Claudia Di Perna
Born in 1980 to a mother from Matera and father from Puglia, Claudia demonstrated from the outset a particular predilection for everything “foreign”: from languages to customs, traditions and literature. After obtaining her diploma with top marks from the Linguistic Lyceum “Liceo Linguistico T. Stigliani” in Matera, she then graduated in 2004 in Negotiation Interpreting and Translation in English and Spanish at the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori di Forlì (College of Modern Languages for Interpreters and Translators in Forlì) at the University of Bologna. In her academic career exams in Russian, Japanese and French languages, plus European Rights and the Principles of Economics and Marketing were included. After graduation, she decided to return to the Basilicata region, in the belief that this was the right place and the right time for cultivating her passions and projects.
Thanks to the Leonardo project, she lived and worked for four months in Derry, Northern Ireland. Then in 2005, Claudia undertook an inspiring training course in Organisation and Management of Art Exhibitions, held by the cultural association of Circolo Culturale la Scaletta di Matera and successively, with a team of young people from Basilicata with whom she had already proven her skills in the conception, setup and management of events, in 2006 became co-founder of the Artezeta cooperative, which manages the Cripta del Peccato Original (Crypt of Original Sin) and MUSMA (Museum of Contemporary Sculpture) in Matera. Having already spent five years as a touristic interpreter, in 2010 she became an official tourist guide of the Basilicata region, focusing primarily on the conception, organising and conducting of guided tours that promote the sites and cultural heritage of the entire region.
In March 2012, she participated enthusiastically in the selection for the Secretariat of the Matera 2019 Committee, the promoting entity of the candidacy of Matera as European Capital of Culture 2019 and, having been selected, began to dedicate herself to an exciting job that would accompany the city of Matera and the entire region to achieving the ambitious title in 2014, overtaking 20 other Italian candidate cities.
In April 2015, Claudia was hired by the Matera-Basilicata 2019 Foundation, an entity that actuates the cultural programme expressed in the Matera 2019 dossier, taking on the role of Head of the Secretariat and Assistant to the Director.
