Matera, capital European Culture 2019. The 'city of the Sassi' is preparing to experience an extraordinary year that will start next January 19th, with a rich and eventful opening ceremony. The organizational machine has been working for some time to organize a whole series of events that will turn the spotlight on the city for 48 consecutive weeks. The Sassi and the rupestrian habitat of Matera, in 1993, were recognized byUnesco as a heritage of humanity. In October 2014 the announcement came that the Lucanian city would be the European capital of culture together with Plovdiv in Bulgaria: a great recognition for Matera and for the whole south Italy.
The opening ceremony
The bands of the Lucan municipalities and the bands of European cities that have already hosted in the past the year of culture. All citizens are invited to participate in the inauguration of the Quarry of the Sun which will be accompanied by symphonies and hymns from all over Europe. The band groups (about two thousand musicians) will play in the neighborhoods of the city alternating moments of music with moments of conviviality.
The city will be built property: the entire citizenship will welcome the gangs and open the doors of homes, schools, parishes, associations' offices. Thanks to the support of Coldiretti, over 5000 dishes of crapiata will be prepared, one of the typical meals of Matera, to be distributed to the musicians. The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and the Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte will participate in the opening ceremony. EU Commissioner Tibor Navracsics will also be there. The event will be broadcast live on Rai Uno and will be conducted by the actor Gigi Proietti.
The long night of Matera
The opening night of the European Year of Culture will see Matera 'light up' in every corner with different moments of entertainment. In Piazza Duomo the moon will rise in the sky and one to acrobat will whirl over the spectators. The Company of Fools with grace and poetry it will enchant the thousands of people who flock to the streets of Matera.
There will be also Supernova, a show that will illuminate the opening ceremony with an extraordinary performance. On the longest night for Matera, all public places will have the opportunity to enliven the city with musical entertainment: DJ sets, live bands, live sets and more. The opening ceremony will thus be embellished with private entertainment initiatives. This will create that atmosphere of full involvement that will give soul and life to the Sassi for 48 weeks, full of appointments.
Open Future
The slogan that the European Union has chosen for Matera is "Open Future" with a special focus on inclusion social and cultural and collaborative innovation. What will be seen in Matera in 2019? Everything: shows and cultural initiatives of various kinds together with the big ones exhibitions. Among the exhibition routes to visit there is "Ars Excavandi", a contemporary look at the history and culture of underground architecture. It is the first of the major exhibitions of the official program of 2019 produced with the museum center of Basilicata.
Another exhibition is "Renaissance reinterpretation", a journey into the artistic past of Basilicata and Puglia. You can also visit "Poetry of prime numbers", an exhibition on the central role of mathematics in the work of artists over the centuries. Among the many events scheduled, Matera will also host the first outdoor exhibition of the opera Cavalleria Rusticana in collaboration with the Teatro San Carlo. In addition, 27 projects developed with local creative communities and European partners are expected to take place.
Passports and gifts
So far about five thousand "passports" have been sold to attend all the events planned by the Matera-Basilicata Foundation 2019 for the celebrations of the European year of culture.
The year will end with a very special initiative: anyone who arrives in Matera is asked to do so by bringing an object to leave in the city, as a souvenir of his visit. "All the dons visitors will be gathered in an exhibition which - announced the president and director of the Foundation, Salvatore Adduce and Paolo Verri - will take place in 2020 ″.
(Photo Matera 2019)
