Paesaggi Plurali Festival
Paesaggi Plurali: a public art festival, a gym to think about hospitality, an act of awareness.
Paesaggi Plurali is a public art festival which has been co-created in Bertinoro and its district for more than 3 years thanks to the energy of residents, creatives and the municipality, who propose a yearly program aiming at re-thinking public space as a location for discovery, dreaming and preservation of the common good. The festival not only champions the sustainable use of land, but places the residents as the main producers of beautiful places that may be enjoyed publicly in the town.
Italy
Bertinoro, 47032 Forlì-Cesena, Italy.
Prototype level
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
040003: Bertinoro (IT)
Paesaggi Plurali is a community- and public-space-focused festival which saw its first edition in 2022. It centers around the idea of re-thinking spaces as shared livable locations where people may learn from others by sharing and designing projects together, contributing to giving locations new meaning within the community as well as a feeling of shared care and ownership of the space. The program of the festival features workshops, performances and co-creation sessions which aim at revamping locations in the Bertinoro district which carry meaning to residents and to the creatives who lead the transformative activities. Residents of all ages are the main target group of Paesaggi Plurali, which delivers multiple permanent installations every year, empowering resilient communities against the societal challenges which are changing the world. Specifically, the festival looks at the power of imagination at any age as a tool to broaden one’s horizons in the realms of civic participation, sustainable placemaking and self-awareness, ultimately resulting in an enhanced quality of life in Bertinoro and its surroundings. The mission of the project is encompassed by the “school of imagination”, a metaphor evoking the freedom of thought and curiosity participants are invited to perform in all activities linked to the festival, allowing imagination to be a means of self-expression and a source of learning for others. From this, the motto: “Imagining a handle in the landscape today means being able to open a door in the landscape tomorrow”. The program aims at giving prominence to all areas of the municipality by having initiatives organised in both the town centre as well as in the smaller nearby localities to promote the local landscape, creative professionals and the broader economic system on a larger scale.
sustainability
co-creation
empowerment
co-citizenship
beauty
Paesaggi Plurali promotes sustainability according to different approaches. In terms of environmental sustainability, the festival aligns itself with the goal of reduced carbon emissions in Bertinoro mentioned in the DUP. That is achieved by the use of zero-waste material in the installations that are delivered during the festival, which have long-term positive impact on communities in terms of meaning and social cohesion and little negative impact on the environment; materials are in fact non-toxic and chosen according to the specificity of the location. Local resources are tapped into in terms of procuring what is needed to successfully accomplish the festival activities; this approach well fits the will to give a positive contribution to the local economy while reducing waste and pollution. Creatives invited are encouraged to use shared transportation to travel to the town in order to reduce emissions as much as possible and this approach is also embraced during the festival. Paesaggi Plurali has a strong educational dimension which transpares in activities linked to environmental sustainability: children and residents more broadly are shown examples of how the selection of materials may have a variable impact on where they live, and are so encouraged to foster a deeper connection with the space, activating a sense of belonging in so doing. Besides the environmental aspect, sustainability is also tackled from a financial perspective: the festival can count on the support of the municipality of Bertinoro, and has been sustained by Fondazione Cassa Risparmi di Forlì and the Emilia-Romagna Region, all believing in the transformative influence the initiative has on attendees and residents. Finally, the festival has proven itself sustainable thanks to the balanced mix of skills characterising the team, which is made of experts active in artistic creation, administration, logistics and sustainability who support the implementation of the program in an integrated way.
Paesaggi Plurali puts people first. The idea behind the festival is to bringing close people and public art to create enhanced social cohesion and a sense of belonging to space. The results of the activities may be beautiful artefacts and/or creative ideas which are developed by participants; the goal of the festival is certainly that of re- and co-designing spaces by including end-users and those who have lived there to release the potential of given locations by working on their meaning to the community. Installations are felt as an integral part of the community by residents, who care about them after the creation process and advocate for their maintenance. An example of this is NOMEINSTALLAZIONE, which contributed to making LUOGO a gathering spot; after some time, residents noticed the paint had started to deteriorate, so they crowdfunded to partly restore it and requested the support of authorities to have the artwork regularly maintained. The theme of hospitality is very central to Paesaggi Plurali: the festival team works all year round to make residents familiar with the different themes which link to the ethos of the initiative, presenting the perspectives and work of the artists who will be hosted in the following edition. Residents become participants in so doing; they learn about topics and practices, share their opinions and become the protagonists of the festival before and during the festival takes place. Participation makes residents readier to face life’s challenges by gaining knowledge and perspectives they would not otherwise have had access to. The community engagement approach of Paesaggi Plurali has proven itself to be a valid way to link people with art and public space thanks to the long process of involvement which generates empowerment, awareness and a positive attitude towards peers. The festival also allows creatives coming to Bertinoro to broaden their own cultural horizons working with participants and developing their practice.
