Temi della candidatura
Candidacy topics
- Details
OPEN FUTURE
We see Matera 2019 as an opportunity to move towards openness in all of its multiple definitions: open, as in “accessible to all”; open, as in “freely available and unrestricted”; open, as in “not concealing one’s thoughts or feelings”; open as in “still admitting of debate”.
Open Future in 5 steps.
1. Ancient Futures
Matera has maintained economic practices and social and cultural traditions that now form the roots of a shared European development model; Ancient ecological practices and an agricultural economy based on sharing and co-working with neighbours, have been applied in a modern context. The rite of the Festa della Bruna and the centre of Geodesy space have existed here for eight thousand years. Now it is time to think about the next thousand.
2. Roots and routes
Matera and Basilicata have long been lands of passage, exchange and transformation: They are part of ancient transhumance routes, cyclical rituals and influences of Ancient Greece, Rome, Byzantine, Lombard, Arab, Norman and Swabia. These places have witnessed the immigration and emigration of Lucanians around the world. Leave behind the false and constructed world and enter the authenticity of "wild Basilicata".
3. Reflections and Connections
We aim to show that art, business, dwellings and environment are one. Ours is perhaps not considered a major event, but rather one of cultural citizenship, allowing surprising encounters and the imagining of new ways of living, culturally and economically. In Matera the time somehow seems to flow more slowly than elsewhere, allowing us to carefully reflect upon life and consider existential questions and core values.
4. Continuity and Disruptions
The exodus of the Sassi in the 50s and 60s has become an emblem of a breakdown, a crisis, a collapse of community; however it should also be considered a symbol of a community's ability to resist, re-adapt and continue to live after sudden change. Indeed, the path of recovery is not yet complete. We want to complete the recovery together with Europe, offering the Sassi as a place of experimentation for new technology, economies and ways of living, thus making the city a laboratory for the European creative community.
5. Utopias and dystopias
Matera is meant to represent itself as a city of forgotten cultures and values that challenge the largely ineffective orthodox answers to the European crisis. By developing projects that create value both economically and ethically, the city has produced a new model for cultural and social development. Matera tries to tackle the most difficult topics of urban life in the twenty-first century with concrete and workable answers, based on historic good practices. It is an indispensable Utopia.