Matera
Italy
Matera is a provincial capital city in the region of Basilicata, in Southern Italy
It was declared European Capital of Culture in 2019, after a harsh competition involving 21 cities in Italy, thus leading to the establishment of the Italian Capital of Culture. Its original settlement lies in two canyons: known as la città sotterranea (“the underground city”), the Sassi, its millenary neighbourhood, were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993.
Due to poverty and rampant disease, the Sassi were abandoned from the 50s until the 1980s when renewed vision and investment led to the cave dwellings becoming a noted historic tourism destination with a vibrant arts community.
ECOC
After 2019, Matera and Basilicata have gained international importance.
The rural region, little known by most and the oldest inhabited settlement in the world, is now “on the map”. It took an immense effort, which ultimately won the initial scepticism and proved that it is possible to overcome incredibly complex challenges. Matera 2019 hosted international artists and attempted the development of a set of best practices for cultural production. All the processes, activated by the title, led to the formation of entrepreneurial supply chains of culture and tourism, which blended with European and global ones. This was our 2019: 2447 events spanning across 16 different disciplines.
The Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation, the same organization that delivered the ECoC program, continues to operate in the field of creativity and culture with the aim to:
- promote and support the development of creative, artistic, and cultural activities in the city of Matera and at a regional level in tune with the strategies of local authorities and in collaboration with the world of university, research, and business;
- consolidate and strengthen the national and international position of Basilicata and Matera as a platform of cultural innovation that creates relationships, exchanges, and projects in Europe and the World;
- foster social inclusion through art and culture.
Who represents the city
Since 2003 she has worked on urban and social regeneration projects, coordinating multidisciplinary and international working groups, and was the creator of the project Mimers, design al plurale, bringing together 40 people between freelance professionals and companies in the world of Cultural and Creative Industries. Starting in 2014, she joined the Matera 2019 team for the city’s successful bid for the title of European Capital of Culture, dealing with social innovation projects on an international scale (unMonastery) and the artistic residency programme. Since 2016 he has been the manager of the Open Design School, a participatory and innovative design laboratory,partner of the New European Bauhaus that has produced more than 50 urban regeneration projects, installations, game design,involving 100 professionals and about 2,000 citizens in design by doing and DIY workshops. For Matera 2019, she was also the project manager of a series of 4 international contemporary art exhibitions as well as collaborating in the definition of the capacity building and cultural programme. In recent years, she has been involved in innovative learning processes based on learning by doing and peer-to-peer learning for the Cultural and Creative Industries and managed projects on a European scale. For FGB, she developed and directed the capacity building programme for cultural event management for cultural operators in the city of Turin. She is currently involved in cultural design, artistic residencies, co-creation processes, the conception and direction of innovative projects in the design sector, international relations and projects on a national and European scale.
Contact
Via L. La Vista, 1
segreteria@matera-basilicata2019.it
www.matera-basilicata2019.it/en/
+39 0835 256384
