The official opening of the Bosco delle Neofite will be celebrated on May 29th in Prato, an ambitious project that comes to light thanks to the contribution of numerous internationally renowned artists and the support of significant institutional entities.
The inauguration ceremony, scheduled for 6.30 pm, will see the participation of prominent figures such as Mario Cristiani and Stefano Mancuso, accompanied by the journalist Nicolas Ballario, the mayor Matteo Biffoni, the councilor for urban planning, Valerio Barberis and Father Fabio Baggio, General Director of the Laudato Sì Higher Education Center of the Vatican.
The latter will donate an olive tree from the Gardens of the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo to the forest, a symbol of peace and harmony, underlining the profound link between art, ecology and community spirit. The evening will continue with a fundraising dinner at the Myo restaurant in Prato which will see the participation of artists and personalities from the national and international cultural scene and will be enriched by a charity auction in collaboration with Farsetti Arte. Items up for auction include works by artists such as Leandro Erlich, Cildo Meireles, Nari Ward, Sislej Xhafa and Carsten Höller.
The Bosco delle Neofite is part of a broader project called “Art for Reforestation”, an integral part of the Cities of the Future initiative.
This project was born thanks to a significant fundraising campaign in 2022, through the sale of works of art donated by seventeen international artists. The forest will not only be a green lung, but also an educational and training place, with totems that illustrate the evolution of the project and the specifications of the plants, also providing information on the artists involved.
The initiative aims to transform an urban area in difficulty into a cutting-edge neighbourhood, where art and architecture interact with the surrounding environment, proposing itself as a concrete model of the city of the future. The Arte Continua Association, promoter of the project, underlines the importance of this synergy between art and nature as a tool for raising awareness and improving the quality of life, giving an innovative approach to urban life that integrates environmental sustainability and artistic expression. With its inauguration, the Neophyte Forest not only does it enrich the community of Prato, but it offers itself as a shining example of how art can play a crucial role in promoting sustainability and social inclusion. A new chapter for Prato, which looks to the future with attentive and creative eyes.
