The first issue of Voce di Maria Dolens in 2025 is, very appropriately, dedicated to presenting some of the activities through which the Campana dei Caduti Foundation intends to celebrate the centenary of the monumental Bell.
I make no secret of the fact that, originally, the goal was actually more ambitious, that is, it was to give an account as early as January of all the initiatives included in 'One Hundred Years - 100 Chimes', the official name of the commemorative programme.
Various reasons, partly related to the unconfirmed financial coverage of this or that module, have led us to focus, for now, our primary attention on two initiatives that have already been defined. These are, on the one hand, the publication of a new volume on the history and news regarding the Bell of the Fallen which, at the same time, is an updated 'mission statement' of the entity that bears its name. On the other, thanks to the collaboration with the Italian War History Museum, we have the setting up of an extensive and articulate reconstruction of Maria Dolens' existence, as well as its varied imprint on the collective imagination located at the Foundation's headquarters, the first 'residence' of Don Rossaro's creation.
The contributions by Mauro Marcantoni, coordinator of the book, and Chiara Moser, curator of the exhibition, will enable our readers to gain a deeper insight into these two initiatives, with which the Foundation is closely associated, as well as the further proposals (in some cases at an advanced stage of 'negotiation') in which it is engaged in a close dialogue with public authorities, insiders and possible sponsors.
Two final remarks, before concluding an 'editorial' that is deliberately brief to leave adequate space for more the technical presentations. The first relates to the desire of the Regency Board and myself to involve not only the Colle di Miravalle in the centenary (as is expected), but also the Municipality, with which a dialogue has been ongoing for several months now, the citizens and the other cultural institutions of Rovereto, Vallagarina and further afield in Trentino. Allow me to mention, by way of example, the fact that not only the aforementioned Italian War History Museum but also the Museo Civico and the MART contributed to the above-mentioned exhibition on 'Maria Dolens' by making their works available.
The second concerns the continuation in 2025, with minimal variations, of the 'ordinary' institutional activity, through which the Foundation aims to keep the Miravalle site open and available over the next 12 months to the numerous and qualified hospitality requests from the local community, with the only natural caveat being the avoidance of overlapping or conflicting dates with the 'Centennial' initiatives.
"One Hundred Years - 100 Chimes", an appointment that we invite all our readers, when the time comes, to record, follow and share, in short, to consider as their own!
Reggente Marco Marsilli, Foundation President
