From 24th to 30th October, more than 100 authors, multidisciplinary artists, intellectuals and citizens will take the stages of 9 Italian cities – Cagliari, Bologna, Turin, Venice, Genoa, Palermo, Roma, Naples and Milan (hoping that other will join soon) during collective readings’ events to raise funds for the Italian- flagged 'Mare Jonio' rescue vessel. The humanitarian spotter detects and gathers evidences in the sea area, where many lives die from drowning, neglect, abandonment and silence.
'We are artists, writers and citizens supporting Mediterranea – Saving Humans, the civic network that on the path of sea migrations ensures the presence of a rescue boat, the 'Mare Jonio'. The boat is financed by crowd-funding, to which anyone can contribute. The reason why we do it? Because it isn’t normal to be forced to escape our homes, our countries. It isn’t normal to put our lives and the ones of our beloved at risk in the attempt to find the only possibility left of surviving and having a future. Even less normal is the fact that a country like ours -- that has experienced massive and hopeless migration at different eras -- is in the incapacity to welcome and take this opportunity of wealth, carried by moving populations and their cultures. This is how we bought a boat and put it in seawater. It seemed impossible, but we used the force of the weak, which can move mountains together. We couldn’t have done it differently. Statistics show us that an average of eight people a day die trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach our coasts. Eight deaths that are acknowledged in the speeches we hear as being eight problems less to worry about in our country (Italy). For us they are eight more sufferings that we have to bear on our shoulders everyday. We need to decide: celebrate the dead or stand next to the ones who buy a boat and sail across the sea in order to rescue lives. Again, we need to choose sides. Once again, we are asked to be partisans.'
Arena del Sole Theatre will be the host for the crowd-funding event in Bologna, taking place on Thursday 25th October 2018 at 9pm, inviting authors and artists who adhere to the 'La via di terra' support project for Mediterranea – Saving Humans, to promulgate the message. The evening is organised in collaboration with the Emilia-Romagna region, the Municipality of Bologna and Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione.
Among the many voices sharing the evening will also be the one of Muna Mussie, Eritrean artist based in Bologna, who collaborated during the first Right to the City in June 2018 with the collective artwork 'Punctuation'.
Entry is free. Limited seats available.
Click here to join the event on Facebook.