Paesaggi Plurali stands out as a best practice by the Comune di Bertinoro with the collaboration of Casa del Cuculo cooperative. It matches the intention of the municipality to make the town more beautiful by involving residents in the creative processes, ultimately giving them a powerful tool to shape the town’s future. Activities are primarily devised according to the age of residents (kids, teenagers, adults, elderly) and tailored on their life experience and their ability to imagine alternative landscapes. One of the goals of Paesaggi Plurali is to make public space accessible to all from a physical as well as a mental perspective: this is done by keeping in mind the concept of present and future use of space when devising activities and outputs, as well as by undertaking democratic sharing knowledge approaches when carrying out work, which then feature on narrations of the process which are left on public display on site and online. Participation in the festival is completely free and voluntary, which makes it even more significant to the eyes of organisers. In terms of ownership, outputs hold the intellectual property of the professionals who led its creation but are donated to the community for them to look after the artefacts overtime. The municipality orchestrates the maintenance of the artworks in close liaison with the community to ensure the meanings behind the works don’t fade out; the facilitation work of Casa del Cuculo is instrumental in nurturing the connection between the municipality and community members to make sure the voice of all is heard. The organisers wish to continue using this successful inclusive model in the future to continue creating initiatives that give voice to the wishes and to the creativity of every individual, resulting in the enhanced public good.
Community engagement and participation is a core component of the festival, and is an ongoing process that continues year after year to encourage public participation in making Bertinoro and its surroundings a better place. Some examples from 2023 are being provided to present the engagement of communities in Paesaggi Plurali. 1.Arnaldo Pambianco was a popular cyclist from Bertinoro who left fond memories in the minds of residents. Artist Luis Gomez de Teran was captivated by the affection residents felt for the sportsman, and lived in a Bertinoro home to work with community members to co-design a mural honoring Pambianco; residents were involved in the choice of material, location as well as design of the artwork. They also took care of sewing a big cloth which covered the mural before its inauguration, and then took part in a public performance in the adjacent square which saw a wool thread being passed on from person to person to symbolise synergy, connection and relation to Pambianco, Gomez, as well as the presence of the community in the town life. 2. Artist Mohamed Galcham was hosted by small village Santa Maria Nuova residents to work with the local youths to a welcome dinner held in the public square of the locality, where the community gathered for an evening of relaxation and sharing. Inspired by the energy of the locals, Galcham led a performance (joined by the attendees) and co-designed a mural with them representing the act of sharing space, a meal and own stories, which overlooks the place where the dinner took place. The festival let the youths decide on the event activities, promotion, logistics, which created empowerment and ownership. The organisers presented the techniques of public art and placemaking to the youths as part of the educational activities linked to this project, which the youths could then practice with temporary photographic and wall installations in the locality before and during the dinner.
Paesaggi Plurali is possible thanks to the cooperation of different partners. The Municipality of Bertinoro is the organiser of the initiative, and cooperative La Casa del Cuculo is in charge of designing and implementing the program year after year. The festival is possible thanks to the contribution of the municipality, as well as the generous support of Fondazione Cassa dei Risparmi di Forlì and Emilia-Romagna Region which have made the festival possible in previous years. The festival team organises regular focus groups with different stakeholders to gather feedback on the program of activities, as well as the themes and the strategies of community engagement; the attendees to the focus groups include, among others, representatives of the municipality of Bertinoro, of the province of Forlì-Cesena, of the Emilia-Romagna Region, local urbanists, artists and representatives of academia, local sectoral groups, students and teachers from local institutions, scout and sports groups and of course residents of Bertinoro. Such activities are useful to refine and improve the program and its impact on communities. Besides that, Italian and international artists are selected yearly to take part in the festival; all of them have community engagement as a strong attitude in their practice, and typically have worked with a variety of different communities in different regions. Artists and Casa del Cuculo meet to discuss themes and specific community and spatial features, and then a gradual introduction of the artist to the community starts and develops until the specific project led by the artist is brought to completion in close collaboration with community members. A collaboration with photography festival SIFEST started in 2024 and has good ground to be developed in the coming years.
The main disciplines featuring in Paesaggi Plurali are anthropology, architecture, street art, photography, performance. They are all very versatile and well fit the public space the festival focuses on. As it happens in most artistic projects, synergies develop hand in hand with ideas, and so Casa del Cuculo works on concepts with creatives in a group to detect possible collaborations which may enrich the cultural offer of the festival as well as the process of engagement within the community. From that step, artists have the freedom to explore themes and aspects linked to re-imagining the public space with the community that catch their attention.
The innovative character of the initiative lies in the centrality given to the community during all phases of the festival. While many cultural initiatives are built on information gathered from final receivers, few feature the ongoing involvement of residents before, during and after the event, like Paesaggi Plurali does, to ensure the design, implementation and results well respond to the needs of the town hosting the project. Further to that, Paesaggi Plurali highlights the topic of Hospitality, which is explored in the form of courtesy and openness to others and their ideas, and triggers the act of listening and the feeling of empathy while welcoming guest creatives and working with them. Besides the urban focus, the festival considers the specificity of the hilly landscape Bertinoro spreads out on and aims at involving the more remote localities of the municipality in the cultural program, so as to support the development of the whole community across the district and to promote its uniqueness.
