When
Saturday, 21 April, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where
Fondazione ‘I Care’, Fucecchio
Press office
Camilla Rigatti
Project/workshop in collaboration with classes IV A and C of the ‘A. Checchi’ High School, promoted by the Department of Intercultural Affairs and Immigration of the Municipality of Fucecchio
CULT is a project/workshop based on the reality of second-generation foreigners in Italy, future Italian citizens. The young students of the ‘Checchi’, boys and girls from classes IV A and C of the I.P.S.I.A., were involved by Firenza Guidi and the Frantoio di Fucecchio in a series of activities, both conceptual and practical, which resulted in the creation of artefacts that will be presented on the morning of 21 April at the ‘I Care’ Foundation.
Among the many activities carried out, one that stands out in particular is the production of an awareness campaign aimed at involving citizens, with a particular focus on young people, in the practical and legislative difficulties that foreigners living in Italy, even if they have been residents for a long time or were born to parents who have lived in our country for years, have to face in order to fully enjoy their civil and political rights. The campaign will take the form of two large posters, the first of which has already been displayed in the advertising space in Via Fucecchiello, near the Coop supermarket. The images, created by the young people themselves under the supervision of the team of professionals at the Frantoio di Fucecchio, speak an original and contemporary language, showing them all engaged in the same activity, while only the captions tell us about their different ethnic origins. The shots have been designed as if the viewer were on the set of a performance, during a possible scene depicting a slice of everyday life; the fundamental difference is that the viewer does not have to go to a particular place to watch it, but finds themselves in front of it by chance, in a way that is bound to reach a wider audience than a theatre would.
The awareness campaign is accompanied by a whole series of artefacts: the students of the I.P.S.I.A. have started a blog (which anyone can view at www.elanfrantoio.org/ cult) to record the progress of the activities carried out during the various stages of the workshop and, with the help of firenza guidi, they have learned to create, design and produce music, conceptual installations, videos and interviews on the theme of exploring diversity and interculturalism. The students, who come from five different countries, had the opportunity to creatively illustrate their vision of life and the future, recounting their relationship with their homeland but also with the presence of a youth culture made up of common values, capable of erasing differences. The research and exploration resulting from the work that has involved the young people of Checchi from February to the present day will culminate in the presentation on Saturday 21 April.
The work carried out with Firenza Guidi and her team has provided the students of I.P.S.I.A. with a platform for cultural, creative and professional exchange. The students were encouraged to put into practice the skills they had acquired through their school studies (the lighting design for the Sufi dance show, also dedicated to diversity, for the students in the Maintenance class, and the costume design for the Sufi dancers for the students in the Clothing and Fashion class) and to acquire new ones. CULT, unique in its kind, is a pilot project, destined to last over time and be repeated: the issues and productions that have emerged in recent months have highlighted that there is still a long way to go to achieve integration and a peaceful encounter between different cultures, and that many difficulties still remain. The ultimate goal of CULT is not only to experiment with new languages with young people, but also and above all to raise their awareness of the reality of a multicultural society whose DNA is constantly changing.
The project is part of the fucecchio Council’s “Metti la pace in movimento” (Set peace in motion) initiative, which also focuses on second generations, whose young members are largely present at the Checchi Institute, where 26% of pupils are foreign nationals.
The presentation of the work carried out by the students of the CULT project symbolically closes the first part of the theatre season at the Frantoio di Fucecchio, dedicated this year to diversity in all its forms: a rich and innovative programme that has seen a succession of shows and workshops that have taken spectators and participants on a journey, opening their minds and introducing them to realities that are close yet distant: from the mysterious charm of the brand new performance that recalled “le tranquille” (the quiet ones), guests of the psychiatric hospital once present in fucecchio, to the exotic mysticism of the Sufi workshop; from the intercultural and explosive creativity of CULT to the childlike and dramatic joy of “Blu come il mercoledì” (Blue like Wednesday), a show that recounts the day of an autistic boy.