Ivrea wins: it is the Capital of the 2022 book

The announcement on Wednesday afternoon by the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini

IVREA

Ivrea will be the Book Capital 2022. The announcement was made on Wednesday, shortly after 3 pm, by the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini during a live streaming. Ivrea has the better of the other finalists: Aliano, Barletta, Costa di Rovigo, Pistoia, breaking latest news and Pordenone.

The reasons, drawn up by the awarding commission, chaired by Marino Sinibaldi, lie in the “ability of the Ivrea project to network the multiple energies of the territory, to open up to the international dimension, to propose itself as a place where the future of books and reading is imagined “. And again: «The extraordinary cultural and technological heritage of the city is claimed without any parochial pride but as the driving force of the project of the Capital City and as the inspiration of a vision that can become a model up to our times. Attention to the new digital dimensions of the cultural experience represents a further strength that will be made available not only to the local community. Finally, the attention to communication activities will make the title of Capital City of the book ever more significant, helping to indicate in the culture, and in particular in the culture of books and reading, an element of cohesion and sharing for our community grappling with the wounds of the pandemic “

Connected by the town hall of Ivrea were the mayor Stefano Sertoli and the councilor for culture Costanza Casali. «In a few weeks we will organize an event in the city to celebrate this historic result – they declared -. We will invite all the other finalist cities to share this wonderful experience ».

The symbolic object of Ivrea Capital of the book is the Lettera 22 typewriter, as if to create a link between the past of the Ivrea city and its future. The characteristic design of this iconic object, designed in 1950 by the architect and designer Marcello Nizzoli, inspired the logo, designed by Luca Begheldo.

Ivrea will receive a ministerial contribution of 500,000 euros and will pick up the baton from Vibo Valentina capital 2021, which is followed by Chiari (Brescia), the first book capital in 2020.

Stefano Sertoli, mayor of Ivrea: «We are really happy with this recognition, the result of a great job, in which we deeply believed. Ivrea will be able to share the extraordinary cultural heritage that it preserves with all of Italy and be the stage for everything that revolves around the world of books for a whole year. We are waiting here for readers, writers, publishers, booksellers to create together the Manifesto for the future of the book and to give life to a year that will truly make reading a collective heritage. My thanks go to all those who have supported us, from citizens to professionals up to public and private partners ».

Costanza Casali, councilor for culture of Ivrea: «Ivrea Capital of the book is a wonderful success and I am happy that my city can boast this prestigious title. I have always tried to keep the goal fixed in front of me, however ambitious it was, putting my heart into it. The working group, which I thank, has never lost heart. We had our first satisfaction a few days ago in the hearing with the Commission, which praised our work, the contained projects and the enthusiasm that reigned around the candidacy. A special thanks goes to the whole Olivetti world, which has made itself available for this project. Now we don’t have a minute to lose because the year has already begun. We will get to work immediately with the team that made the application to start as soon as possible with the program presented in the dossier ».

Paolo Verri, probono coordinator of the candidacy: «I accepted the invitation to work on this project because I love Ivrea and I am deeply attached to the Olivetti culture. I believe that it is important to make your skills available for the future of the territories, so I accepted the position bringing my experiences as director of the Book Fair, as head of the AIE communication and as director of Matera 2019. Now, with this title, I believe that Ivrea has an important chance, that it must play its best by creating a program that, starting from the book, can create a flywheel of cultural and tourist attraction for the entire territory ».