3rd edition of the International Prize "City of Peace 2013"
Law no. 103 of 24 February 2006, "Regulations concerning initiatives intended to facilitate the culture of peace", grants Rovereto the right - uniquely in Italy - to hold the title of "City of Peace"; it also stipulates that the Opera Campana dei Caduti Foundation institute an international prize which is the result of careful research, in order to bring to light, promote and make visible those communities - large or small - that distinguish themselves by the concrete creation, development and affirmation of a genuine "culture of peace".
From this legislation comes the International "City of Peace" Prize, whose first edition was awarded to the community of Acupe in Salvador de Bahia (Brazil), and the second, in 2011, to the city of Strasbourg.
The premise for the awarding of the third edition of the International "City of Peace" Prize in 2013 comes, as ever, from the vocation of Maria Dolens, whose hundred strokes every evening express its universal message of rejection of war.
Just as the Bell of the Fallen is considered the greatest historical and moral symbol of the 20th century's most terrible tragedy, Lampedusa can be considered a symbolic place of conflict in the age of globalisation: the violation of human rights and disrespect for human dignity.
The Bell in Rovereto is the most important symbol of peace in a city that boasts the title "City of Peace"; a city born from the rubble of the First World War, a city torn apart by conflict, which succeeded in coming back to life as a symbol of lasting peace. As Father Jori used to say, the Bell is in Rovereto, but it doesn't belong to Rovereto, and it must take account of the world and its problems.
The concept of globalisation cannot be considered merely from the angle of economics, but from a social perspective; the term globalisation must be associated with the term migrant.
Indeed, the word migrant expresses an international concept, just like Maria Dolens.
The central theme of the 21st century is globalisation, and therefore migration and migrants.
For these reasons, in 2013, representatives of Lampedusa's institutions and secular society will be present at Miravalle Hill at the foot of the great bronze monument, to receive the International City of Peace Prize.
This will also be the occasion to formalise the twinning between the Sicilian island and the Opera Campana dei Caduti Foundation.
Invisible cities
The Opera Campana dei Caduti Foundation, in collaboration with the Potlach Theatre, presents the show "Città Invisibili" to mark the granting of the 3rd Edition of the International City of Peace Prize, which for 2013 will be awarded to Lampedusa. The show focuses on the issue of immigration.
A special procedure will be adopted for this edition, whose central theme is so important, deeply affecting our society, our lives and our humanity.
This is a dramatic topic that pervades the Mediterranean and which places Lampedusa and its residents at the centre of the arrival of thousands and thousands of people fleeing extreme poverty in search of a better life, and therefore willing to risk their lives on boats which are often dilapidated.
The project will collect audio and visual material containing witness accounts, desires and fears, but also hope for the future. The material will be collected using anthropological methodology and respecting different views, cultures and identities, in the form of interviews and stories, photographs of residents' faces and also of the refugees: young and old, men, women and children.
All the material collected will be assembled and elaborated by Teatro Potlach and shown to the dozens of theatre, music, dance and visual art organisations and the numerous local social associations which have been involved in previous editions.
This will instigate a dialogue among participants, allowing the associations and artists to exchange their experiences.
Following this, the show will be designed.
During this stage, with the help of Teatro Potlach, each participant will transform the materials collected in Lampedusa into artwork, drawing on the reflection and exchange between artists and starting from their own artistic and social identity.
Only at the conclusion of this process of work and reflection will the show "Città Invisibili" be presented for three evenings; in it, all the local associations and artists will present their creations on the theme of immigration along a route laid out in the city. The videos of interviews and stories collected in Lampedusa will form part of one extensive performance.
At the Foundation's headquarters on Miravalle Hill, furthermore, there will also be a visual exhibition which will take over the surroundings of the Bell with the material collected in Lampedusa and developed by the artists using digital tools.
