Friday 20 December 2024_9h30
The Detailed Strategic Plan of the Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre.
The 2003 Unesco Convention and the active practices of participatory safeguarding
of the intangible cultural heritage in Sicily through the Opera dei Pupi
Palermo, Italy, “Antonio Pasqualino” International Puppet Museum
Italian version here
On the occasion of the launching of The Detailed Strategic Plan of the Opera dei pupi, Sicilian Puppet Theatre, an international seminar will be held at the Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum of Palermo, Italy, on Friday 20 December at 9 a.m. The seminar is devoted to the 2003 Unesco Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and to the active practices of participatory safeguarding and sustainable multilevel governance of the intangible heritage in Sicily through the Opera dei pupi. The seminar is organised by the Association for the Safeguarding of Popular Traditions - ETS, an NGO accredited to perform consultative functions at the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Intangible Cultural Heritage, and referent subject of the ‘Italian Network of Organisations for the Protection, Promotion and Valorisation of the Opera dei Pupi.
The seminar is an Off section of the Morgana Festival - that in 2024 has reached its 49th edition and has recently concluded. Institutional representatives, associations, foundations and bodies involved in the field of intangible heritage, as well as members of the Opera dei Pupi Network will participate in the seminar and contribute to the discussion on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage. Moreover, eminent scholars from abroad will take part in the event, among whom experts accredited to the Global Network of Facilitators of the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Side events of the seminar are an Opera dei Pupi performance and the opening of the exhibition Christmas in Sicily, that displays photographs by Attilio Russo and is organised by the Ignazio Buttitta Foundation, in collaboration with the Marionette Museum.
The Detailed Strategic Plan of the Opera dei Pupi, Sicilian puppet theatre (PSP), 2023
The Detailed Strategic Plan of the Safeguarding Measures of the Sicilian Puppet Theatre (PSP) is a programmatic document drafted in 2023 within the project ‘The Sicilian Opera dei pupi: strategic planning, transmission, valorisation’, promoted by the Association for the Safeguarding of Popular Traditions - ETS of Palermo (Italy) as the referent subject of the ‘Italian Network of Organisations for the Protection, Promotion and Valorisation of the Opera dei pupi: #OPERADEIPUPI. IT#’, and competent body for the safeguard of the intangible cultural heritage of the territory.
The project was financed by the Ministry of Culture, Law no. 77 of 20 February 2006 ‘Special measures for the protection and enjoyment of sites and elements of cultural, landscape and environmental interest, included in the “world heritage list”, under the protection of Unesco’.
Consistent with the 2003 Unesco Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Operational Directives for its implementation and the 2005 Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society, the Detailed Strategic Plan of the Safeguarding Measures of the Sicilian Opera dei pupi identifies specific solutions for the safeguard and governance of the Element, which was included in the Unesco List of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001 and transited in 2008 in the subsequent Representative List, upon a candidature supported by the Association for the Safeguarding of Popular Traditions of Palermo.
In particular, it plans the actions and activities to be undertaken and/or initiated by January 2030 with the aim of implementing the measures identified together with the heritage community and described in detail in the Plan of Safeguard Measures of the Opera dei Pupi (PMS) [For free download of the documenti in Italian, English and French, please click here].
The Strategic Plan is thus a planning tool that, based on the needs of the heritage community and the territory, and from the contexts of practice, programmes the necessary actions in accordance with the PMS of 2020 to achieve the general and specific objectives identified and updated in 2023, to be verified with a precise definition of indicators that are framed within the Overall Results Framework, as recommended by the UNESCO Internal Oversight Service (IOS).
The two documents, which are interdependent, were drawn up in accordance with national and international regulations on intangible cultural heritage and sustainable development.
For the purposes of the elaboration of the PSP, in 2023 the Association for the Safeguarding of Popular Traditions and the Sicilian Puppet Theatre Network called together local and national institutions and civil society, giving shape to a participatory process of declination (adaptation implementation and monitoring) of the 2003 ICH Convention focused on the theatre of the Sicilian Opera dei Pupi, which identified the local relevance of the objectives and defined the related local targets and indicators, at the level of territories and communities, anchoring the PSP to the updated analysis of the context and needs emerging from it.
On the occasion of the launching of The Detailed Strategic Plan, MORGANA OFF promotes a broader exchange on the themes of the 2003 Unesco Convention, interweaving analysis, research, local, national and international experiences; dwelling on the Convention, its impact and level of implementation in Italy through the lens of the Opera dei Pupi theatre; offering insights into heritage policies, also in relation to economies and funding instruments, and community-based safeguard actions.
