the interview
NoonApril 13, 2022 – 08:16
The president of the Egyptian Museum Foundation appointed to the board of the Mercadante
from Natasha Festa
From Turin to Naples, it is appropriate to say “with passion”: Evelina Christillin was appointed by the mayor Gaetano Manfredi as a member of the board of directors of Mercadante. Born in 1955, graduated in History and historical demography, was a schoolmate of Margherita Agnelli. After her youth years in the press office of Fiat, she was vice president of the organizing committee of the Turin Olympics and is a member of FIFA. On the cultural side, she was president of the Philharmonic ‘900 of the Teatro Regio, a member of the board of directors of the same and president of the Teatro Stabile di Torino. She currently heads the prestigious Egyptian Museum Foundation.
What is your relationship with Naples?
«Very close to Campania, of love with Naples. Since 1987 I have been going on vacation to Positano which I consider a place of the heart. For the Neapolitan theater, then, I have an ancient passion: do you think that when I was appointed president of the Stabile of Turin, even though I didn’t know him in person, but being his fan, I desperately wanted Mario Martone as director: I loved a lot Troubling love e Death of a Neapolitan mathematician. He accepted and we became friends. Last Tuesday he made his debut here in Turin The thread of Mezzogiorno under his direction and we had dinner together. And in these days Roberto De Francesco and Donatella Finocchiaro will be at the museum. When Gaetano only yesterday (the day before yesterday) gave me the very welcome phone call to offer me the job, Martone was the first person I consulted: “Mario, what do I do?”. And he: “Accept, you must accept.”
Call Manfredi by name. Does he know him well, then?
«Since he was president of the Rectors’ Conference: we have collaborated on some research projects at the Egyptian Museum and we have kept in touch. When I came to San Carlo last November for the premiere ofOtello of Martone, we had a very pleasant breakfast together with his wife at the Circolo Savoia. Other people who bind me to Naples: the prefect Claudio Palomba who was in Turin and to whom I am very fond and Maurizio de Giovanni with whom we are very friends ».
And how do you do it with football? She is a well-known Juventus player.
«We have epic clashes that Generoso Di Meo wanted to immortalize in the 2022 calendar dedicated to Naples and Turin. A photo of us together has been chosen for the month of October and in the accompanying texts there is one of our skirmishes: we tease each other with great fair play and affection. I’m an atypical Juventus player, on radio Kiss kiss and Punto Nuovo I said it was time for Naples to win the Scudetto back and I swore that if it happened I would come and celebrate perhaps with my dear Neapolitan friend who is now the Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Turin “.
Rosanna Purchia, therefore. How did you meet?
«When she arrived in Turin as commissioner of the Regio I almost adopted her: she knew nothing about the city, now she knows more than I do. Now the opposite could happen. Another trait d’union comes to mind: the director of the Egyptian Museum Christian Greco is on the board of directors of Mann ».
Is there, then, a national axis?
«Sure, and now it gets stronger. There are many intersections: the first exhibition that Greco and I produced at the Egyptian, for example, was The Nile in Pompeii».
Too early for a vision of the contribution in the theater directed by Roberto Andò?
«He is a wonderful director: I enter on tiptoe and I will try to give my little contribution if and when it is possible; after eight years at the Stabile I have some managerial, communicative and international skills. My passion for the theater, however, precedes my assignments in the sector: having taken care of the entire cultural program of the Turin Olympics, I took care of the project Tomorrow by Luca Ronconi, which was one of the great events of the Italian theater ».
Important baptism.
“Not only. When I was in Fiat, the Last days of humanity by Karl Krauss. Now I’m going back to the theater, and to Naples too: in short, I’m lucky enough to deal with beautiful things ».
April 13, 2022 | 08:16
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