Frigoland must not close! ABO, Flores, Lagioia and Scurati write to Franceschini

Four cultural personalities, namely art critic Achille Bonito Oliva, journalist Paolo Flores d’Arcais, writer Nicola Lagioia and writer Antonio Scurati have written to the minister of cultural heritage, Dario Franceschini, to ask him to prevent the closure of Frigolandia, the cultural center in Giano dell’Umbria (Perugia) threatened with eviction.

We retraced the story in August: Frigolandia, the imaginary city born from the imagination of Andrea Pazienza, and today a very active center of cultural production as well as a museum and archive of historic magazines such as Il Male and Frigidaire, run by journalist Vincenzo Sparagna (founder and editor-in-chief of Frigidaire), is in danger of being removed from its premises, a former summer camp that has been decommissioned and transformed, precisely, into Frigolandia, despite the fact that the center is located here on the basis of a regular contract with the municipality. The current administration has expressed its willingness to take back possession of the former colony, despite the fact that the contract provides for three tacit renewals until 2045: the mayor, Manuel Petruccioli, claims that Frigolandia has allegedly violated the enhancement obligations under the contract (“we have never seen the tourism projects,” Petruccioli wrote this summer, “we have never seen culture lovers go to that place, we have never seen artists or even aggregations or events of thousands of people”).

Sparagna, for his part, responded to accusations by those who held against him that he had done nothing for the area by claiming that Frigolandia “has been visited over the years by thousands of families, young people, scholars and researchers from all overItaly and the world, thus also multiplying the influx of tourists to the Umbrian territory,” and that the journal archive, in addition to securing several dissertations and specialized studies, has also attracted the interest of Yale University. A parliamentary question had also been initiated in support of Frigolandia, by Liberi e Uguali deputy Nicola Fratoianni, asking Franceschini to activate initiatives to protect and enhance Frigolandia.

Franceschini is now being called on again, this time by ABO, Flores d’Arcais, Lagioia and Scurati who, as anticipated, wrote him an open letter. “The Municipality of Giano dell’Umbria, on March 11, in the midst of the Covid emergency,” the text reads, “issued an incredible ordinance of eviction of a real estate property entrusted since 2005, for consideration with an agreement contract, to FRIGOLANDIA srl. Frigolandia has appealed against this order to the Regional Administrative Court, but the matter cannot be left to legal dispute alone. FRIGOLANDIA, ideally the land of the historic magazine FRIGIDAIRE, ’Republic of Fantasy,’ ’Academy of Inventions,’ ’Imaginary City of Maivist Art,’ a definition invented in 1985 by Andrea Pazienza and Vincenzo Sparagna, is a cultural hub of creativity, a Museum, a Library and a vast Archive that preserves, in addition to rare books and magazines, about four thousand works by major Italian and European authors of satire, comics, illustration and art of the last decades. Frigolandia has been visited over the years by thousands of young people, families, researchers and scholars from all parts of Italy and the world, also multiplying the influx of tourists to the Umbrian territory.”

“The threat of eviction,” the four intellectuals recall, “is all the more absurd since Frigolandia does not receive public contributions, regularly pays the rent stipulated in the contract and carries out an intense activity with the publication of magazines and books, the production of videos, the organization of exhibitions and cultural events throughout Italy. The disappearance of Frigolandia would destroy one of Europe’s most original artistic and journalistic experiences. It would mean the interruption of its intense editorial work and the dispersion of its Library and precious Archive, the subject of numerous Italian dissertations and specialized studies even at the prestigious Yale University in Connecticut. This would be irreparable damage and a true cultural crime.”

Here then is the appeal to Franceschini: “ Mr. Minister, Frigolandia must not close! You, who, with the recent reform of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, has shown sensitivity to contemporary creativity by establishing a special Directorate to support cultural and creative industries, cannot allow the eviction of Frigolandia. It is a space that, in addition to being a Museum, Archive and Library, is also a living laboratory that gives voice to young writers, illustrators, cartoonists, photographers, videomakers, musicians, who continue, innovating it, the work of those who contributed to its birth. In this sense, Frigolandia, with good reason, should be protected as a Museum, Archive and Library, and be immediately included among the Places of the Contemporary recognized by your Ministry.”

Pictured: the Museum of Maivist Art located in Frigolandia.

Frigoland must not close! ABO, Flores, Lagioia and Scurati write to Franceschini

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