The Coliseum celebrates Gianni Rodari's 100th birthday by publishing a comic strip from Fables on the Phone

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Gianni Rodari (Omegna, 1920 - Rome, 1980), the celebrated fabulist and the only Italian winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the Colosseum Archaeological Park is celebrating the author of the collection Fables on the Phone by participating in the official celebration(www.100giannirodari.it).

One of the teachings of the aforementioned collection is the preservation of cultural heritage, as the fable The Man Who Stole the Col osseum teaches us, which answers the question “whose Colosseum is it?” The protagonist of the tale is a man who did not admit that he had to share the beauty of the Colosseum with others, until a child, after a lifetime spent trying to steal it, makes him rediscover the universal meaning of the word “ours.”

“It is especially at this time when cultural heritage is behind high gates, necessary to face the dangers of a health emergency that has forced social distancing, that the value of the word ’our’ becomes stronger and more powerful,” explains Alfonsina Russo, Director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park. “Gianni Rodari’s fable teaches the meaning of sharing, reestablishes the role of the Cultural Good as the heritage of all and for all, starting with children. They are the protagonists of the future, our heritage, and it is to them, even more so in these days, that we must transmit its universal value.”

The comic strip, illustrated by the pencil of Silvio Costa, which the PArCo will publish on Friday, May 15 on its website and social channels @parcocolosseo in two appointments: at 5 p.m. the link https://parcocolosseo will be available on the website. it/education/ from which to download the comic, both in the black and white version and in the color version; at 9 p.m. on the social profiles @parcocolosseo it will be possible to watch the video and listen to the reading of the fable with the voice of Vinicio Marchioni.

The color version of the comic strip is a gift from the Colosseum to each child; the black and white version is a gift that each child will give to one of his or her peers. In fact, all children are invited to rewrite some missing passages of the fable, supplementing the text according to their imagination, by coloring the black and white version.

By June 30, the colored and supplemented black-and-white copies, each accompanied by each child’s name and parent’s e-mail address, and appropriately scanned, can be sent to the pa-colosseo.didattica@beniculturali.it mailbox.

When the health emergency permits, those who prefer may mail the original copy of the comic strip colored by each child within a sealed envelope to the address Colosseum Archaeological Park, Piazza Santa Maria Nova 53, 00186 Rome, or, alternatively, deliver it directly to the Colosseum offices (daily, during the hours 9.00 - 18.00) where, at the reserved gate located next to the normal public entrance, a special collection box will be placed (for info, please in case contact 06 774 0091).

All children who have sent in their entries, accompanied by a parent, will be invited to see their “reinterpreted” comics on display in the exhibition as soon as the Colosseum has reopened its doors again and security conditions allow; finally, with the resumption of educational activities, during the next school year, copies of the comics colored by the children will be distributed as gifts to all those children who take part in the PArCo’s educational activities.

To visit PArCo’s official website, you can click here.

The Coliseum celebrates Gianni Rodari's 100th birthday by publishing a comic strip from Fables on the Phone

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