No participation in the Ravenna Festival sponsored by Eni, owner of the Hamon towers (in the photo) in the former Sarom area on the outskirts of Ravenna – also made famous in Michelangelo Antonioni’s film ‘Red Desert’ – but demolished in recent weeks despite many protests from citizens and for decades one of the symbols of the city. This was requested through a joint note by various associations – the ‘Chico’ Mendes club of Bologna, the National Safe Work Network, the Ravenna Coordination ‘For the Climate, Out of the Fossil’, Italia Nostra section of Ravenna, Potere al Popolo Ravenna, Ravenna in Comune, Collettivo La Comune – who underlined how “numerous times Maestro Muti has made his voice heard on cultural issues of importance for our country, receiving applause and recognition”.
However, the associations argue, “when it is not the words that are censored, but extraordinary artefacts of the twentieth-century industrial heritage of Ravenna which were one of the identity symbols of modernity; when, with an Easter blitz, without a single expert report having been shown , using as cabinet paper the Pug Urban Plan long participated by the citizens, voted by the municipal council and signed by the mayor Miche del Pascale, even the maestro adapts to silence”.
Therefore, the associations continue, “not even a single word from Cristina Mazzavillani Muti” although “in the past she had expressed herself clearly in favor of protection”.
In light of this, “tired of ephemeral staging, we invite all citizens who care about material cultural heritage to give a strong signal and to disdain participation in the new edition of the Ravenna Festival, supported as always by Eni funds”.
