I was pleasantly surprised to find that Italian museums are full of volunteers, who are eager to accompany you on the route and tell you everything I know about the exhibits. They are generally retirees, who put a lot of passion into what they do and, from their gentle and bright eyes, you realize that they feel useful. And even so, because Italy is full of museums, and museums are full of priceless works and it is difficult for the authorities to provide the necessary staff. I met volunteers in museums far from hordes of tourists.
I also found volunteers in super-tourist cities. One of them had gathered around him a lot of visitors in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, he knew how to arouse people's interest. In his previous life he had worked in a bank, but I think he was much happier now. And I also met volunteer high school students, on the occasion of the FAI Days (Fondo Ambiente Italiano, a national foundation that aims to restore and open, a few days a year, heritage buildings closed to the public). A very useful exercise for them. But nothing compares, I think, with the contribution that volunteers have in special situations, as was the case of the earthquake in Emilia, in May 2012 or the alluvium in the Cinque Terre, in October 2011. I think that nowadays, when the state has fewer and fewer resources, volunteering should be part of our lives, wherever we live. We would all have something to gain and, in addition, it would make us better, more humane.
The district of Monte Mario in Rome welcomes a place to say the least incredible: the former Provincial Manichomy Santa Maria della Pietà. Some pavilions of what was the largest psychiatric hospital in Europe still host the structures of the ASL Roma. Others were freed from the blanket of anguish that characterized the place thanks to the "Kaleidoscope Street Art" project, born in 2015 in order to revive a reality that seemed too oppressive. And so twenty-eight national and international renowned artists have decorated more than thirty walls, turning the place into a real open-air museum.
A mural is dedicated to Alda Merini.
I have the feeling of lasting too much, not being able to turn off: like all the old my roots struggle to give up the earth. But on the rest I often say everyone that that cross without justice that it was my manicomy did not reveal the great power of life. The crazy of the next door.
Ho la sensazione di durare troppo, di non riuscire a spegnermi: come tutti i vecchi le mie radici stentano a mollare la terra. Ma del resto dico spesso a tutti che quella croce senza giustizia che è stato il mio manicomio non ha fatto che rivelarmi la grande potenza della vita. La pazza della porta accanto.
Canon EOS 5D Mark III
35mm ƒ/6 1/125s ISO 200
2016 L’ex manicomio provinciale Santa Maria della Pietà. Roma
Alcuni padiglioni di quello che è stato il più vasto Ospedale psichiatrico d’Europa ospitano ancora le strutture dell’ASL Roma. Altri sono stati liberati dalla coltre di angoscia che caratterizzava il luogo grazie al progetto di street art “Caleidoscopio“, nato nel 2015 allo scopo di far rinascere una realtà che sembrava troppo opprimente.
Those artists have done a great job bringing a new perspective to this area! Thanks for sharing!
Ah belli...io ho visto quelli fatti a El Quartaro (quartiere famoso eh..
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girolamomarotta
Italy Country Representative 🇮🇹