Book Capital

With the torch of the Olympics and Paralympics not yet gone out, Turin will host another major international event: Turin World Book Capital. The title of World Book Capital was attributed by Unesco. Previous cities were Madrid, Alexandria in Egypt, New Delhi, Antwerp and Montréal. After Turin, flanked by Rome, the new book capital will be Bogotà. The year of Turin, World Book Capital, starts on April 23, 2006, on the anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare in 1564 and of the death of Shakespeare himself in 1616 and Miguel de Cervantes; for this reason it was proclaimed the World Day of the Book and Copyright by Unesco. Twelve months of events devoted to the book and to reading, with hundreds of shows, debates, meetings with authors and thinkers, readings and concerts, book festivals and readers’ festivals, White Nights of the Book and nights in ancient libraries, exhibitions of ancient manuscripts and new “mutant writing”. You can find more information if you visit www.trwbc.it, in English and French too. The Turin, World Book Capital project has been developed and coordinated by Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura led by Rolando Picchioni: the same foundation that organises the International Book Fair, one of the key European events in the book sector with its 1,200 publishers and 230,000 visitors every year. Turin is one of the cradles of European culture. Erasmus from Rotterdam graduated in its university which is over 600 years old.. The Royal Library houses treasures by Leonardo da Vinci like Autoritratto a sanguigna and Codice sul Volo degli Uccelli. It is here that publishers like Utet, Einaudi e Bollati Boringhieri wrote the history of Western literature and thinking. Turin hosted writers like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Friedrich Nietzsche, , , . In Turin’s bookshops and bookstands you can find the most rare and curious books and its historical cafés still preserve the intact atmosphere in which many masterpieces saw the light. The programme of Turin World Book Capital will start on Saturday April 22, 2006 at the Oval olympic palasport with Bookstock: a musical-literary rave with Gabriele Vacis, Alessandro Baricco, Stefano Benni, Moni Ovadia, Marco Paolini and Ludovico Einaudi. During the whole day of Sunday 23 Turin’s city centre will be animated by performances of writers, poets, musicians and famous cinema and TV characters including Piero Angela, Enrico Rava, Gianluca Cascioli, Marco Ponti.

In the evening Palaisozaki hosts a concert by Subsonica, who will play with other much-loved Italian bands. All these events are free. The heart of the the programme of Turin World Book Capital is The Sign Language: a rich calendar of events drawing inspiration from the symbolic meaning of punctuation (James Hillman, Avraham Yehoshua, Joseph Stiglitz, Peter Singer...) to reflect on the key subjects of our time. Next to The Sign Language, an inexhaustible programme of events in the city and in the whole of Piedmont. In the foreground, the celebration of Piedmontese writers like Giuseppe Giacosa (the author of the remarkable “librettos” by Giacomo Puccini), Mario Soldati and Primo Levi, who is now the most translated Italian author most in the world. For the 250th anniversary of Mozart, Teatro Regio will stage the Magical Flute with dialogues written by Alessandro Baricco in December 2006. The region of Piedmont will feature an equally rich programme. Codici Novalicensi, precious illuminated manuscripts testifying the origin of musical writing will be exhibited at Novalesia Abbey. In May, Vercelli will host three days of exhibitions, conferences, monuments opened to the public and shows to rediscover the fantastic medieval city centre, with Sant’Andrea Abbay and the archives preserving treasures like the most ancient latin text of the Gospels (III century), the Planisphere of the XII century and Vercelli’s Book, a collection of homilies of the IX century to document the ancient anglosaxon language. Reading is promoted through several initiatives: Librinfesta at Alessandria, Passepartout in Asti, Letterature di Svolta of the Pistoletto Foundation in Biella, Scrittorincittà in Cuneo and Una Provincia tra Parentesi of the Cantoregi Project. During the World Capital year the new municipal libraries of Alessandria and Chivasso will be inaugurated along with Cittadella della Letteratura per Ragazzi at Boves. Finally, an innovative project involving the whole peninsula will originate from Turin, World Book Capital. It is the Grand Re-tour, a revival of the legendary Journey to , in the footsteps of Goethe and Stendhal, Mozart and Byron, Dostoevskij and Nietzsche.

It is an opportunity to take a snapshot of Italy and describe it as it is now, with its changes and possible future scenarios, starting from its “hundred cities”. The scientific coordinator of the project is Carlo Ossola, member of Accademia dei Lincei and professor at Collège de France. Grand Re-tour starts on May 29, 2006 from Sicily. Grand Re-tour stops in Lecce, Naples, Rome, Florence, Urbino, Venice, Parma, Bologna, Genoa, Turin and Orta Lake to be closed in April 2007 in Milan, with a programme of rendez-vouz and shows in theatres and historical libraries. At the core of each stage of the journey a round table will engage both national and international maitres à penser . From Greece classicality to the “ideal city”, from the culture of taste to the various aspects of contemporary creativity, these are all the key subjects of the Italian civilization to highlight the contribution of creativity that Italy and its human landscape offer to the scenarios of a deeply-changing world.