Palermo has been picked as
Italian culture capital for 2018, Culture Minister Dario
Franceschini announced after the selection by a jury led by
Bocconi University Professor Stefano Baia Curioni.
The other finalists were Alghero, Aquileia, Comacchio,
Ercolano (Herculaneum), Montebelluna, Recanati, Settimo
Torinese, Trento and a group of northern Sicilian towns.
"We've all won," said a jubilant Palermo mayor, Leoluca
Orlando.
"The most significant cultural asset we uphold is the culture
of welcome. We support the right of all human beings to be and
remain different, but to be and remain the same".
The jury's citation said "the candidacy is backed by an
original project, of high cultural value, great humanitarian
scope, strongly and generously aimed at inclusion, permanent
training, the creation of capacity and citizenship, without
neglecting the valorisation of the heritage and contemporary
artistic production".
It said "the project is supported by the principal local
institutional and cultural actors and also envisages
infrastructural events able to leave a lasting and positive
mark.
"The elements of governance, public-private synergy and
economic context, then, help strengthen its sustainability and
credibility".
photo: Palazzo delle Aquile
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