Mario's papers. The Mario Rigoni Stern archive on display - Press release of 6 December 2022

Press release of the Municipality of Asiago of 6 December 2022

The activities planned by the National Committee for the Celebrations of the Centenary of the Birth of Mario Rigoni Stern established by the Ministry of Culture pursuant to Law 420/1997 and included among the Great Events of the Veneto Region, with the City of Asiago which is the lead body, continue.

At the end of the work of ordering, inventorying and study of the archive "Mario Rigoni Stern", donated by the Rigoni Stern Family to the City of Asiago, the National Committee has decided to implement its enhancement through the realization of a documentary exhibition, entitled Le carte di Mario. The Mario Rigoni Stern Archive on display, which will be held at the Museum "Le Carceri" of Asiago between 8 December 2022 and 30 April 2023, which will be inaugurated on Thursday 8 December at 11 am and which will open its doors to the public the same day at 3:30 pm. It will be an exhibition that will highlight more or less known aspects of the personality, thought and work of the writer, in the hope that it can be a useful driving force to promote knowledge of his archive, which has been open to the public, as a perennial witness of his heritage of values.

Roberto Rigoni Stern, President of the National Committee and Mayor of the City of Asiago, declares: "After the great success of the exhibition dedicated to Antonio Ligabue, the city of Asiago offers an important tribute to Mario Rigoni Stern, who was born. This exhibition, which involved countless skills and professionalism of the members of the National Centenary promoted by us, which I thank, wants to be an invitation to deepen the work and personality of a writer who marked the twentieth century and still has much to say today: the papers of his archive, donated to our city by his testamentary will, They are also an important legacy for future generations."

Michela Maria Rodeghiero declares, as Secretary and Treasurer of the National Committee and Councilor delegated to culture of the City of Asiago: «I thank all the Curators, because through this important exhibition, which makes use of an innovative set-up, they have given voice to the same papers of Mario Rigoni Stern, ensuring that his archive, preserved together with the papers of the Regency of which he is a sort of moral prosecutor, he told us of the love with which Mario wrote about his land, of the care he reserved for all those who corresponded to him and of his ethical and existential vocation for his activity as a narrator. I address a special thanks, not only to all the members of the Committee and to the Rigoni Stern family, but to the Ministry of Culture and the Veneto Region, which strongly supported the entire Centenary, to the Province of Vicenza, to the Olympic Academy and to the Bertoliana Library of Vicenza for having wanted to sponsor the initiative, Fondazione Banca Popolare di Marostica Volksbank and Sviluppo Artigiano for their contribution to this exhibition."

The scientific contents of the exhibition were produced by a special commission created within the National Committee itself, with the support of the archivist Ines Gheno and the precious supervision of Giambattista Rigoni Stern, son of the writer:

• Giuseppe Mendicino, writer and biographer of Mario Rigoni Stern, curated a room entitled "Mario Rigoni Stern and Primo Levi. Friendship between books, mountains and imprisonment", deepening the close bond of friendship and elective affinity between the two writers;
• Chiara Visentin, architect, professor of Urban Planning and Protection of the Territory at the Politecnico di Milano, curated a room entitled "A look from above", which explores the theme of Mario Rigoni Stern's environmental activism to protect his land;
• Chiara Stefani, architect and landscape architect, with the room "Living inside nature" has deepened the archival documentation relating to the naturalistic and environmental interest of the writer;
• Ada Cavazzani, former professor of Urban and Rural Sociology at the University of Calabria, with the evocative title of the room "Writing why, for what?" dealt with the very early vocation of Mario Rigoni Stern for writing, lived as an existential need, deepening some themes that remain as a constant reference in all his literary activity;
• Anna Maria Cavallarin, scholar of Rigonian themes and co-editor of the book "Mario Rigoni Stern. One man, many stories, no borders", Turin 2018, with the room "Since we are all villagers in the world", examined the dense network of human and cultural contacts that emerged from the Writer's papers, giving life to a mental map of affections and relationships;
• Francesca Chiesa, a secondary school teacher, with a room entitled "Little Homeland and memory" deepens the close link with the "Heimat", which is embodied in a dense scenario of places and people merged into the work "The Seasons of James".

