The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella speaks at the XIII Annual Conference of Unesco Creative Cities underway in Fabriano: 180 cities of the world, with about 400 delegates, gather in the city in the Marche region (it is part of the network of "Unesco Creative Cities") for the annual appointment. Debates and insights on art, cultures, religions, ways of living and producing. Topics that this year have landed in Italy, the European country most divided between two conceptions of hospitality and civil and human sustainability. Among the Italian cities representative of creativity there is also Biella.
The guiding theme of this edition is the great challenges posed by the exponential development of the urban dimension which will become increasingly central in the history of humanity in the coming years. It is the UN that estimates that by 2050, 68% of the world's population will live in cities (World Urbanization Prospects 2018). Cities that will become megalopolises and that for better or for worse will have to welcome 2 and a half billion people from different places. Needs, anxieties, aspirations to which local authorities will have to give answers. Everything will be called into question in an extraordinary synthesis between geography, economics, art, politics. The antithesis of that sovereignty supported by a crazy vision of the world that a part of the Italian rulers like so much. But we can bet that even on this occasion in Fabriano, President Mattarella will use the words of wisdom.
Migration to cities will rewrite the economy, society, forms of coexistence. Culture in its various expressions. The metropolises will express the complexity of real states, while the small towns will risk depopulation. And Fabriano is discussing the need to optimize needs through essential services, but above all to promote the sustainable use of resources. Who does not understand that the stake is the delicate relationship between culture and creativity, fragility and resilience, redevelopment and regeneration, innovation and work? That system from which every artist, director, singer, musician draws inspiration? The organizers explained it well on the eve of the Fabriano meeting. And the more peoples mix, the more urban geographies, the needs of the population, cultural expressions, adaptation to climate change will change.
And we come to Biella which is a candidate for UNESCO Creative City. Biella and its surrounding area, capitals of wool culture in the world, are attentive to the issue of the relationship between industry and the environment – says Franco Ferraris, president of the Cassa di Risparmio di Biella Foundation, one of the promoters of the Piedmontese city's candidacy. In a context where an important role is played by art which, through the symbol of the third Paradise of the master Michelangelo Pistoletto – ambassador of the city in the world – proposes new ways of balancing nature and technology. The city, with the support of the Cittadellarte Fondazione Pistoletto and the Cassa di Risparmio di Biella Foundation, is therefore seeking the coveted Unesco recognition.
The city has already received more than 120 letters of support from all over the world, including that of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo and that of the LVMH Group, a leader in the world of fashion and quality products. This industry, among other things, has signed an agreement with UNESCO for the protection of biodiversity and is accredited as an excellent partner. But in the city there is also the example of Oasi Zegna. The ecological project that brings together art, environment and industry, recalling the ancient enlightened entrepreneurial patronage, largely disappeared in the Italian lands. For years, fabrics have been one of the great driving forces of the Biella area and if there is also art and culture alongside business, it's not bad at all. Maybe we walked along these roads again, with the help of some powerful benefactor. While waiting for UNESCO to give its go-ahead, local institutions are setting a good example for the development of a more equitable and inclusive society. In Fabriano they hope to impress and with them that part of Italy that feels really creative.
