Journal

Monumental Complex of S. Micheletto
15 January 2007

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How the Convention originated
The “Pietre dell’identità” Convention proposes itself as a “conclusive” (and, at the same time, publicly accessible) moment of the interprovincial territorial project “Pietre di Toscana”, promoted by the Tuscan Region (council department of culture, L.R. 33/2005, “Le età del presente”) in 2006.
“Pietre di Toscana” falls within the broader cultural scenario of “Stone Architecture”, sustained by the Foundation of the Cassa di Risparmio of Lucca and by Lucense Scpa ever since 1999.
Among the numerous territorial partners who have adhered to the “Pietre di Toscana” project, the Foundation Licia e Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti di Lucca is, in this specific initiative, an institution of scientific reference (the convention will take place in the San Micheletto congress centre, premises of the Foundation itself), with the cultural contribution of its director Professor Vittorio Fagone, who, together with the Convention’s curator, partook in project decisions.
Lucense, on the other hand, is responsible for organising the event. The title of the Convention “Pietre dell’identità” contains the incipit of an essay by Salvatore Settis, which effectively expresses and sums up the conceptual and problematic barycentre around which the entire regional, national and international project of “Stone Architecture” revolves.

Proposed themes
The object of the Convention is to express and highlight the value of identity – individual and collective – placed in relation to the “erosive” processes of a multicultural society and to the “dematerialising” ones of an increasingly globalised economy, evident in our country.
That being said, the official speakers invited to the Convention will address and analyse Italy’s vast and varied cultural heritage, made up of landscapes, cities, architecture, monuments, artistic wealth, but also of artefacts and typical products of quality and of lifestyles “whose uniqueness, for Italians, is grounds for identification and pride” (Salvatore Settis, “Le pietre dell’identità”, Il Sole 24 ore/Domenica 13.11.2005).
Through specific focal points – regarding the strategies of cultural policy and the diverse role expressible through a variety of disciplines such as archaeology, architecture, art, new technology – the Convention aims to stress the need for their strategic re-composition within the complex and globalised scene.
The main theme of the “Pietre dell’Identità” Convention is the affirmation of the need for transdisciplinarity within the conception of complex cultural projects for Italy’s cultural policy and own economy.

Aims
The aim of “Pietre dell’identità” is to analyse and discuss the theme of cultural identity, at the same time, clarifying the social and economic role of artefacts lying at its origins and which have indelibly shaped the country’s anthropised landscape through “naked stone”.
The aim of the Convention is to steer the “stone landscape” back to a horizon of intelligibility, of recognition and of “updated” appreciation.
The new competitive terrain of advanced modern societies is linked to the bursting forth of intellectual energy drawing on the ancient, modern and contemporary heritage – material and at the same time immaterial heritage – which plays on the creativity and on the communicative and technological cultural innovation of use.
Many of the innovative features which characterise products and services offered within the globalised economy – increasingly linked to experiential transactions with direct or deferred use in cultural virtuality – have to do with the context, with the physical and symbolic traits expressed by places through the languages of cities, of architecture, of art, of the literature of lifestyles.
And from this perspective, Italy is second to none in terms of impressiveness and the diffusion of sedimented testimonies, quality, suggestions and consideration received from all over the world.
This is the material and immaterial idea of which – through the Convention – we would like to underline the importance, above all because we culturally act within a Region like Tuscany, which for decades has played a major role in representing Italy throughout the world.

The users (and potential co-protagonists) of the Convention
We like to think of a very diverse audience of participators made up of:
representatives of public bodies linked to the safeguard and promotion of cultural landscapes
representatives of institutions and entrepreneurial forces, which act inside the territory as catalysts or distributors of financial resources, promoting innovative technology, projects and programmes of environmental modification
figures who actively operate in projects involving conservation, restoration and territorial upgrading, together with the creation of new artefacts (archaeologists, art historians, architects, engineers, landscapists…)
figures involved in the institutional media (communicators, journalists, essayists) or the emerging world of the “network culture”, with the production of content from the lower ranks, through the net’s processes
citizens who simply interpret the “Stones of identity” as their own.

Prof. Alfonso Acocella
Scientific director of the “Pietre di Toscana” project and curator of the “Pietre dell’Identità” Convention.

Pietre dell’Identità
15 gennaio 2007
Complesso di S. Micheletto
Via S. Micheletto angolo Via Elisa – Lucca

Informations:
piera.deluca@lucense.it

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