The seminar is organized by the Associazione per la conservazione delle tradizioni popolari - ETS; it is financed by the Comune di Palermo - Assessorato al Turismo - Area della Cultura, Turismo e sport; is organized in collaboration with: Italian Ministry of Culture - Unesco Office,Law n. 77 of 20 February 2006, - ‘Special measures for the protection and enjoyment of sites and elements of cultural, landscape and environmental interest, included in the “world heritage list”, under the protection of Unesco’ - project “The Sicilian Opera dei pupi: strategic planning, transmission, valorisation”; Research Doctorate Mediascape: research and artistic and transcultural productions - Academy of Fine Arts of Palermo; Research Doctorate in Visual Culture University of Palermo - Department of Cultures and Societies; Central Institute for Intangible Cultural heritage ICPI - Ministry of Culture; Italian Society for Museography and Anthropology SIMBDEA; Ignazio Buttitta Foundation; and with the companies of the ‘Italian Network of Organisations for the Protection, Promotion and Valorisation of the Opera dei pupi: #OPERADEIPUPI. IT#’.
PROGRAM
FRIDAY 20 DECEMBER 2024
9h30
Institutional Speeches
Leandro Ventura (Director, Central Institute for Intangible Heritage, Ministry of Culture)
Alessandro Anello (Tourism Councilor, Municipality of Palermo)
Pietro Cannella (Culture Councilor, Municipality of Palermo)
Umberto De Paola (Director, Academy of Fine Arts of Palermo)
Ludovico Giambrone (Delegate of the Regional Councilor of Tourism, Sport and Theatre)
Marcantonio Ruisi (Director, SEAS Department - University of Palermo)
Valentina Favarò (Director, Department of Culture and Society - University of Palermo)
Ferdinando Mirizzi (President, Italian Society for Cultural Anthropology - SIAC)
Alessandra Broccolini (President, SIMBDEA)
Giovanni Ruffino (President, Centre for sicilian philological and linguistic studies)
10h00
Launching - The Detailed Strategic Plan of Measures for the Safeguard of the Sicilian Opera dei pupi
Introduction:
Rosario Perricone (Director, Pasqualino Museum; Coordinator, Research Doctorate Mediascapes. Transnational artistic practices, Academy of Fine Arts of Palermo)
Speakers:
Ignazio E. Buttitta (President, Ignazio Buttitta Foundation; Anthropologist, University of Palermo)
Giovanni Ruggieri (President, Observatory on Tourism for Islands Economy; Economist, University of Palermo)
Alessandro Napoli (Marionette Theatre Company “Fratelli Napoli”)
The members of the “Italian network of organisations for the protection, promotion and valorisation of the Sicilian Puppet Opera” participating: Salvatore Bumbello (Association “Opera dei Pupi Brigliadoro”); Vincenzo e Nicola Argento (Cultural Association “Agramante”); Franco Cuticchio (Cultural Association “Franco Cuticchio Figlio d’Arte”); Venerando Gargano (Cultural Association “Opera dei Pupi Messinesi Gargano”); Gaetano Grasso (Association “Opera dei Pupi Turi Grasso”); Vincenzo Mancuso (Cultural Association for Theatre “Carlo Magno”); Daniel Mauceri (Association “Opera dei pupi Vaccaro Mauceri ODV”); Fiorenzo Napoli ((Marionette Theatre Company “Fratelli Napoli”); Angelo Sicilia (Cultural Association “Marionettistica Popolare Siciliana”); Salvatore Oliveri (Cultural Association “Opera dei pupi siciliani Gaspare Canino”).
The mayors of the municipalities where the cultural places of the Sicilian Opera dei pupi are located have been invited to participate: Roberto Barbagallo (Acireale’s); Domenica Surdi (Alcamo’s); Enrico Trantino (Catania’s); Federico Basile (Messina’s); Francesco Italia (Siracusa’s); Vincenzo Parlato (Sortino’s).
11h30 - Break
12h00
The UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of 2003
Chiara Bortolotto (CY Cergy Paris University, ICH NGO forum), The sustainabilization of intangible cultural heritage
Marilena Alivizatou (University College London), From safeguarding anxiety to sustainable futures - Reflections on the 2003 Convention
13h00 - Lunch break
15h00
Janet Blake (University of Shahid Beheshti Tehran, ICH NGO Forum), Understanding community participation in safeguarding ICH as a human rights issue and considering the place of museums
Robert Baron (International Society for Ethnology and Folklore, ICH NGO forum), Repertoires of ICH Safeguarding Practices
Valentina Lapiccirella Zingari (SIMBDEA, ICH NGO forum), Making networks. A new way to safeguard living heritage? The Opera dei Pupi long-term strategy and the role of the Museum
Ananya Bhattacharya (banglanatak dot com, ICH NGO Forum)
17h00
Opera dei pupi live performance
18h00
Opening of the Photographic Exhibition by Attilio Russo
A winter of lights. From Immaculate Conception to Epiphany
curated by Monica Modica and Emanuela Alfano
Ignazio Buttitta Foundation
 MORGANA OFF Detailed Strategic Plan of the Opera dei pupi.pdf | [ ] | 8092 kB |
