In numbers, one year after its debut, the 2009 Festival has presented 83 shows, has registered 82.000 spectators and 3.400 articles published. The Festival is today one of the most relevant events of the national and in- ternational cultural scene.
Throughout the year, here in Naples, in Campania, artists coming from different countries and representing different theatrical expressions of the world face each other during the rehearsals or for on site researches required by the organization. A community of artists – directors, actors, writers, playwrights, musicians and technicians that can communicate with each other in different languages – can plan, create and are nurtured by the immense artistic and cultural heritage of our city.
And it is right in the city that the Festival continues to sink its roots, through the numerous theatres – symbols of an authoritative tradition and artistic creation – that host its shows. This close collaboration and co-production with the Festival has resulted in Italian and world tours of representations that have debuted in Naples.
Furthermore, the choice of using the natural scenario of the city and its archaeological and urban monuments is the result of the will of bringing the shows in non-theatrical spaces thus making the audience discover unu- sual and touching locations. During the Festival, Naples is turned into a stage, thanks to collaborations with local institutions, boards, associations and thecity’s generosity. In addition to the previous locations used in the past two editions, which have shown an unconventional side of the city, some of which are the Real Albergo dei Poveri, the Acton dockyard, the Maschio Angioino, art galleries, museums, churches, cloisters and undergrounds with a changed perspective by theatre, for this year’s Festival other locations, that have never been used for theatre representations, like the archaeological site of the Rione Terra in Pozzuoli and a symbol of the ’50s industrial architecture, the former beer factory of Miano, will be in display.
On the international scene, the Festival has now become one of the most important Italian events, also thanks to the established partnerships with public and private foreign institutions, and has proven to be a reliable partner to plan common long-term activities with. Sure enough it is a young institution, none the less it has already achieved – at an international level – a solid pro- fessional profile and high standards of innovation.
In three years, Fondazione Campania dei Festival, founded to run and organize the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, has become a cultural institution that promotes, produces and carries out many other important projects: Campania Teatro Festival Italia, a summer theatre and dance event with venues throughout the region carried out in collaboration with the Teatro di San Carlo and other regional important festivals; Punta Corsara, a production and training initiative with its main quarters in the Scampia area and its community; the Digital Archive of the Contemporary Theatre, founded to make an enormous cultural and documental heritage finally available from the ’70s until today; the E45 Napoli Fringe Festival for younger generations is already an international event at its second edition; and Città del Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Cities), a multi-cultural project involving the main cities of the Mare Nostrum around the theme of cooperation.
All these initiatives have the goal of providing stability and continuity to a structure made of qualified professionals and young people who have benefited of a real opportunity for their professional growth thanks to the Fondazione. The commitment of these members has created the basis for a structured, international and innovative long-term project that focuses on culture as an indispensable resource for the development of its territory.
The Regione Campania and the city of Naples have thus become the reference point for a dynamic network facing both far away cultural worlds but also close realities.
Culture generates and produces development and contributes to the civil growth of a territory and it reinforces the ties and challenges with the European view we all aim at and believe in.
Rachele Furfaro - Fondazione Campania dei Festival, President
Dynamic stability by Rachele Furfaro
To understand what the Fondazione Campania dei Festival has done so far, it is worth to remember that in 2010, for the first time, the Festival should have been hosted in a different city thus respecting ex-Minister Rutelli’s initial idea of a travelling event. In 2009, current Minister Bondi’s decision to declare Naples as the permanent venue of the Festival determines a different perspective for the Fondazione and is a reward of all the decisions taken these years: first of all, the international and creative elements of the project; second, the long-term planning with which the Board of Administrators and the Direction have established contacts with important governmental national and foreign cultural institutions; last, the commitment of those who have contributed to the two previous editions.
