Besides bars, what alternative can we offer to young people who decide to stay and live in a city in Southern Italy? Officina San Domenico is closely linked to this question and to a group of thirty-year-olds united by the desire to work for the redemption of the South, for the valorization of its talents and for the creation of a network of actors and projects that allow its full development.
We are in May 2018, in the Apulian town of Andria. Thus was born’CapitalSud social promotion association, who has been managing Officina San Domenico for three yearsa meeting center and laboratory of ideas for young people which, over time, has taken on the value of a “refuge space” where young people between the ages of 15 and 25 meet to get away from other places in the city that they don’t belong to to them and which exclude them socially and economically.
Where the town’s power plant was located in 1896, today there is the Officina San Domenico with its artistic atelierwhere children can paint and experiment with artistic craft techniques and the recording roomentrusted to the management of a group of young people aged between 18 and 21, who host new aspiring musicians every day.
A self-managed place e generativeor ideas
“One day,” he says Saverio Colasuonno, vice president of CapitalSud, «a group of young guys proposed to us to set up – in a space that we used as a warehouse – a recording room to be able to record their songs. From that moment on, that environment has become a space where those with a passion for music come to the Officina to rehearse, record and produce their own music. Our spaces are self-managed generative places where you can grow as individuals but above all as a community. A few days ago a 13 year old boy, who would like to become a DJ, stopped me and told me that he had been told about our recording studio, but wanted to know the cost of using it. I explained to him that it can be used in exchange for a free and voluntary contribution. He thought about it and told me that he could give us 3 euros. From that day this boy can finally believe in a dream, commit himself, try to find his way in the world of music.”
A few days ago a 13 year old boy, who would like to become a DJ, stopped me to tell me that they had told him about our recording room. He wanted to know the cost. I explained to him that we only ask for a free contribution. He told me that he could give 3 euros. Today this boy can finally believe in a dream
Saverio Colasuonno, vice president of CapitalSud
The structure was in a state of abandonment for years, until in 2013 it was renovated thanks to the regional funding “Bollenti Spiriti”. In July 2021 CapitalSud launched the management project internally following the candidacy for “Luoghi Comuni. Let’s give space to young people” is the initiative of the Puglia region which, through the mapping of underutilized public assets, brings together young people and public bodies by financing projects aimed at the territory and communities.
«Our space comes alive every day with activities aimed at all ages because we believe in the importance of the meeting between different generations. We go from social concierge for the technological education of the elderly, al Passpartù cultural foster care projecta network of “adoptive” families, intercepted by us, which made it possible for some minors in conditions of educational poverty to participate in cultural and other activities, organized by the Officina San Domenico but also by other local organizations”, he says Vincenzo Simeone, president of CapitalSud. «The project has developed sensitivity to the value of sharing experiences, putting “adoptive families” in contact with a portion of citizens that they would not have known otherwise».
The after-school program was the first project started by CapitalSud and made it possible to immediately involve the age group ranging from 4 to 12 years launch new projects such as the theatre festival “La città bambina”a permanent theatre course created in collaboration with the Kuziba Teatro company that seeks to develop the self-perception, emotionality and motor skills of the little ones.
Involve people of all ages
«Officina San Domenico is a space that tries to listen and respond to all the needs of the young population and beyond», continues Simeone. «We have managed to involve people of all ages, generating interesting exchanges of skills that are useful for the growth of the younger ones in particular.. I think, for example, of our vegetable garden. It is a space where, thanks to the experience of older people, who freely cultivate it, the kids can rediscover the agricultural and culinary traditions of our land. It is very beautiful to see how, through the simple act of cultivating, bonds are born between the children and the elderly people who care for the land.”
Many activities have been carried out in recent years by the association inside the former power plant. From Comic Sans Domenicoa (in)Stabile Theatreallo Collective listening desk Sac! to provide a place to talk about mental wellbeing, a Open stagethe musical review with performances entirely created by the guys who manage the recording room, up to the last documentary review Uncomfortable Visionson the topics of intensive farming, gangmastering and environmental pollution.
We have managed to involve people of all ages, generating interesting exchanges of skills that are useful for the growth of the younger ones in particular. I think, for example, of our vegetable garden: thanks to the experience of the older people who cultivate it, the kids can rediscover the traditions of our land
Vincenzo Simeone, President of CapitalSud
«The interesting aspect is that ideas are like the concentric circles that form in water when you throw a stone», concludes Vincenzo Simeone: «For example, when we started talking about gender issues with a transfeminist perspective, we would never have thought that from a few meetings we would have built the format Svergognat*, a series of events to “de-generate” oneself, that is, to immerse oneself in gender issues and overturn them, touching on the different dimensions that constrain human and relational growth. The project was born in a city context in which multiple acts of discrimination and violence against young homosexuals, acts of bullying against vulnerable subjects, as well as a recent femicide have occurred.”
LIFE Investigations, Children’s free time, episode 4 – continued
The opening photo is a glimpse of the Officine San Domenico space in Andria with the guys from CapitalSud Aps
