The discovery of Mediterranean values of cohabitation and integration is at the center of an event called "Mediterri-amo" opening on September 27. The event will be held in Rome, Florence and Venice and will involve researchers, writers, actors, musicians and artists, including refugees.
The objective of the project is to project an image of the Mediterranean that is not a "battlefield in which populism, fear and selfishness prevail," but rather to "try to give once again a voice to the common values of civil cohabitation that humanitarian tragedies appear to have swept away."
Art to tear down walls
Mediterri-amo is a project conceived by Italian director Maurizio Scaparro and produced by Onni, with the contribution of the cultural ministry, the support of the Italian Society of Authors and Publishers (SIAE) under the patronage of the Lazio region, the city of Rome, the University LUISS "Guido Carli" and UNHCR.
"We were dreaming of a Europe of cultures and we have a Europe of banks," Scaparro said, presenting the initiative in Rome. "The project's idea was born the night of November 13, 2015, after the tragedy of the attacks in Paris... when we felt a void that we decided to fill with the culture of the Mediterranean."
In this context, art can be used to fight hatred, intolerance and walls that are dividing Europe so that the Mediterranean is not forgotten, he added.
Culture and integration will be the common theme of events including laboratories for children, meetings with refugees, performances, concerts by multiethnic orchestras, poetry inspired by the Arab world and immigration.
UNHCR says 'culture to see the perspective of refugees'
UN Refugee Agency UNHCR is a partner of the initiative to connect the project's themes to immigration and the plight of refugees. Part of the events' proceeds will go to educational projects promoted by the UN agency.
Carlotta Sami, the UNHCR spokeswoman for southern Europe, said the support provided by art is very important in the current humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean and will "help people living here gain the perspective of those who are bearing the weight of this crisis on their shoulders."
The humanitarian crisis sparks fear and uncertainty in Europe but refugees "need to be welcomed" and culture enables dialogue with citizens without always using the language of the media and without reducing everything to a "confrontation or numbers," she said.
The event will kick off in Rome on September 27 at the Casa del Cinema in Villa Borghese. More programs have been scheduled in Florence on October 12-13, at the Teatro della Pergola and in Venice on December 5, where the program will come to an end.