Matera is to field contemporary
music masters George Friedric Haas and Paolo Fresu as part of
the events during its year as European culture capital next
year, the southern Italian city's administration said at the
weekend.
As well as offering art, performances and new technologies,
they said they would highlight the role in the local economy of
one of Matera's food specialities, bread.
The government has earmarked some 400 million euros to help
Matera prepare to become European Culture Capital in 2019,
Territorial Cohesion and Mezzogiorno Minister Claudio De
Vincenti said recently.
He said the contract would set up a "governance structure"
that "will enable a maximum acceleration in interventions for
this great event, both for Matera and for our country".
De Vincenti said "Matera will not incur debt" and "all the
outlays have been covered".
The southern Italian city, famous for its UNESCO World
Heritage Site "Sassi" cave dwellings, is already looking towards
2019.
Mayor Raffaello De Ruggieri recently told ANSA that the title
gives the city a "not-to-be-missed development opportunity" that
will make the city of the Sassi both "appealing, but also
attractive for investments".
Plans for the year include cultural production, tourism,
specialised economy areas, technology, roads, and even a small
underground that will cross the city by 2018.
Centre-right official De Ruggieri is a lawyer as well as
founder and president of Matera's Zetema cultural heritage
foundation since 1998.
The man who has for decades pioneered battles to save the
city of the Sassi said 2019 mustn't end in a "series of
interesting demonstrations" but must be an opportunity also to
"change the rhythm of the city in terms of its economic
profile".
De Ruggieri said this concept must absolutely be
integrated, for example by taking advantage of the possibilities
for filmmaking in the city and offering production companies a
sort of Matera version of Cinecitta', with areas set up for pre-
and post-production.
Matera has been used as the backdrop for several films
including Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ and Pier Paolo
Pasolini's The Gospel According to Matthew.
De Ruggieri also said the contractual power of the city could
be used to "have special economic areas with tax advantages",
high-tech work for the area's young people, as well as cultural
production districts with "Culture Workshops", that he explained
are places where young creatives who want to produce culture
could come together and get help from international
personalities.
On the problem of accessibility to the unique town, perched
on a steep gorge carved out by the Gravina River, De Ruggieri
said the city is looking at options such as a roadway link that
would connect the A14 motorway that runs from Bologna in the
north to Taranto in the south with the nearby town of
Ferrandina.
All in all, the Basilicata town of 62,000 residents must gear
up to host the estimated one million visitors expected to
arrive.
De Ruggieri reiterated that 2019 is a not-to-miss occasion
for Matera, and said he remains optimistic.
"I believe the government is starting to see in Matera's
designation as European Capital of Culture for 2019 a unique and
strategic time to assert the dignity and credibility of Italy in
the world".
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