The cities are a composition of many things. Of memory, desires, signs of a language. Cities are places for exchange, as all the books of history of economics explain. But these exchanges are not only exchanges of goods, they are exchanges of words, desires, memories
(Calvino on Invisible Cities, Columbia Review (USA), N. 8, 1983, pp. 37-42).
Italo Calvino - the Italian writer born in Cuba in 1923 and died in Italy at the age of sixty-one - is the author inspiring this project. His book "Invisible cities" consists of a series of visions of fictitious cities. They are presented as tales told by Marco Polo to Kublai Khan.
The project aims at starting a creative and imaginative process where the citizens of 5 European cities could experiment the possibility to see their own city through the eyes of European young artists. More important, the citizens become aware that the resulting visions depend on the capacity of the city itself to interact with the young artists at different levels. This process allows the citizens to achieve a dynamic concept of the Cultural Heritage represented by the cities, where the relationships become crucial and the differences create curiosity more than they establish barriers.
First step of the C.A.L.V.I.N.O. process is the mutual acquaintance between each city and the young artists arrived for the workshops. A specific technique of introduction to each city based on progressive geographical approach and arrival by different means of transport are experimented. Furthermore, definite target groups of citizens are encouraged to let the artists enter their houses in order to draw and photograph the city from "private" points of view. Finally, a certain number of representatives of the city are available to tell the young artists stories and chat with them.
In this context the artistic workshops, second step of the process, can be carried out. They are hinged on engraving and photography, are equipped with all necessary facilities and can be carried out with the support of Artistic Facilitators.
Third step consists of the simultaneous exhibition of the selected works in all the partnering cities (prints, photographs plus 5 videos representing each one of the cities). Exhibitions are the place where the citizens realise how fruitful the interaction of the city with the European young artists was.
Fourth step is the transformation of the followed artistic path into learning guidelines to be specifically disseminated in the national networks of institutes for education of the adults.
The C.A.L.V.I.N.O. process has to be necessarily tested on a European basis. Being aimed at transferring to the citizens the concept that Cultural Heritage is a dynamic dimension depending on relationships continuously evolving, this process requests some "travellers" coming from far-off places and willing to communicate their visions. European students, especially if coming from regions already linked because of artistic reasons, are the most appropriate catalyst of this process as they are already able to experience the European space as a network of opportunities.
The first beneficiaries of the project are the local populations of the cities involved, as showed above. Furthermore, the fact that all the institutional artistic bodies of the city of Urbino joined the project as Associated Partners demonstrates that the process proposed by the project is of a great interest in the learning context. Finally, the Institutes for the education of the adults will be enabled to exploit the project format for new creative processes. On a long term basis the project will therefore provide a creative platform contributing to promote a concept of European citizens based on alive and variable relationships between European cities.
This project has been funded with the support of the European Union. The content of this project does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union nor does it involve any responsibility on its part.
