Ancona Cultural Capital 2022 candidate. The Other is the chosen theme

Ancona is a candidate for Italian Capital of Culture 2022: the theme chosen for the dossier is The Culture among the Other.

“To nominate ourselves, we have chosen the theme of the Other,” commented Paolo Marasca, culture alderman for the City of Ancona. “A theme that is fundamental to the culture of all times, and is vital for a city like Ancona, born, raised and almost destroyed at the hands of the Other. A theme, too, that today takes on added significance, and with which we make ourselves available to the country to find answers in the complex universe of relationships, ties, encounters, but also distrust and distance. The city has participated with great commitment and creativity, developing unique and original, generative projects. We know how much there is a need for this.”

The theme of Other is declined in three major sections: Other as Encounter, Other as Trauma, Other as Care.
L’Altro come Incontro encompasses projects that focus on the relationship and discovery of the Other in individual and collective existence: exhibitions, social occasions, concerts, performances with great interaction with the public, conceived by Italian cultural figures, including Marco Baliani and Mauro Ermanno Giovanardi.
The Other as Trauma reflects on the scars, conflicts, complexities, and intrusions that, always, result from the encounter with the Other. Trauma is conflict, but also conflict management, confrontation that allows a community to grow, in the consciousness of difference: among the thinkers who will bring their contributions is philosopher Federico Leoni.
The Other as Care includes projects animated by a strong social spirit, committed to the redevelopment of spaces and seeking to mend a frayed social fabric, animated by personalities such as Massimo Recalcati. Caring - of the Other, of the community, of one’s city, of the Planet - is what determines a civilization.

The candidacy starts from the awareness that today more than ever, culture has a social role: identity, inclusion, equality, social cohesion are themes of the arts and contemporary thought, and culture is the tool through which changes, events and responses provided by technology are filtered and thus gain meaning, to improve the individual and the community.

Ancona also plans a new cultural system that ties in with the multi-year strategic plan, which has three main points: City-Sea, which enhances its position in the Adriatic and its natural element; City-Mole because Ancona is home to one of the country’s most fascinating monumental complexes, the Mole Vanvitelliana, by architect Vanvitelli; City-City, to claim a central role in the territory.

To these they add major urban regeneration projects: the restoration of the Mole Vanvitelliana will be completed, with the opening of a new 6,000-square-meter wing. The outdoor space of the eighteenth-century Mole will also be transformed: the old disused tracks will be covered by the lawn and installations, and the sea and boats moored in the water surrounding the monument will become scenes for activities and events and for the community. This reconnects the link between Ancona and the Old Port, which will become the great arena for outdoor performances.
Alongside this great center of culture along the sea, work is being done in parallel to revitalize, through culture, the suburbs: institutions, festivals, associations and major urban planning projects rebuild identities and meeting spaces, reconnecting the suburbs to the city center.

In support of the capital’s candidacy, ties have been strengthened with other cities in the Marche region: Loreto with the Holy House; Macerata, city of the famous Sferisterio; Recanati, city of Leopardi; Senigallia; Camerano; and even Fano, also a candidate for Capital of Culture.

On the occasion of Ancona being nominated as Capital of Culture 2022, the special platform www.ancona2022.com was created.

Pictured is the Cathedral of San Ciriaco. Ph.Credit Zitti

Ancona Cultural Capital 2022 candidate. The Other is the chosen theme

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