Pistoia announces 2017 initiatives

Pistoia announces 2017 initiatives

Urban regeneration projects, international conferences, exhibitions, festivals

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Tue 06 Dec 2016 6:08 PM

Mantua will soon take its final bow as Italy’s Capital of Culture for 2016 and the spotlight will shift to Pistoia, its successor. Lonely Planet recently named the Tuscan city one of the top ten worldwide to visit in 2017, citing its vast artistic and cultural heritage and relative lack of tourist crowds. The official Pistoia 2017 project will put this patrimony on the global stage—and perhaps outdate Lonely Planet’s assessment of the tourism situation—by organizing hundreds of events and exhibitions and championing urban regeneration initiatives.

Ospedale del Ceppo

Ospedale del Ceppo

Major requalification is in the works for the area around the Ospedale del Ceppo, a medieval hospital recognizable by its recently restored Della Robbia frieze. Its surrounding area—in the heart of the historic center—will be transformed into a fully pedestrianized neighborhood with green spaces and eco-friendly infrastructure. Spearheaded by architect Giannantonio Vannetti, the project will create new cycling paths, a park and community square, as well as various centers for public services. The plan also includes three new residential complexes, but 75 percent of the projected amenities are for public use.  

Restoration work is also underway on three of the city’s churches: San Pier Maggiore, San Salvatore and San Jacopo in Castellare, with the latter slated to become a new cultural center. 

Environmental and infrastructural changes are cornerstones of Pistoia 2017, but the year’s wide-ranging program of events will be of more immediate interest to visitors. Key entries in the lineup are two exhibitions at Palazzo Fabroni, one of the city’s contemporary and 20th century art hubs. “Prêt-à-porter”, showcasing paintings by Milanese artist Giovanni Franga, will run from February 5 to April 2. The focus shifts to sculpture with “Marino Marini. Visual Passions” (September 16 to January 7, 2018), which will highlight the locally-born artist’s plastic creations. Taking Pistoia’s artistic legacy on the road, the same show will later move to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice (January 27 to May 1, 2018).

Architectural heritage is another recurring theme in the official events calendar. Through an exhibition titled “Michelucci’s Cities,” Palazzo Comunale will pay tribute to architect Giovanni Michelucci, a Pistoia native known for his leadership in the construction of Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station. The four-section exhibition will feature architectural models, sketches, drafts, plastic designs and other relics of the versatile Michelucci’s work (March 25 to May 21).

Past edition of international conference Dialoghi sull'Uomo

Past edition of international conference Dialoghi sull’Uomo

Established cultural conferences such as Leggere La Città and Dialoghi sull’uomo—both temporary “think tanks” bringing scholars to the city each year—have cemented Pistoia’s reputation as a hub for intercultural and cross-disciplinary discussions. Both have a contemporary anthropological focus this year: Leggere La Città’s 2017 theme is “Culture and community,” to be illustrated in in a keynote address by French scholar Marc Augé. Meanwhile, amid a shifting international political climate, Dialoghi sull’uomo will center on cross-cultural interactions, with the tagline “Culture that makes us human. Movement, diversity and exchange.”

Long before such conferences gained global clout, Pistoia was linked to challenging conversations: witness the legacy of locally-born missionary Ippolito Desideri, the first European to carry out an in-depth study of Tibetan culture in the early 18th century. Desideri, according to the 14th Dalai Lama, paved the way for interreligious dialogue centuries before the concept existed. This pioneering Pistoia native will be the subject of an exhibition and related conference, commemorating the 300th anniversary of his arrival in Lhasa. Exact dates are unconfirmed at publication of this article.

Key music and theatre initiatives in 2017 will include the fledgling Pistoia Teatro Festival (June 19 to 25) and the return of Pistoia Blues, one of Italy’s longest-running music festivals, held in the summer. The program for the 38th edition will be unveiled the end of January, and numerous “preview” events and workshops will take place in the months leading up to the festival’s launch. A highlight will be a February 23 concert at Teatro Manzoni given by prolific English musician John Mayall, an influential figure in the “British blues” movement.

Throughout the year, Pistoia will live up to its reputation as a UNICEF Child Friendly City. A Teatro Bolognini conference will touch on the value of community involvement in children’s education (March 31 to April 1), while Pistoia seen “through the eyes of babes” will be the subject of a related art exhibition. In September and October, the Associazione Teatrale Pistoiese will put on a variety of Pinocchio-themed entertainment and activities—spanning dance, music, cinema, theatre and illustration.

Looking at the year ahead, mayor of Pistoia Samuele Bertinelli described culture as “a catalyst for the growth and formation of free, knowledgeable, democratic citizens. Culture in all of its expressions is, in this sense, the inspiration behind all of our administrative actions.”

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