Savona, 03/28/2024.
Involvement. Participation. Dialogue. One year after the launch of the project at the Sala della Sibilla of Priamar, which was followed by the establishment of the candidacy office and months of work also with the citizens and the territory of the province, quantified in 72 meetings for 800 people involved only in the last 2 months, Savona, candidate city for Italian Capital of Culture 2027presents the theme with which he will articulate the cultural program of his dossier: New routes for culture.
The theme
The theme arises from the cloud of words generated by listening to all the participants in the meetings held in the area and shared by the Municipalities of the province of Savona who support the city’s candidacy to build a new socio-cultural project for territorial development aimed at redefining theidentity of Savona and the towns on the coast and inland.
The new routes are those that depart and arrive from Liguria and from Savona in particular – a port for over 4,000 years, at the center of a network of trade from all over the world – with consolidated relationships with cities and nations throughout the Mediterranean, with which build unique, new, sustainable, replicable content and experiences. The new routes are also those created by sharing with the public, made up of residents and tourists, called to discuss and bring the sense of comparison and cultural dialogue back into daily life: 27 words have been identified for an innovative cultural vocabulary.
Finally, the new routes are the 27 original productions activated by Savona and the same number sent from the rest of Italy and the world on the most relevant themes of the moment. The symbolic placeresponsible for content production, will be the Della Rovere Palace which thanks to PNRR funds will be the new Guggenheim of the north-west by 2027, but the project will enhance the other great cultural monuments, starting from Priamarthe most impressive fortified structure in Liguria, a cultural and tourist hub for the entire region, and since St. Jamesthe Franciscan convent which will be completely recovered, and will then involve all the most important places in the city and the municipalities of the district.
Application calendar
- March 27, 2024. Definition of the theme, logo and activation of dedicated social networks
- July 2024. Presentation of the expression of interest in participating in the call
- September 2024. Presentation of the application dossier
- December 2024. Nomination of the 10 finalist candidate cities
- March 2025. Public hearing for presentation and in-depth analysis of the candidacy dossier for the Ministry
- Spring 2025. Nomination of the winning city ”Italian Capital of Culture 2027”.
The city of Savona
Savona is there longest-lived province of Liguria and Italy, with 29.7% of the resident population being over 65 and an average age of 50 (Istat 2023 data) and it is the Ligurian city where people live best, according to the survey on the quality of life in Italy Today -Ital Communications in collaboration with La Sapienza University of Rome. It has a past of economic, political, scientific, cultural and sporting histories and has a present of great potential with the port, the Campus and a provincial territory that has 38 museum structures, a widespread welfare association network, 455 sports clubs with 34,259 athletes and the record number of Blue Flags.
It is a city that looks to the future, aspiring to become the “90 minute city” where, within a 90 minute radius on foot, by train, by bike or by car, you can enjoy a unique tourist, cultural and outdoor offer. Finally, it is the capital of a province, first in Liguria for tourist presences and eighth in Italy for tourism rate, to which it intends to combine a capacity for conception and planning in which scientific culture, technology and artisan knowledge join the more traditional culture to give rise to a new humanism within everyone’s reach.
«This project – explains the mayor of Savona Marco Russo – perfectly holds together two fundamental objectives of Savona’s candidacy as Italian Capital of Culture. On the one hand it collects the many stimuli received in recent months, therefore it provides a great contribution to the redefinition of our identity, between history and future, thus responding to the objective of finally completing its transition path from the industrial city of the twentieth century to the city of the future . On the other hand, this project places Savona in an international scenario, gives it back the right and necessary ambition, a plan that is not usual for it but which is suitable for it as the cradle of the Mediterranean routes. It’s a great route for Savona.”
Municipalities
Savona’s candidacy project for Italian Capital of Culture 2027 sees the involvement of Municipalities of the province who are responding with great enthusiasm and availability, expanding the territorial scope of candidacy every day. The municipalities that to date have expressed their willingness to support the candidacy are: Albenga, Albissola Marina, Albisola Superiore, Altare, Bergeggi, Borgio Verezzi, Calizzano, Carcare, Cairo Montenotte, Celle Ligure, Ceriale, Finale Ligure, Millesimo, Noli, Osiglia, Pietra Ligure, Quiliano, Spotorno, Stella, Tovo San Giacomo, Vado Ligure, Varazze, Villanova d’Albenga.
