“An outpost that truly represents the culture of Cosenza. It was the old town hall that became the House of Cultures, but today more than ever it is for us the symbol of the cultural rebirth of the old city.” The statement, with a touch of pride mixed with satisfaction, is from Mayor Franz Caruso who yesterday cut the ribbon at the inauguration ceremony of the new course of the House of Cultures, which has returned to the city’s usability after the recovery and consolidation interventions, made possible thanks to the resources of Urban Agenda. The new management and valorisation of the cultural spaces were entrusted, after the completion of the relevant tender, also by Agenda Urbana, to the “Teatro in note” cooperative which will manage the “Agorà” project. “Teatro in notes, whose President is Vera Segreti, the new artistic director of the House of Cultures – said the Mayor Franz Caruso – will enhance the spaces within the structure which will also be put at the service of the community, because they can be used for a series of cultural activities that other associations can propose and which will serve to revitalize the historic center”. Franz Caruso speaks not only of the relaunch of an important building in the city, but above all of “the cultural relaunch of an activity that must serve to contaminate the territory and therefore solicit and promote cultural activities also by those who do not have their own headquarters in the center historic, but you can find it right here.” For the mayor, the inauguration is “symbolically a return to what was a philosophy of cultural development of the territory. The House of Cultures – states Franz Caruso – was inaugurated 27 years ago and in that case European funds from the Urban program were used”. It is at this point in his speech that Franz Caruso thanks “those, like the then Mayor Giacomo Mancini, at that time who used these resources to recover a property that was being lost. Today we resume that path using Urban Agenda funds and we have also demonstrated that it is not true that money is not spent in the South. Money in the South – points out Mayor Franz Caruso – when you want to spend it and know how to spend it, it is spent and it is spent well. Today we have demonstrated, with all these Urban Agenda works that we are inaugurating – others will be inaugurated in the coming weeks – that we carry out the inaugurations after we have completed the works and do not carry them out to unfinished works”. A significant passage of his speech, in the beautiful and very crowded “Sala Gullo”, magnificently restored and fully refurnished, the Mayor reserves for the “landing” of the University in the historic center. “The University arrived thanks to my commitment, and it was not at all a given. After many years we managed to bring a university faculty to the historic center and before the faculty of nursing sciences, which arrived in the monumental complex of San Domenico, we granted Palazzo Spadafora to the Unical, where ten start-ups made up mainly of young people who , thanks to this availability of the Administration, they are experiencing the historic center”. Franz Caruso also recalled the post on Facebook with which yesterday he thanked the inhabitants of the historic center and the cooperatives that take care of it. “The residents of the historic city – underlined the Mayor – demonstrate that they have much more respect for their city than other parts of the territory that should be an example. The example, on the contrary, comes from the very place where the cultural roots of the city lie. We focused a lot on the historic center because we started from where the others never arrived, that is, from the suburbs. Unfortunately we have to say that even the historic center is a suburb. An anomaly, that of the old city, which is explained by the fact – added Franz Caruso – that the historic center has remained isolated from the rest of the city. And how can we not start from the historic center which is the family jewel, not only for our city, but for the entire provincial territory which goes well beyond the urban area. I believe – concluded the Mayor – that a jewel like the historic center must become the fulcrum of a cultural development of a much larger area, capable of bringing together those many small treasures that are found in the historic centers and in the monuments of our little towns and villages that surround the city. The historic center must not only be revived, but must become the engine of development for the commitment to make our city become the Athens of Calabria again, as it was in the past”. At the “vernissage” of the new Casa delle Culture, a well-deserved prominent place, for the role he played as the Mayor’s delegate to “Urban Agenda”, goes to the municipal councilor Francesco Alimena. “We have tried in every way – explained Alimena – not to lose the financing of the Urban Agenda which in his name contains the sense of its importance, because it is an agenda for the city. These are funds that Europe dedicates to those most disadvantaged areas of which we, unfortunately, are part, so that we can make cities more sustainable. Funding which – underlined Francesco Alimena – goes partly to public works, and for the city of Cosenza there are 11, and among these there is precisely the House of Cultures, and partly to businesses which, in our case, are 12. All together they will try to mend and define a new model of the city, focusing on culture and social issues. The House of Cultures – Alimena further recalled – was one of the most significant pillars of the centre-left administrative experience in Cosenza”. The Mayor’s delegated advisor also recalled the renovation and recovery work which involved both structural and energy efficiency and the important restoration interventions. “Alongside this major renovation project, Urban Agenda also envisaged the assignment of the management of the places, so that the cultural centers could reopen and for Casa delle Culture the tender was won by the Teatro cooperative in notes with the Agorà project. The idea we had in mind – concluded Alimena – was to make the House of Cultures a true hotbed of the arts again”. Satisfaction, mixed with understandable emotion, was expressed by Vera Segreti, President of “Teatro in note” and artistic director of the Casa delle Culture. “I entered this structure for the first time when I was 20 years old, singing and acting with great masters from Cosenza and beyond”. In this regard, Vera Segreti recalled her training with maestro Giorgio Albertazzi. “Coming back here for me – she added – means a lot and I will prove it to you with facts. Already in the early 2000s we held various activities here, with concerts and exhibitions and starting again is a source of great joy and pride for us.” The Cooperativa Teatro in note has been working in the area for 30 years and for 10 years has brought the “Corti Cosenza” festival to schools, a training project that involves children. “One of the objectives – remarked Vera Segreti – is precisely to bring all the activities we carry out to the Casa delle Culture, so that it can be repopulated again, with, for example, our Diàlogos philosophy festival; or with “Calabria in fabula” which involves the theatrical realities of the area; or, again, with the third edition of the contemporary film festival “L’Altravision” and the poetry festival. The Teatro in note cooperative – concluded Vera Segreti – has made an important economic investment because it believes in the “Agorà” project and wants to promote the House of Cultures as a place of art and meeting between different languages and as a venue for scientific laboratories and conferences, a place, in short, where it is possible to create bonds between people and open a dialogue through art and its power to change the community”. The calendar of activities that “Teatro in note” has already organized will be announced shortly.
