by Morena Maresia.
Sometimes, it takes very little to be amazed, to marvel, to be surprised. Discovering beauties right next to us, rich in history and stories. Simply answering a simple question—”What is this?”— gave many groups, associations, and individuals the opportunity to get involved, seek information, visit libraries, and activate networks in their local area to learn about what has always been “right there in front of me” (as the title oft he project) but which, before that day, they had never stopped to observe.
Participation in this project, which required the production of short videos and films describing local cultural heritage, triggered virtuous processes of generative welfare involving the participation of citizens with difficulties of accessing and enjoying to cultural heritage (sensory, motor, or cognitive disabilities, deficits related to functional abilities, neurodevelopmental differences, rare diseases, linguistic or socio-cultural marginalization, etc.): people who currently live, work, study, or temporarily reside in Friuli Venezia Giulia.
The aim was to overturn the paradigm whereby people with disabilities are considered mere passive users of cultural heritage, and to offer an experience in which they can truly participate and be protagonists, engaging and demonstrating their potential as “generators” of culture. Their perspective and sensitivity were a precious gift for everyone. A lot of organizations joined the iniziative: day and residential centers in the health and social sectors, social cooperatives, and volunteer associations that welcome and assist people with cognitive and mental difficulties, limitations in independence, and people with disabilities. Public administrations and entire schools undertook multidisciplinary projects to listen, give voice, and put “themselves in their shoes“. Foreigners, migrants, and reception centers for unaccompanied minors shared their desire to integrate, learn about, and understand the history and cultural heritage of the region where they now live. They told us about small churches enclosing precious and ancient frescoes, small museums, rivers and streams, and mills that, out of curiosity, they managed to open revealing their ancient contents and profound meanings.
They described a human landscape, made unique by their sensitive and attentive gaze, with creative imagination, enthusiasm, and contagious joy. Cultural heritage revealed its potential in the social sphere. We attempted to experiment with a way to recognize how the squares and buildings that are part of our lives, the streets we walk every day, the places where we lived and that shaped us as we are can actualize their meanings, serve as a framework and pretext for concrete reasoning, and enable experiences of participation, inclusion, and connection. It’s important to feel that those journeys belong to us, to feel they’re ours, to connect our personal and relational memories to them. The result is an “amazing epiphany” accessible to everyone: to imagine cultural heritage, the choice to share it, the emotion of doing together. All this gave us the opportunity to reflect, pause, look around, and not underestimate the beauty and richness of what we have near us and, above all, of “who” we have right there, near us.
All the produced videos are available, accompanied by a descriptive sheet, on the website of the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Friuli Venezia Giulia.