Events 2024, Towards new routes
The application process includes the maximum involvement of the city and citizens, in order to discuss and question the topic of new routes. Therefore, all the cultural initiatives that have already been planned for 2024 will be oriented towards the candidacy theme. These events will thus become an opportunity to promote Savona 2027. In the meantime, they will be imagined and programmed new initiatives for 2025 and 2026stages of approach towards the year of candidacy.
In the run-up to the presentation of the application dossier, Savona inaugurated the exhibition at the Ceramics Museum Arturo Martini. The plot of dreams which dialogues with Pesaro 2024, Italian Capital of Culture, thanks to the collaboration of the teaching laboratory of the Savona Museum with the city of Pesaro. Appointments with opera are also underway of the Opera Giocosa, which kicked off the season on February 24 with a big tribute to Renata Scotto. The widespread festival of contemporary art is scheduled for April Connexxion (April 20-27). In May Zeronineteenthe children’s literature festival (2-5 May) the celebrations of 100 years of the A Campanassa associationguardian of the traditions of Savona (14 May) and the Majolica Festival (9-12 May) which is linked to another Italian ceramic city, Agrigento, Italian Capital of Culture 2025: 38 artists from Savona and Sicily will create tiles which will be exhibited at Villa Cambiaso on the occasion of the Festival and the following year they will be presented in Agrigento in the year of Italian Capital of Culture 2025. In June the Voxonus Baroque Festival of the Savona Symphony Orchestra dedicated to baroque music. In July Words Ubikate at seathe literary festival organized by the Ubik bookshop, Savona Downtown Festivala cultural and musical project developed around the White Nights, the International Music Festival of the Ensemble Nuove Musiche and the Festival Economy in Preview, proposed by the Feltrinelli bookshop. In August Cinema in the Fortressat Priamar under the stars, the International Mandolin Festival and the Savona Street Fest, organized by the Street Fest association where the protagonists are hip hop and urban culture (29 August – 1 September). Until we get to the big New Year’s concert in the square which will close 2024. Scheduled for 2025, the Good Friday processionan event of faith, culture and popular devotion that enhances the history and traditions of the city with a unique event at national level: the extraordinary visits to the wooden chests preserved in the Savona oratories.
The logo
Savona candidate for Italian Capital of Culture 2027, has a logo that starts from history to tell the change of direction (regeneration and change), a brand to capture and summarize the identity traits of the city and a visual that is nothing other than the broadest expression of the history, culture, beauty and traditions of the city.
An ”O” fragments to generate visual movement as a countdown representing the keywords: change of course, regeneration, mutation. The primary color is the cobalt blue of the decorations of the ceramic tradition with a modern brushstroke of a bright colour, magenta, which represents the modern evolution of the red of the city’s coat of arms.
The comunication
From today the new dedicated social channels are active: Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The name of the various channels will be Savona 2027 and the hashtag is #savona2027. They will be set up with interactive communication guided by listening, exactly as is happening throughout the entire application process. A newsletter will also be activated shortly and a specific site will go online.
«I believe that Savona’s candidacy is highly appropriate – says the president of the Liguria Region Giovanni Toti – first of all because it is a Mediterranean city and Liguria is a fundamental part of that sea to which we have been giving so much value in recent years, then because this is a particularly important moment for our culture, starting with the valorisation of the territory, thanks to the PNRR works and the recovery of our historic villages. We obviously support Savona and are available to the municipal administration and to all those who will participate in the scientific committee to develop a culturally valid project. Ours is also a support for the ideas, history, future and economy of our city. As I often say, culture leads to tourism, business, hospitality, catering and the valorisation of an entire territory. Good luck in Savona.”
«We are not running for what we already have – he specifies Paolo Verri, coordinator of the candidacy – but for what we don’t yet have and what we want to build. There are many new challenges to face and a new cultural vision is at the basis of them. Routes will depart from Savona that will touch all of Italy, the Mediterranean, but also many other nations on the planet. Because only culture can truly bring us together.”
