the interview
twelve o’clock, December 1, 2021 – 07:57 am
The art historian in the control room of the Municipality’s Culture
from Melania Guida
«Enough with the big events. For the culture of this city I have in mind a large project that also involves the suburbs. I am thinking of a structural, rooted cultural project that can leave its mark ». Francesca Amirante, art historian, president of the Progetto Museo association and curator of the museum complex of Santa Maria della Anime al Purgatorio in Arco, has clear ideas, creator of “Accogli ad Arte”, writer and popularizer, just called to be part of the control room for the cultural activities of the Municipality of Naples. Together with Stefano Consiglio (coordinator), Gennaro Carillo, Andrea Mazzucchi, Ferdinando Tozzi, Vincenzo Trione, as already anticipated yesterday by Corriere del Mezzogiorno and to which are now added Renato Quaglia (project manager and general director of the FoQUS Foundation) and Francesco Izzo (University Vanvitelli). A strong team that is already working to plan the new cultural strategies of the city. Amirante who is a woman of great energy, effervescent and dynamic, passionate like few others for the Neapolitan cultural heritage, has, among other things, just published Napoli Adagio, a delightful guide (Enrico Damiani Editore) «to discover the city of contrasts “. A journey “slowly”, between lights and shadows, stereotypes and miracles, on foot, by bicycle or by boat, but also while waiting for public transport or in rush hour traffic. A journey that crosses Naples far and wide: from Posillipo to San Giovanni a Teduccio, from Secondigliano to Fuorigrotta, from the ancient center to Vomero. The author takes us through «a short – she explains – and porous city. Short because in Naples people of very different social status live together in small and porous pieces of the city, whose architecture, like the tuff on which and with which it is built, is dotted with openings, courtyards and caverns ». Along a path that selects, thematically, the geometric shapes of the city. Circular (Piazza Plebiscito and round food, for example), straight (Seiano and the Bagnoli pier), rectangular (the Spanish Quarters and the National Library), closed (the cloisters) and zig-zag (Pedementina and Pignasecca).
But in an increasingly chaotic and frenetic Naples, isn’t it a bit difficult to imagine a “slow trend”?
«The adage as a time without particular purpose is disappearing as the speed increases and often becomes a nightmare. So our adage becomes above all a search for time and mental space to make encounters: with places, objects, works, open spaces and above all, when possible, with humanity ».
A vademecum for foreigners or for Neapolitans?
“For everyone. For Neapolitans and for those who know Naples this guide can be used to discover new places, never seen before. For others, this book can serve as a tool for a sort of initiation path, to look at the city in a transversal way, knowing that only the ability to get involved will allow them to live it to the full ».
Suggestions?
«Let yourself go and move as much as possible on foot, using everything that is sharing: funiculars and subways. Aware that it is possible to wait even twenty minutes ».
December 1, 2021 | 07:57
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