Certosa of Bologna summer calendar 2019 (23rd May - 26th September)

The Certosa of Bologna events calendar is back from 23rd May to 26th September 2019. It is a summer calendar organised by the Museo civico del Risorgimento and now on its 11th year.

It includes more than sixty dates ranging from travelling shows, audio-visual performances and theatre which will make use of the Certosa as an attractive backdrop, in addition to the now regular guided visits to Bologna’s art and history. The evening events will also be supplemented by guided day visits and sunset walks, workshops and conferences.

The new feature this year is the events organised by the three important town associations working with disability: Accaparlante – CDH, Istituto dei Ciechi Francesco Cavazza and Fondazione Gualandi A Favore Dei Sordi.

For the first time in Bologna these three associations have worked together on a shared cultural project, designing four workshop-itineraries (13th and 20th July, 12th and 21st September) and a theatre date (24th September).
In the first case visitors will find out about past work and stories via accessible itineraries in which all their senses will be put to the test and they will have to work together to move around the Certosa, to give a voice to the work or find the exits. In the second, visitors will discover how a whole city can be memorised via their own bodies.

In conjunction with the beginning of the summer programme, from 23rd May, an English language website on the Certosa, created thanks to the contribution of Bologna Servizi Cimiteriali and the co-operation of Liceo Ginnasio “Luigi Galvani” and Associazione Amici della Certosa, will go online. It is designed to make this great Bologna monument more accessible and user friendly for both Italian and international tourists.

Once again designed to promote the Certosa outside the local area, too, the Museo civico del Risorgimento’s partnership with Tavolo Tecnico SE.F.IT. for the promotion of Italy’s historic and artistic cemetery sites will be continuing with a small number of members of UTILITALIA - SE.F.IT. (Servizi Funerari Italiani), including Bologna Servizi Cimiteriali, with the participation of the museum itself together with the most important Italian cemeteries including Genoa, Turin, Rome, Ferrara, Milan, Trento and Mantua.

The initiatives proposed by the technical panel on the occasion of the annual European Exploring Cemeteries Week promoted by ASCE – Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe, this year from 24th May to 2nd June, include the publication of a brochure encompassing all the activities organised by 10 Italian cemeteries (in addition to the Bologna Certosa, the Trento, Villetta di Parma, Genoa Staglieno, Certosa di Ferrara, Tempio crematorio Socrem in Turin, Monumentale di Milano, Monumentale di Torino, Bolzano, Monumentale di Mantova and Rome's Verano cemeteries will also be taking part).

In addition to this nation-wide promotion and publicity strategy, there will also be a photographic exhibition set up and visible in digital form at all participating cemeteries which will feature certain representative images of the cemeteries themselves.

In Bologna the photo gallery will be visible in digital format at the Certosa on both an info totem located in the room next to the history-art Info Point as well as online on www.storiaememoriadibologna.it. The totem, made by Liceo Arcangeli’s students on work experience, encompasses a tablet for web access which enables visitors to explore all the other contents of the Storia e Memoria di Bologna portal.

In terms of promoting the cemetery in tourist terms and in the context of improving public services, a wi-fi internet access service is available at the Info Point, thanks to the support of Bologna town council’s Digital and IT Agenda Sector, giving free access to the whole Iperbole Wireless network from the Chiesa di San Girolamo courtyard, too.

The example of Bologna confirms the growth of a cultural memory tourism sector whose focus is funerary monuments in the sense of cultural heritage, with an interesting level of internationalisation. In 2018 1748 people visited the site, including 126 non-Italians, registering at the Certosa Info Point. They came from 13 different nations: Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Mexico, Germany, France, Belgium, the United States, Austria, Russia, Japan, Holland and Vietnam.

The Certosa of Bologna. Summer calendar is realized by Istituzione Bologna Musei | Museo civico del Risorgimento with: Associazione Amici della Certosa, Associazione Correnti d'Arte - Compagnia d’Arte Drummatica, Associazione Culturale Youkali, Associazione culturale Rimachèride, Associazione culturale Didasco, Associazione Dolci Accenti, Associazione Musica e Nuvole, Associazione RestauriAmo, Associazione Vitruvio, Tempo Reale - Centro di Ricerca Produzione e Didattica Musicale, Fondazione Collegio Artistico Venturoli, Cooperativa Sociale Accaparlante - CDH, Fondazione Gualandi A Favore dei Sordi, G.A.I.A. eventi, Istituto dei Ciechi Francesco Cavazza, Istantanea Teatro.
With the cooperation fo: ASCE - Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe, Associazione 8cento, BSC - Bologna Servizi Cimiteriali, AICS Bologna, Collettivo della Scuola di Musica Elettronica di Bologna, IT.A.CÀ - festival del turismo responsabile, Libreria Atlantide, Libreria Trame, Liceo Ginnasio Luigi Galvani.

Info: www.museibologna.it/risorgimento