Forty-four cultural projects, including 34 originals, 150 events spread over 330 days of programming, 350 artists from 45 countries around the world, more than 2000 citizens involved and the regeneration of 7 symbolic places on the island: with these numbers begins the extraordinary adventure of Procida that for a year becomes the Italian Capital of Culture 2022. The launch is scheduled for 22 January with a large 8-hour opening ceremony inspired by the myths of the sea: from the departure on the mainland to the landing on the island through the waters of the Gulf of Naples.
It will be an intense twelve months (the closure is scheduled for 22 December 2022) between debates, exhibitions, cultural meetings, theatre, cinema, literature and music events.
The programme, illustrated at Palazzo Santa Lucia, starts from a theme, ‘Culture is not an island’, which is the one with which Procida has established itself on the national scene, obtaining the important recognition of cultural capital, and has already attracted the attention of large global information networks such as the New York Times, CNN, The Guardian and recently National Geographic. A theme that is articulated through five verbs and as many sections: Procida invents, Procida inspires, Procida includes, Procida learns, Procida innovates.
The island thus becomes a place of exploration, experimentation and knowledge. Here, in a year of great events, artists from all over the world will meet to dialogue and build new art languages together. They will do so at the Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, at ‘The Tending of the Otherwise’ with 25 young artists from the Euro-Mediterranean area and Is.Land, at ‘Echoes of Distances’ with musicians from islands around the world, with ‘Amìh’ and the creation of a musical show for orchestra and theatre to be toured in the most important Italian cities.
But Procida will also be ready to tell its story through the testimony of its own citizens. ‘Voices to the wind’ will be those of travellers; voices called upon to interpret the pages of masterpieces such as ‘L’immortale’ by Jorge Luis Borges in Happening of Human Books; Young voices like Restart from the future.
The programme will focus on the major issues of humanity, such as those of eco-sustainability and inclusion, to which ad hoc events are dedicated. Great space for history and art with exhibitions organised in collaboration with museums and archaeological parks in Campania (The Greeks before the Greeks) and the participation of artists of national and international renown. Among the names Jan Fabre, Andrea Anastasio, Francesco Arena, Foma Fantasma, Mimmo Jodice.
There will also be theater, cinema, literature, music. And also here prominent events: MarEtica (8-11 September) with the imprimatur of Alessandro Baricco, the Isola di Procida – Elsa Morante Award and Il Vento del Cinema (2-5 June) with the landing on the island of big names such as Gabriele Mainetti, Mario Martone, Alice Rohrwacher, Carlo Verdone, Paolo Virzì, Marco Bellocchio and many others, Oper(A)mare (3 and 25 June) with the Choir of the Teatro San Carlo Foundation, directed by José Luis Basso.
“It is a huge challenge for us – said the President of the Campania Region, Vincenzo De Luca – We have prepared ourselves in a serious way and also in this case I would like to see an image of Campania emerge that is completely different from the one that has been transmitted for decades. I would like Campania to emerge as a land that is now able to fully accept the challenge of efficiency, rigour and organisation”.
This is a challenge on which the Region has focused a great deal, planning investments of more than EUR 8.7 million for the development of the cultural programme, the implementation of supplementary and complementary measures and major infrastructural works such as the redevelopment of Palazzo d’Avalos. In addition, the Region has ensured the upgrading of land and sea transport as well as health services. The aim is that of a safe demonstration also from the point of view of the fight against covid. The Ministry of Culture has allocated 1 million euros to Procida Capital.
"We are proud to be able to represent Italy with its villages and small islands, the entire Gulf of Naples and Campania, and we will do so with a programme capable of enhancing our identity and leaving a profound cultural legacy in the years to come", said Dino Ambrosino, Mayor of Procida, who thanked the Region without which "we could not have achieved this goal".
And precisely of the program, the director of Procida 2022 Agostino Riitano explained: “We have detached ourselves from the traditional narrative patterns of a cultural project understood as entertainment, rather we have told the processes of social innovation giving centrality to urban life oriented by culture. We are aware that in these months of hard work we have generated an important cultural attractor: for this reason we have worked to implement a culturally based public policy of local development and not just a big event”.
English (UK)