Thursday 16 May, at 7pmseven parades will start from neighborhoods and significant places to cross the streets crossed by the water a year ago and converge in Piazza del Popoloto Faenza.
Here, at 7.30 pm, a meeting will begin collective ritual to renew the bond that the community of Faenza was able to express during and after the double flood that hit the city.
The Mud Ceremony it is a project that the company Menoventi / E Production conceived and organised, with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture (winner of the 2024 Special Projects Call) and the Emilia-Romagna Region, the patronage of the Municipality of Faenza, the support of Gruppo HERA and GranFrutta Zani.
Consuelo Battiston And Gianni Farinafounders of Minus twentya theater company based in Faenza, have been organizing the MEME training course and the related festival for over 12 years.
In 2024 they decided to reconfigure this route into three free workshops open to citizens– children, teenagers and adults- who from January to May addressed the wound left by the flood with the language of theatre and they have developed a ritual in which all citizens are invited to participate on May 16th.
The Mud Ceremony is rooted in active and valuable collaboration of associations, artistic, cultural and sporting entities, ceramic workshops, schools, farmers’ representatives, informal groups, professionals and individual citizenswho agreed to the proposal to meet again, one year after the double flood, to walk along the streets crossed by the water and leave a sign of what happened in the square, testifying to the capacity for rebirth that the city has been able to demonstrate.
The seven processions – composition and routes
1. Departure from the Osservanza Cemetery. A journey guided by the kids who participated in the MEME laboratory Bubble conducted by Beatrice Cevolani– which embraces the neighborhood Orto Bertoni and overlooks Marzeno and the hill.
They join SAR Team Faenza with trained rescue dogs, one representation of local farmers, the musical group La Carampana and the popular dance groupwhich will enliven the collective finale in the Square.
2. Piazza Fernianimeeting point of area between via Lapi and via Calamelli. The procession will follow the blue dragon created by the Association Art Facts together with the neighborhood volunteers, supported by the children of the nursery school Il Girasole and Save the Children.
3. The procession starting from Artistation music school will flow into the great parade at Piazza Lanzoni, near the Ponte delle Grazie. The children who participated in the MEME workshop From voice to voice conducted by Ermelinda Nasuto will be joined by Carchidio School, Faentina Cycling Society, Anffas, Guerrino Tramonti Museum and the Lia Cavassi and Monica Ortelli ceramic workshops.
4. A composite path, which crosses Corso Garibaldi starting from four symbolic places.
Participants in the adult workshop To flow– hosted by Gianni Farina– they will lead the parade that starts in front of the headquarters of the CGIL in Borgotto. At the height of Piazza San Francesco the realities of will come together via della Croce and surroundings: the Pirazzini primary school, the La Vecchia Faenza shop, the Carlo Zauli Museum, the citizens of via Ponte Romano and all the districts who, in solidarity with the only team of the Palio devastated by the water, will leave together from the district Black.
These will be joined by Faenza Writers and Publishers Committee and the Solaroli Company at the height of the steps of the Duomo.
5. The Theater two WorldsI will lead the parade starting from Torricelli-Ballardini High School, headquarters of the laboratory dedicated to the theme of flooding, with the help of the participants in the theater journey Without borders – stories above and below the water.
6. The former Salesian complex hosts the departure of procession led by the Marching Band and composed of the Giuseppe Sarti School of Music, the Tommaso Minardi School of Art and the boys of Faventia Calcio.
7. The Manfrediana Library will arrive in the square accompanied by the writer Cristiano Cavina.
All these journeys are made possible by the fundamental support of voluntary associations who support the project with great passion and commitment: ANC Faenza, ANC Gruppo Sbarretti, ANPANA Faenza, Ass. Naz. Carabinieri 85 Unit, Volunteering and Civil Prot. ODV, CVPC Team Faenza, GEV Faenza.
Other entities have collaborated in various capacities in the realization of this ceremony and will gather directly in Piazza del Popolo at 7.30 pm for the start of the ritual: Fototeca Manfrediana, Independentpoetry, Museo Ivo Sassi, Cantieri Danza APS, as well as the ceramists Antonella Ravagli, Andrea Salvatori, Maria Cristina Sintoni, Mirco Denicolò.
The collective ritual in Piazza del Popolo. Each group present will be asked to leave a mark while a scenography will be set up in the center of the square
Each group involved will be asked to leave a mark in Piazza del Popolo to symbolically share one’s experience, but also and above all to find new energy in sharing to start again and look to the future.
