides them — not only on the football pitch — yet at this difficult moment they have found a way to collaborate and come together in an attempt to recover, side by side, and to think about the future constructively. So Bergamo and Brescia announce their joint candidacy to become Italian Capital of Culture 2023: good news that shows just how much these two cities want to start over and to do so by showcasing their own excellence.
The Ministry notes that the 2022 designation will be made from among the candidacies already under way for the 2021 Capital, while the following edition will feature, among others, the two Lombard cities, among those most severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Leggi anche: La fase due della montagna. I rifugisti della val Seriana, la più colpita, hanno voglia di ripartire
The announcement was made by the two cities' mayors: Giorgio Gori, mayor of Bergamo, wrote: "The cities most wounded by the epidemic join hands and bet on culture for their renewal. A message of hope that we would like to share with the whole country." Meanwhile Emilio del Bono, mayor of Brescia, declared: "Brescia and Bergamo deserve to start again — remembering those who are no longer with us, relaunching the strength of our communities, but also the beauty of the Leonessa d'Italia and the Città dei Mille."
This collaboration certainly carries a strongly symbolic value, but it is in every respect a concrete project which, in order to succeed and lead to the designation of Italian Capital of Culture 2023, will need to mobilise resources, ideas and willpower. All things that can provide just the right impetus to recover after these months of health, economic and social crisis that have seen culture pushed to one side.
