Deadline of registration sending in: 30 April 2007

Over the last ten years the Foundation “Esperienze di cultura metropolitana”, which promotes historical and cultural activities in the city, and the Settimo Torinese City Council have been involved in a unique experience of recovery and development of cultural memory and awareness in the city of Settimo Torinese. The Foundation and the City Council, in collaboration with the Laboratorio ecomusei della Regione Piemonte, (the Heritage Museum Workshop of Piedmont), is now inviting representatives of cities in Italy and abroad to a conference in order to present the results of this experience and to stimulate debate with others interested in the same issues of heritage and in the collaboration between the government agencies involved in these projects. Like many other Italian cities, Settimo experienced the very difficult transition from rural village to industrial town. Later many industrial plants were moved outside the residential areas, a process which has occurred in many other towns. All these changes have generated in the community a deep need to redefine its identity and to rediscover and highlight the cultural features of the city.

In recent years one of the main aims of the Settimo City Council has been the realization of a multi-faceted cultural system. Some of our achievements are the renovation of the Mulino Nuovo mill (Freidano Heritage Museum) which shows the variety and complexity of the traditional activities in the area, the creation of the Casa dell’Arte e dell’Architettura, an excellent art and architecture museum, and of the Casa della Musica, an important centre for the production, performance and enjoyment of music. In addition to these permanent facilities, we are also in the process of setting up the new Biblioteca Civica Multimediale (Multimedia City Library). It will be the central library of the north-east area, within the overall City Library System. We are also working on a project called “Ecomuseo del Frediano”, a heritage museum dedicated to the old customs and traditions of “Ecotempo” also constitutes a marker of identity for the residents and an important symbol for visitors to the city. Together with the city’s original inhabitants, it will promote the recovery of the memory of Settimo’s past. This project expresses our desire for sustainable development, both cultural and economic.

The conference “Un ecomuseo, una città” , (Heritage Museum for a City) will begin on Friday 25 and will finish on the morning of Monday, May 28 2007. Through this event Settimo Torinese hopes to open up a debate about the many issues relating to heritage and collective memory which the city has dealt with over the last decades.

04.- Museum