Historic day for Taranto: the “Italian Mediterranean Biennale” dedicated to architecture and contemporary art is born, the international cultural event that will take place in the “city of the two seas” and will see a specific launch event already in the autumn of this year.
What has been achieved thanks to the commitment made by the Administration led by Mayor Rinaldo Melucci and the great work carried out by the Culture Directorate of the civic body is a goal of epochal importance, not only if we think about what and how many advantages it will bring in terms of visibility and promotion of the immense historical-artistic-cultural heritage. But also with a view to the reorganization of the city’s economic model, which will be able to further focus on greater tourist flows, thanks to the different international positioning from which the entire territory will be able to benefit.
Conceived as a resilience test within the strategic plan for the just transition “Taranto Ecosystem” and strongly desired by Mayor Melucci, the Biennale will not replicate the general offer of similar national initiatives, above all because it is aimed at a specific international audience: that of the countries of the Mediterranean area. Which are strategic for Taranto and for the country which, as demonstrated by the so-called “Mattei Plan”, looks to North Africa in geopolitical, energy, infrastructural and also cultural terms.
“It will be an exhibition – declared the mayor – which will not only deal with art, but will mainly focus on urban regeneration, sustainable suburbs and the concept of “placemaking”. It will take care of valorising typical Mediterranean living solutions that are traditionally sustainable. The study center planned as part of the Biennale will deal, among other things, with the use of artificial intelligence, rather than new materials applied to architecture and living. It will be a fairly innovative Biennial, particularly centered on the concept of changing cities, specifically on the concept of just transition.”
“As I reiterated to Minister Sangiuliano, to whom my thanks go, we will make sure not to duplicate existing offers and we will contribute to strengthening Italian cultural influence abroad. As regards the headquarters, we are thinking of hosting it permanently at Palazzo Archita, together with the municipal art gallery and sections of the MArTa, and within a month from today the coordination table will be established, which includes the Ministry, the Region, the MAXXI Foundation and the Municipality, which must launch the scientific project and which will most likely organize the official presentation at the end of next November, corresponding to Mediterranean Day”.
The idea of giving life to the Biennale was born from the certainty that it could “unleash” the cultural enterprise, therefore paving the way for an alternative economy to that deriving from the large steel industry. But not only. “Given the international context – continued the mayor – this exhibition will have the strength to reposition the image of the city on the international market with institutional interlocutors, abroad. Our Biennial will be different from the others because, in addition to enhancing the profound intercultural, interreligious, economic and commercial ties with other countries in the area, it will tell its citizens, even before the visitors, how the city is changing in a Euro-Mediterranean. All this in continuity with our program of economic reconversion, urban regeneration and valorisation of our ancient roots”.
