Italian Emigration Museum online
The project was strengthened in the following areas:
Realization of "Didactics" section with publication of worksheets aimed at educational paths for use by primary and secondary schools
Online posting of short clips from interviews with Italian emigrants and immigrants
Enrichment of existing entries with additional insights into various topics
English translation of the virtual tour of the exhibition "Along the wake of a propeller"
Realization of the new website of the Paolo Cresci Foundation
The Foundation's new website visible at. www.fondazionepaolocresci.it.
The site, built according to modern information technology devices, will be able to be easily managed by the Foundation's staff, resulting in cost savings, and will also allow for quick updates and insertion of event news, press releases, etc.
Museum Didactics
Development of museum education activities with schools in the Lucca area.
Workshops and guided tours of the museum.
Elsewhere. Journal of history and interculture.
Publication of a single issue dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the walls of Lucca (in press)
Series "The Foundation Notebooks"
The following volumes have been published:
N. Franchi, The Way to Scotland. Barga and Lucchese emigration to Glasgow in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
G. Baccelli, Emigration in Lucca from 1876 to 1913 and notes on the genesis of the migratory phenomenon in the first half of the 1800s (in press)
Publication: Yesterday's Stories, Today's Stories of Women, of Migrant Men.
The publication is an important educational tool for learning about the history of Tuscan emigration. It is an agile reference tool, aimed especially at middle and high schools, consisting of 25 fact sheets with texts, archival documents, images, etc.
The cards are collected in a folder with graphics reminiscent of an emigrant's suitcase.
Publication of the book: The Provincial Ethnographic Museum "Don Luigi Pellegrini" of San Pellegrino in Alpe by P.L. Biagioni
As part of the expansion of the foundation's responsibilities in the field of folk traditions , following recent changes in its statutes, the Province of Lucca awarded the Cresci Foundation the scientific direction of the Museum of San Pellegrino in Alpe. As a result of this collaboration, with resources previously set aside by the Popular Traditions Center, the publication of the volume by P.L. Biagioni Il Museo etnografico provinciale "Don Luigi Pellegrini "di San Pellegrino in Alpe. Thematic itineraries of the territory.
On Aug. 4, the book was presented by Prof. Pietro Paolo Angelini on the museum premises.
Participation in cultural events
- As part of the traditional Sagra Pascoliana delle Forbici held annually in Casone di Profecchia on the first Sunday in August, Foundation director arch. Pietro Luigi Biagioni gave a talk entitled "Maria Pascoli and the Pascoliana Sagra delle Forbici."
- As part of the initiatives planned for the Autumn Festival event held in Castelvecchio Pascoli, at the international tourist center Il Ciocco, the director of the Foundation arch. Pietro Luigi Biagioni gave a talk entitled: Giovanni Pascoli and Emigration from the Serchio Valley.
Publication of the "Bulletin of Italian Emigration"
As part of this project was the computerization of the index created by Francesco Cordasco already available on the Foundation's website.
The next phase involves the possibility of online consultation of the pages of the Bulletin that was published from 1902 to 1927, a total of 332 issues
Digitization was completed in 2013, so it will be possible to put it online in the
"Museum of Italian Emigration Online"
Contest " On the routes of Europe"/"On the routes of Europe"
"It is clear that emigration testifies to the spirit of openness proper to European identity [...]Europeans do not have blinders on and believe that every territory is a territory to be discovered. Openness is combined with creativity. Migrants are not prisoners of the methods or living conditions they have known."
G. François Dumont, Anselm Zurfluh, L'identité socio-demographique de l'Europe, 1999
School Year 2013-2014: "PEOPLE ON THE WAY BEYOND BORDERS TO BUILD THE FUTURE TOWARDS THE FUTURE."
The Contest is open to individual students, groups of students or entire classes, coordinated by a teacher, from primary, junior and senior secondary schools throughout the country. A special section of the Competition, on the other hand, is aimed at upper secondary schools from states that are part of the European Union, which will participate with entries in English.
Each school will be allowed to compete for a maximum of three entries, which the schools themselves will select from the participants if necessary.
Presentation of Nicoletta Franchi's book on emigration from Barga and Lucca to Scotland in Glasgow
The initiative follows the publication of Nicoletta Franchi's volume on emigration from Lucca, and in particular from Barga in Scotland. At the initiative of the Italian Cultural Institute of Edinburgh, the University of Edinburgh and the Center for Historical Research on Italian Emigration to Scotland, the volume was presented in Edinburgh.
Presentation of Nicoletta Franchi's book on emigration from Barga and Lucca to Barga
The book was presented in Barga on August 4 in the town hall as part of the events to mark the return to Barga of many emigrants to Scotland.
