Riace Bronzes: Calabria celebrates the 50th anniversary of their discovery with many initiatives

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the Riace Bronzes: it was in fact Aug. 16, 1972, when off the coast of Riace, Calabria, after a report by diver Stefano Mariottini, carabinieri unearthed the two statues of the Riace Bronzes, probably belonging to a complex group of bronze sculptures. Recently nominated as a UNESCO property, fifty years after their discovery, the Riace Bronzes will be the protagonists of a new narrative of contemporary, sustainable and innovative Calabria, which will be told in Italy and around the world through a path of events to rediscover the territory and its culture, including visual art, cinema, street art, comics, augmented reality, digital, public archaeology, mapping, conferences and exhibitions. The initiatives, promoted by the Region of Calabria, will see the territory as a protagonist not only in the enhancement of local and territorial excellence, but also in dialogue with the most important spaces of culture in Italy and the world with exceptional partners, such as the Ministry of Culture, Calabria Film Commission and many others.

If from July to September the excellence of Calabria will be relaunched and enhanced, from October to December and again for 2023 Calabria will “travel” in Italy and the world, telling its story through contemporary artistic interventions. It will tell the story of contemporary Calabria with a wealth of projects, starting with Cubo Stage, an artistic installation of a cube four meters on each side with video projections, animations and visual suggestions accompanied by original music, a creative reconstruction of the concept of Magna Graecia in the present day, which will debut in the fall on a national tour in major cities and will then represent Calabria and the bronzes on a journey around the world. Avirtual exhibition on Magna Graecia, a digital immersive space created with audiovisual and augmented and virtual reality technologies, will also be offered for the first time. Audiovisuals then take center stage in the docufilm I Bronzi di Riace produced by PALOMAR S.p.A, directed by Fabio Mollo and with a screenplay by Armando Maria Trotta, Giuseppe Smorto, Massimo Razzi and Fabio Mollo, which aims to explore and narrate the myth of the Riace Bronzes through the universal language of cinema.

The Riace Bronzes will be featured in October on Rai Cultura with a special episode of the eighth series of Viaggio nella Bellezza, and on Rai Play in December and in prime time on Rai3, with a special episode of Ossi di Seppia. Space will then be given to urban redevelopment that draws on the world of contemporary art and street art, which will see the creation of Here and Now, Magna Grecia-themed murals, and to scientific insights with I Bronzi di Riace: 50 years of studies and research, a conference that will bring together the many national and international researchers who have tried to shed light on the mystery of the Riace Bronzes over the past 50 years. Space will also be given to classical theater in the Aragonese Castle of Reggio Calabria, the Archaeological Park of Locri and the Roman Villa of Casignana (RC) with a reading tour featuring great Italian performers.

Bronzi50 initiatives are also aimed at young people with proposals for cultural tourism packages addressed to students and with the involvement of secondary schools in a path on the ninth art: the comic strip The School for the Bronzes. For August 16, the date of the discovery, the Municipality of Reggio Calabria will pay tribute to the bronzes with an evocative video mapping installation on the facade of the Reggio Calabria museum, while, for the entire summer period, Corso Garibaldi will become the setting for the open-air exhibition of Public Archaeology dedicated to the discovery of the Bronzes. The city of Riace will also be transformed into a stage on August 16. The celebrations at the site of the find will open with The Dawn of the Bronzes: “Immersed” in the site of the find and will conclude with The Night of the Riace Bronzes, also offering the public a celebratory photo exhibition, a conference on historical-cultural studies, concerts and musical events. Finally, on November 17, Adriana Lecrouvere will be staged at the “F. Cilea” theater in Reggio Calabria, and between August and September, the Reggio Calabria Chamber of Commerce will promote the customization and branding of restaurant and commercial activities, mainly in the cities of Reggio Calabria and Riace, with displays dedicated to the celebrations. Along with the 50th anniversary celebrations, from July 7, 2022, the Calabria Region will also launch in Italy and around the world its new emotional video and a new reference site for discovering not only the Riace Bronzes, but the entire Magna Graecia: www.bronzi50.it

You can stay updated on events and initiatives on the official social networks, Facebook and Instagram, @bronzidiriace50 and by following the official hashtag #bronzi50. In addition, www.bronzi50.it will periodically post all the news, with in-depth features and interviews also available on the dedicated YouTube channel, Bronzi di Riace Official. The celebratory event Bronzi50 1972-2022 is promoted by the Region of Calabria in collaboration with the Regional Secretariat for Calabria of the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Reggio Calabria and the Municipality of Riace, the Calabria Regional Museums Directorate, the National Archaeological Museum of Reggio Calabria, the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the metropolitan Reggio Calabria and the province of Vibo Valentia, the University of Calabria and Unioncamere Calabria, and the Regional School Office for Calabria.

Photo by Federico Neri

Riace Bronzes: Calabria celebrates the 50th anniversary of their discovery with many initiatives

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