Four evenings, three castles in Salento, twenty events and nearly forty guests, all with the aim of looking at Sarajevo not as a closed chapter in European history, but as a wound that still speaks to our times. From Thursday 25th to Sunday 28th June, across Lecce, Corigliano d’Otranto and Melpignano, ‘The Siege | Sarajevo: Before, During and After’, a programme dedicated to the city that symbolises 20th-century Europe and to the questions that its siege continues to pose. Sarajevo was once an Olympic capital, a multicultural and musical hub, a melting pot of different languages, religions and identities; then, for almost four years, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996, it became the scene of one of the most atrocious tragedies of the post-war era. Today, that event serves as a lens through which to examine wars near and far, propaganda, nationalism, the manipulation of conflicts, the role of the media, desensitisation to violence, cultural resistance and the dignity of a population under siege.
On Saturday 27 June, *The Siege* will be at the Castello Volante in Corigliano d’Otranto. From 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm, the InfoPoint will offer a guided tour entitled ‘The Siege of Castello de’ Monti: Between History and Legend’ (ticket €8 | information and bookings on 3519137972). At 7.00 pm, with ‘Memories of Sieges and Landings | Salento in the History of the Mediterranean’, the theme of the festival will be linked to the long history of Salento, a land of crossings, landings, conflicts and cultural exchanges. Speakers will include Francesco D’Andria, archaeologist, professor emeritus at the University of Salento and member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei; Maristella Martella, dancer, choreographer and artistic director of Tarantarte; Paola Moscardino, journalist and artistic director of the Maria Corti Festival; and Ada Fiore, lecturer in philosophy and mayor of Corigliano d’Otranto. At 8.00 pm, the programme continues with “The Language of Exile. Memory and Identity”: a discussion, moderated by Giulia Maria Falzea, author and cultural organiser, featuring readings by Andjelka Vulic, actress and educator, alongside Diana Bošnjak Monai (author, amongst other works, of the book “From Sarajevo with Love. Diary from the Siege’, co-authored with Punisa Kalezic for Besa | Muci) and Božidar Stanišić (author, amongst others, of “The Black Holes of Sarajevo and Other Stories” for Bottega Errante Edizioni and “Towards the Sea” for Besa | Muci). At 9.30 pm, in the Sala Cavallerizza, the author and actress Roberta Biagiarelli will perform “A as in Srebrenica. A Story of Siege”, which reconstructs and commemorates the terrible massacre that marked European history. Around 9 July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army attacked the Srebrenica Safe Area, a small town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The offensive continued until 11 July 1995, the day on which Bosnian Serb units entered Srebrenica. This was followed by rapes, mutilations, executions of civilians and burials of the living. But the massacre of 9,000 civilians in mid-July 1995 was merely the culmination of a story that had begun three years earlier – a story of siege. From 11.00 pm, the evening will conclude with ‘Return to Sarajevo’, a concert featuring Cesare Dell’Anna, Ekland Hasa and other guests.
THE FESTIVAL
The event, coordinated by journalist and cultural organiser Pierpaolo Lala, forms part of the programme of the ‘Nel frattempo’ festival – Conversations on the Future, run by the association ‘Diffondiamo idee di valore’ under the direction of Gabriella Morelli, and is organised with the support of the Apulia Regional Council – Teca del Mediterraneo and the ‘EcoR.E.S. – Environmentally Friendly, Inclusive and Fair Economic Growth’, promoted by GUS – ‘Guido Puletti’ Human Solidarity Group APS and funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, under the patronage of the Puglia Region – Department of Culture and Knowledge and the Province of Lecce, and in collaboration with the Castello Svevo in Bari – the Apulia Regional Directorate of National Museums and Open Castle – Castello Carlo V, Castello Volante in Corigliano d’Otranto (Municipality of Corigliano d’Otranto, BigSur, Coolclub, Multiservice Eco), the Municipality of Melpignano, the Institute of Mediterranean Cultures, the Polo BiblioMuseale, the Bernardini Library, Besa/Muci and other public and private partners. Official bookshop: Officine Culturali Ergot.
Info
conversazionisulfuturo.it – 3394313397