The presentation was made in two languages, Italian and English.
Astor Piazzola project and Lucchese emigration to Argentina
2012 marked the 20th anniversary of the great Argentine musician's passing, and to mark the date of his death, events were organized involving the Embassy of Argentina in Italy, the Province of Lucca and the Cresci Foundation. Following archival research, it emerged that the maternal branch of Piazzola's family came from Garfagnana, Astor's grandparents emigrated from Villa Collemandina to Mar del Plata.
Following a request forwarded to the Embassy, a series of events were organized to highlight the musician's work by linking his name to the migratory story of many Lucchese who made their way to Argentina.
The initiatives were:
- the creation of a bronze monument to the artist donated by sculptor Giacomo Cavina placed in the square in front of the Massa Sassorosso parish church;
- the organization of a concert of Piazzola music with the Q5 Tango group in the Montalfonso Fortress, which was paired with a dinner of traditional Argentine dishes;
- the lecture: Tastes and nostalgia- food and emigration from the Serchio Valley given by the director of the Foundation arch. Pietro Luigi Biagioni;
- the traveling exhibition with photos and documents on emigration to Argentina from Villa Collemandina and the origins of Astor Piazzolla curated by Marinella Mazzanti with Graphics by Alessandro Sesti.
Exhibitions and displays
- As part of the conference "The Charter of Siena" - Church and Institutions for a City of Integration., held in Siena at the University for Foreigners on Nov. 21, 2013, promoted by Charitas Migrantes was displayed the exhibit, taken from the images of the Along the Trail of a Helix Exhibition, related to the parallels between emigration and immigration yesterday and today.
- A country from which people emigrate: Homage to Argentina.
Documentary exhibition set up in the premises of the Foresteria di Casa Pascoli open from Aug. 7 to Sept. 8 on the close relations between Aregentina-a destination for many emigrants-and the Serchio Valley. A small illustrative catalog was also published.
– The figurine makers -Exhibition by the Lucchese in the World Association - Headquarters
As part of the celebrations of the Day of Tuscans Abroad held in Lucca in September, the archives of the Cresci Foundation provided documentary material for the exhibition curated by the Lucchesi nel Mondo Association. The initiative was so successful with critics and the public that it was extended.
Video Why you're going to America - Interviews with protagonists of emigration from Garfagnana
The video collects excerpts from interviews collected by the Cresci Foundation in recent years with protagonists of Garfagnana emigration in the world. The testimonies are enhanced by period footage, archival documents and a historical commentary on the events of emigration from the Serchio Valley. The video was presented at the Alfieri Theater in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana with an event attended by student emigrants who returned to Italy and some of the protagonists of the interviews.
Archive
The project of digitizing paper documents with contribution of CIP funding continued, in addition, new documents were computerized filing.
Creation of an exhibition space on folk traditions in the province of Lucca on the premises of the Paolo Cresci Museum
Following the donation of ethnographic material by the heirs of Prof. Carlo Gabrielli Rosi, plans are underway to set up on the premises of the Paolo Cresci Museum an exhibition space that will present some of the most significant objects in the collection as reference elements of the production and domestic cycles of the past. Hence the reference to the various museum realities in the field of ethnography of which the province of Lucca presents a great wealth with episodes of national relevance such as the Don Luigi Pellegrini Provincial Ethnographic Museum in San Pellegrino in Alpe.
Acquisition of documentary material and objects related to the history of emigration - Marks Collection
The company Toskanischen Industrie, established by Archimedes Nannetti with partners Marchi and Mariani of Bagni di Lucca at the end of the 19th century, as well as that of Felice Martinelli "Felix Martinelli & co Kunst-Anstalt" constituted flourishing businesses as shapers of statues, decorative elements and plaster furnishings in Munich. Their production, which had as its cultural references the 15th- and 16th-century Florentine period, was a great success among the cultured Bavarian bourgeoisie. The activity continued until the first decades of the 20th century when the protagonists of these important commercial and at the same time artistic events returned home.
The sample books, catalogs, photos and other important documents of this activity flowed into the Nannetti - Vincenti collection, heirs of these dynasties; thanks to the generosity of the custodians of this collection, the Cresci Foundation is enriched with this important heritage that testifies to the creativity and resourcefulness of Lucca's figurine makers.
The material will find appropriate placement within the museum's exhibition itinerary.
Communication plan
Action to promote the Foundation's activities through local and national generalist and trade media. This work was developed through the drafting and sending of dedicated press releases and contact with editorial offices...
Activation of internships
During the year 2013, 2 training internships were activated at the Cresci Foundation with Dr. Giada Coppo and Ms. Flavia Saladino as part of the regional project Giovani Si.