by Stefania Ponzone
On Thursday 18th September the “Dante Giacosa” participated in the initiative "EDU OPEN DAY | The museums of the province of Savona present themselves to schools", an opportunity for dialogue between museums and educators that saw the presentation of the volume “Percorsi del fare” and a round table discussion on heritage education from an intercultural perspective.
Hosted in the suggestive setting of the Museum Complex of the Cathedral-Sistine Chapel of Savona, on a bright late summer afternoon, it gave the opportunity to a large group of teachers from local schools To meet directly with representatives of the 22 museums belonging to the provincial network, which for the first time offered a collective guide with factsheets on their extensive educational offerings. Not just a simple catalog of activities, but a tool for designing interdisciplinary itineraries, intertwining history, art, and science.
“Paths of doing” It was created thanks to the contribution of the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation and promoted by the De Mari CR Savona Foundation, the Liguria Regional Directorate of National Museums and the network museums and can be downloaded at this link.
The undersigned and the vice-curator were present for the 500 Museum Silvio Bertolotto who, lined up with the others in the Franciscan Cloister, were able to talk with the teachers, suggesting the many ideas that the small utility vehicle can offer to talk about many aspects of contemporary society and our very recent past.The automobile is in fact one of the elements that characterized the 900th century and it cannot be ignored by anyone who wants to discuss technology, design, advertising, but also women's emancipation, youth aspirations yesterday and today, freedom of movement, tourism and much more.
Once the “Meet the Museum” moment was over, the exhibition hall of the Bishop's Palace was held. Conference "Paths of Making: When Museums Meet Schools", with speeches by Luciano Pasquale (President of the De Mari CR Savona Foundation), Nadia Dalmasso (Savona Territorial School Office), Valentina Fiore (Regional Directorate of National Museums of Liguria), Andrea Traverso (University of Genoa), Anna Maria Fontana (Palazzo Ducale Genoa), Anna Cossetta (De Mari CR Savona Foundation) and Alessio Cotena (Savona Onlus Ceramics Museum Foundation).
The conference also provided the opportunity to present the results of the training course "Educating about heritage from an intercultural perspective", promoted by the network in 2024 and led by expert researchers Simona Bodo and Silvia Mascheroni (ISMU Foundation); we are pleased to recall that the first lesson of this course took place at the "Dante Giacosa". At the end of the event, the four intramuseum project paths resulting from the course were illustrated: not simple "exercises", but concrete initiatives already underway or soon to be launched. The 500 Museum, together with the Museum Complex of the Cathedral and Sistine Chapel (Savona) and the Diocesan Museum and Baptistery (Albenga), proposes “Spaces of Freedom”, a reflection on freedom of movement, opinion/expression, and faith, to promote awareness of human rights enjoyed and denied in the past and present. We are working to resolve the remaining logistical difficulties, but we hope to soon welcome children and young people who would like to learn more about the "freedom car" (to use the title of a book by our technical director Enrico Bo).