The methodology adopted for the festival sees the coordination by Casa del Cuculo as instrumental for the full achievement of the goals of creating sustainable community-owned spaces in Bertinoro. Casa del Cuculo are part of a strong network of creative professionals whose practice focuses on the engagement of communities; every year some of these artists are selected and invited to come to Bertinoro to work with residents. Creatives research the features of the town well before traveling, and are invited to preparatory online sessions with relevant stakeholders. On site, artists are hosted by residents and work with them on a specific topic in a specific location, trying to unlock its potential in terms of resources and meaning by using artistic practice. Installations and meanings are discussed and negotiated with participants in the sessions before, during and after the festival, to ensure the sense of ownership and belonging stays over time. Residents are involved in the preparatory phase of projects when they share their experience; they are then invited to take an active role in the realization of the art piece by performing artistic and logistical actions, as well as in the post-mortem phase, when they are asked to provide feedback for the following edition of the festival. Stakeholder sessions are also key to the optimal realization of the festival; in fact, local urbanists, artists, representatives of public entities, scholars and residents are asked to give feedback about festival operations over the year in focus groups to support the team in their work and in the achievement of better results. The idea behind the festival’s approach is to ensure that the imprint left is the result of the encounter between artist-residents-place. Finally, the involvement of schools is very important as it allows the empowerment of a crucial segment of the population which will be responsible for the care of the locality in the future.
The work on the topic of Hospitality has proven itself to be a distinguishing element of Paesaggi Plurali. The festival team and the creatives involved base their actions on the enhancement of the concepts of openness to new people and innovative ideas when preparing and developing the festival, performing actions that trigger feelings of trust and joy in sharing. Paesaggi Plurali’s approach to cultural programming sees the town centre just as valuable as its neighboring smaller localities; strategically, the festival creates links between the events taking place in the different areas of the municipality so to allow visitors to experience a versatile cultural offer in terms of type of event, participants and landscape. The approach promotes the diversity of Bertinoro’s cultural, social and environmental features, highlighting the need of creating opportunities for those living in very small/ remote villages. Key aspects of transferability to other contexts may be: 1.the idea behind the festival is not to have artists come to leave their personal mark, but rather to ensure that the imprint left is the result of the encounter between artists and the territory, with a meaningful relation artist-residents-place which happens throughout the artistic process; 2.Paesaggi Plurali takes community engagement actions as a key feature in all the festival activities, including the logistical ones; 3.hospitality in people’s homes creates a bond between artist-locals which enriches the artistic practice and community life; 4.the involvement of schools is very important as it allows the empowerment of a crucial segment of the population which will be responsible for the care of the locality in the future.
The festival tackles the issue of isolation, which is more and more present in today’s life. With dramatic societal changes over the past years, the role of social groups made of family and friends has changed meaning. We are now much more connected to the world in terms of devices as well as from the perspective of the number of hours we spend daily on the internet; that has shaped the way we experience relationships, which are often looser and more virtual than live in the presence of other people. Paesaggi Plurali aims at contrasting this tendency by implementing a cultural offer and ongoing activities which have real life social exchange, curiosity, open discussion and public art at their core. Activities also promote the use and imagination of real spaces as opposed to virtual spaces, encouraging learning and practicing skills with the support of experts and peers with whom to share a space and an experience, and so a connection. The festival implements community-building actions involving locals of different areas within the municipality, regardless of age or interests and focusing on connecting them with one another. The festival encourages a proactive and active attitude, making citizens aware of their daily influence on the landscape and the transformative possibilities they hold, both as individuals and as a community. It lays the foundation for a more inclusive and genuine dialogue within a community, which is essential for coexisting and tackling today’s challenges together. The festival promotes simple artistic community choices by proposing the idea that humans need to communicate and build together, rather than focusing on consumption or demonstrating economic strength. The festival support the transition to carbon neutrality by encouraging green transport as well as the use of local produce and material needed during the festival; the use of plastic is kept to a minimum and the organisers aim to have a plastic-free festival within the next few years.
The NEB values have been fully present in the development of Paesaggi Plurali. As stated above, citizen engagement is a very core element the festival in all phases, every year. Engaging residents in artistic processes allows for exploring the social potential Bertinoro has got, and triggers processes of co-creation and sustainable use of land which lead to long-lasting beautiful artistic work. Organisers aim at involving all segments of the local society to have a greater impact on the socioeconomic make-up of the municipality; that has been done in past years, and actions to achieve greater involvement and good will be carried out in the editions to come. The municipality would like to carry out more targeted dissemination actions to attract more attendees to the festival and to promote the initiative as a good practice of civic engagement and democratic use of land which may be of inspiration to localities near and far. Organisers would also like to work on partnerships which will make the festival more efficient, sustainable and beautiful; that include, for example, collaborations with other festivals to broaden the cultural offer, with networks working on "regeneration and sustainability," "social and community development," and "contemporary public art", as well as local corporate partners and NGOs to promote their local products and services. In terms of programming, the festival has offered activities to the communities living in the different areas of the municipality so far (town centre and smaller localities); it is planned to have projects which connect the different areas of the municipality so to help residents create new connections and get to know about the potential public good holds.
