Live streamed local Award Ceremony for the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio
The Local Award Ceremony for the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio, winner of a 2020 European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards in the Conservation category, will be held on 28
August (11.00-13.30 CET).
In accordance with COVID-19 regulations, the event will not be open to the public but will be live streamed on the Facebook pages of the Celestiniana Perdonanza (facebook.com/PerdonanzaCelestiniana/) and of the Municipality of L’Aquila (facebook.com/comunedellaquila/).
The return of the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio to the community of L’Aquila in December 2017 marked a watershed moment in the long process of recovery following a tragic earthquake that hit the region on 6 April 2009. Since the disaster, the Basilica has become an important place for the entire community to gather and has acted as a site of commemoration and celebration.
The Awards’ Jury observed that “this intervention truly represents the rebirth of a city, the strong sense of spirituality and the participation of the community in this project must be considered as an integral piece of the whole”. The Jury also noted that “this project is a model of best practice in the conservation of critically damaged sites all over the world”.
Programme
Institutional greetings
Pierluigi Biondi, Mayor of L’Aquila
Cinzia Teresa Torraco, Prefect of L’Aquila
Marica Mercalli, Director General Italian Ministry of Cultural, (MIBACT) DG Cultural Heritage Security
Collemaggio, home of Celestine Forgiveness
Elena Sinibaldi, National Focal Point UNESCO Convention 2003 (live connection)
Award ceremony
Paolo Vitti, Member of the Board of Europa Nostra
Catherine Magnant, Head of the Cultural Heritage Policy – DG Education and Culture of the Commission European (videomessage)
Anna Conticello, Project Manager Creative Europe Desk Italy
Alessandra Vittorini, Superintendent of Fine Arts and Landscape Archaeology for L’Aquila and Cratere
Digitisation and intangible heritage: the other award-winning Italian projects
Christian Greco, Director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin – Turin Papyrus Online Platform-TPOP project (live connection)
Giovanni Agresti, Université Bordeaux Montaigne/LEM-Italy and Gianfranco Spitilli, University of Teramo/Bamboo Association – Tramontana III project
L’Aquila: a future in culture
Pier Luigi Sacco, IULM, Coordinator of the candidature “L’Aquila Capitale Italiana della Cultura 2022” (live connection)
Master of Ceremony: Massimo Alesii, Celestinian Forgiveness Committee
