NAPLES. Since yesterday evening Naples hosts the first Conference of Ministers of Culture of the Mediterranean. Over 40 government delegations which, in the splendid setting of Palazzo Reale, animate the discussion on the themes of shared protection of cultural heritage, on the contribution of culture to the green transition and on the fight against the trafficking of cultural assets. The delegates were summoned by the Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini, who at the opening of the proceedings underlined how “starting from culture to meet us means building bridges against walls and ditches, culture is a vehicle for peace”. “In such a difficult moment for the world – the minister emphasizes to reporters – the fact that distant countries, in some cases even hostile, agree to sit around the same table and talk about Mediterranean culture seems to me a very important signal”.
The word “peace” is the one that resonates the most in this two-day summit organized to “find common tools” on pressing issues for the sector and beyond, from the trafficking of works of art to natural disasters, from climate change that the heritage of our cities is at risk due to wars that leave wounds even on the jewels of art, which devastate works of identity that are the heritage of all.
The Prime Minister Draghi also speaks of peace: “Dialogue between different cultures is more important than ever in this historical moment of growing international tensions”, underlines the premier in his message. Peace and cohesion, as Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio recalls, who addressed to the audience of ministers and delegations underlines how culture is “essential for the European Union, an important compass for bringing the shores of the Mediterranean closer”, a “substantial” component , he repeats, “of European action and policies”.
Shortly before, accompanied by the notes of the Carabinieri band, Franceschini, in a dark suit and blue tie, had welcomed ministers and delegates one by one in the majestic courtyard of honor crossed for the occasion by a long red carpet. For each a handshake, an exchange of words, a photo of two. Divided into three rooms on the first floor, experts, technicians, delegates were actually at work already in the morning and continued throughout the day, in three preparatory sessions dedicated to culture as a factor of peace and security, an element for sustainable growth and the green transition.
All to discuss and exchange experiences in many different languages of art to be protected, of trafficking to be stopped, of problems and possible solutions. But also of the training of artists, of the circulation of art, of aid to the younger generations. Another theme dear to Franceschini who in his speech cites Giorgio La Pira and Fernard Braudel for their interest in dialogue in the Mediterranean, but then invites them to update their teaching, to look to the future, to combine intentions “to increase the circulation of talents , the mobility of artists and cultural professionals “. While he launches the idea of announcing “a capital of Mediterranean culture” and calls the curator of the Venice Biennale of Art 2022 Cecilia Alemani to speak, convinced that the contemporary deserves the same attention as the ancient. “The experience of beauty is not based on recognizing a shape, rather on recognizing oneself as part of a community that shares the same tastes, values and traditions,” she explains. “Art, like our beloved Mediterranean Sea, is a connective tissue, the place where individuality becomes collectivity”.
Today the meeting gets underway with the aim of arriving at concrete agreements to be entrusted to the final declaration, as it already was in Rome a year ago for the G20 ministers of culture. Meanwhile, Franceschini assures us, this summit will not remain an isolated episode. “We will have to give a habit to our opportunities for meeting and dialogue,” he repeats. To build bridges and transform the Mediterranean into a laboratory of peace, culture “needs common tools”.