In the center of the square, the heart of the city, a scenography will be set upcurated by the architect Andrea Montesiwhich will welcome the signs and acts that constitute the collective ritual: a large river-snake, whose head recalls the profile of the Ponte delle Grazie.
Battiston and Farina (Menoventi): “Let’s renew the solidarity force that kept Faenza standing, the tenacious force of a rediscovered community that we don’t want to disperse”
“On May 16th we will meet in the places devastated by the flood. We will gather in parks, in cultural and sporting venues, in schools, in shops, in the streets.
Like a vital current we will meet to give body and voice to the processions that will converge in the square to celebrate the Mud Ceremony. We want to transform held back emotions into song.
We want to feel close again to renew the solidarity force that kept the city standing. We want to underline the dignity of those who have lost everything, the smile of those who lent a hand, the tenacious strength of a rediscovered community, which we do not want to disperse“, they say Consuelo Battiston and Gianni Farinafounders of Minus twenty and creators of the Mud Ceremony.
“The event of ‘Mud ceremony‘ represents a symbolic moment of great emotional impactespecially one year after the terrible flood that hit Romagna.
The community’s response was an extraordinary demonstration of resilience, in which the Hera Group played a leading role. – he underlined Giuseppe GaglianoDirector of External Relations Hera Group.– The dimensions of the flood in Romagna were impressive: 4.5 million cubic meters of water in just 17 days, 23 rivers flooded, 450 cubic km of territory flooded, over a thousand landslides, 44 municipalities affected, 820 roads affected and 15 thousand buildings submerged by water.
It was an unprecedented emergency, which required an extraordinary commitment. The Hera Group responded promptly, putting in place over 300 people dedicated full time to emergencies.
The Hera Group has decided to strongly support the ‘Mud Ceremony’ because it recognizes the fundamental value of the involvement of all the social and cultural realities involved. In fact, the event enhances the collective moment of solidarity and commitment of the territory in dealing with the consequences of this tragedy”.
“Faenza is a municipality that has historical bases linked to agriculturea, excellence of the territory. The main players are farmers, recognized throughout the world for their agronomic skills and expertise, and with great wisdom they have developed specialized fruit growing which has always been constantly evolving with the needs of the times.
Farmers must be recognized as having a fundamental role precious and irreplaceable custodians of the territoryprofound knowledge of all soil maintenance and efficiency practices to be able to deal with even extraordinary climatic events. The flood of 16 May 2023 must represent an event of such social and historical importance, not to be forgotten.
We owe this to all those who suffered serious damage but above all to those who paid the dearest price for that catastrophe with their lives”, so Giuliano Donatipresident of GranFrutta Zaniexplains the decision to support the event, also actively participating in the parade by delivering a young plant to the Square, a symbol of rebirth.
MEME The Mud Ceremony is carried out with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture / Special Projects Call 2024 and the Emilia-Romagna Region, with the patronage of the Municipality of Faenza.
Partner: HERA Group. Thanks to GranFrutta Zani
The Mud Ceremony is also possible thanks to the precious collaboration of:
Accademia Perduta / Romagna Teatri – ANC Faenza – ANC Gruppo Sbarretti – Andrea Montesi – Anffas Faenza – ANPANA Faenza – Artistation – Associazione Culturale Fatti d’Arte – Ass. Naz. Carabinieri 85 Volunteer and Civil Protection Unit ODV – Manfrediana Municipal Library of Faenza – Bottega Gatti – House of Music – Lia Cavassi / 6243 Ceramic Studio – Cristiano Cavina – CGIL Faenza – Faenza Writers and Publishers Committee / Compagnia Solaroli / Musical Materials – Italian Red Cross – CVPC Team Faenza – Mirco Denicolò – Faventia Calcio – Fabbro Ferrini Lorenzo – Falegnameria Diversi Davide – Fototeca Manfrediana – GEV Faenza – Giovanni Delvecchio – Independentpoetry – Istituto Carchidio Strocchi – La Carampana / Popular Dance Group – La Vecchia Faenza – Liceo Torricelli Ballardini – Carlo Zauli Museum – Guerrino Tramonti Museum – Ivo Sassi Museum – Monica Ortelli Ceramica – Antonella Ravagli – Rioni – Palio del Niballo – Andrea Salvatori Studio – Save The Children – SAR Team Faenza – Giuseppe Sarti Municipal School of Music – Tommaso Minardi School of Art – Il Girasole Nursery School – Pirazzini primary school – Maria Cristina Sintoni / Art and Ceramics – Faenza Cycling Society – Teatro Due Mondi
