From
a place of imprisonment and punishment to a new, multifunctional cultural
complex for contemporary times: this is the goal of the project to revive a
former prison in Florence.
Once
renovated, the Le Murate complex, located between via dell’ Agnolo and via
Ghibellina on Viale della Giovine Italia, will include a section of public
housing, to be completed in the next few months, a literary café, a space for
contemporary art exhibitions and workshops for local youth, and a refuge for
the world’s ‘smart dissidents’-political activists and bloggers of the 2.0
generation who use the Internet to voice their opinions and concerns.
The
Smart Dissidents project and new complex at Le Murate is modeled on France’s
‘refuge’ for persecuted journalists from around the world, called the Maison
des Journalistes (‘House of Journalists’), which opened in Paris in 2003 (see www.maisondesjournalistes.org).
Like
the Maison, Le Murate will offer 24 apartments, food and a place to write for
up to six months.
Culture
superintendent Giuliano da Empoli says the program will be operating by spring
2010. ‘The Smart Dissidents initiative was launched to welcome all of those
dissidents and political activists, from China to Russia, from Afghanistan to
Iran, who use the Internet and new technologies to speak about the injustices
that occur in their native regimes or countries, and for this reason are
censured or treated with violence. We want to bring them to Florence for a short period of
time, and give them the chance to live and work in freedom, without the repercussions
and threats they experience in their native countries.’
In
addition to the area reserved for ‘smart dissidents’, the public housing
section of the complex will have 79 new apartments, 18 of which will be
reserved for young couples. The University of Florence will also use part of the
vast complex; however planning for the space is still in process.