The design and graphic communication was curated by BLab Design by Antonio, Roberto and Cristina Busellato.

The exhibition, in order to make the use of the archival document more accessible, made use of a multimedia communication system organized through light-boxes, wall video projections, wall didactic panels and display cases with the aim of creating an immersive environment, with the aim of guiding the public to the knowledge of the themes of the exhibition through a multisensory experience. The exhibition will therefore be aimed at a wide and non-specialist audience, as the media used will be able to provide information on several levels of detail.

To enrich and deepen the path and the themes exhibited in the exhibition, the Le Carceri Museum has planned a rich calendar of cultural, literary and educational events to approach, in addition to an adult audience, also all the students of the Educational Institutions of the Plateau, the Province and the Veneto Region: conferences proposed by the curators; guided tours (curated by Ines Gheno, Archivist of the Mario Rigoni Stern Fund); exhibition presentations and educational workshops structured by age group and level of education (by Lucia Spolverini, Operator and Museum Educator in the archaeological and historical-artistic field).

Calendar of conferences that will accompany the hermeneutic path of the exhibition "Le carte di Mario. The Mario Rigoni Stern archive on display"

Friday, January 13 - Council Chamber of the Municipality of Asiago, 17.30 hours
Ines Gheno - Archivist of the Mario Rigoni Stern Fund
Mario's papers: exegesis of the Mario Rigoni Stern fund

Friday, January 20 - Council Chamber of the Municipality of Asiago, 17.30 hours
Antonio, Roberto and Cristina Busellato Studio B. Lab Design, curator of the exhibition installation and graphic communication project
Designing a documentary exhibition: giving voice to Mario Rigoni Stern's papers

Saturday, February 11 - Council Chamber of the Municipality of Asiago, 17.30 hours
Chiara Stefani - Architect and landscape architect with the participation of Annalisa Rodeghiero - Poetess
Arboretums and surroundings. Mario Rigoni Stern between the earth and the stars

Friday, February 17 - Council Chamber of the Municipality of Asiago, 17.30 hours
Ada Cavazzani - Former Professor of Urban and Rural Sociology at the University of Calabria.
Place time memory. From the manuscripts of the Archive to the literary works of Mario Rigoni Stern

Friday, March 10 - Council Chamber of the Municipality of Asiago, 17.30 hours
Chiara Visentin - Architect, Professor of Urban Planning and Protection of the Territory at Politecnico di Milano
Massimo Rossi - Geographer, head of the cartography section of the Fondazione Benetton Studi e Ricerche
A look from above. Mario Rigoni Stern, a life of reflections on environmental protection

Saturday, March 18 - Council Chamber of the Municipality of Asiago, 17.30 hours
Giuseppe Mendicino - Writer and biographer of Mario Rigoni Stern
Friendship and affinity, of values and experiences, between Mario Rigoni Stern and Primo Levi

Saturday, April 8 - Council Chamber of the Municipality of Asiago, 17.30
Anna Maria Cavallarin - Scholar of Rigonian themes and co-editor of the book "Mario Rigoni Stern. One man, many stories, no borders", Turin 2018
The meeting in Mario Rigoni Stern

Information

Opening: 8 December 2022, 11.00 a.m.

Open to the public: 8 December 2022, 3.30 pm

Closing: 30 April 2023

Days: Saturdays, Sundays and holidays and every day from 23 December 2022 to 8 January 2023

Hours: morning 10.00-12.30 afternoon 15.30-18.30

Near: Museum "Le Carceri", Asiago (VI) via Benedetto Cairoli, 13 tel. 0424 600255

Tickets: 5 € full price 3 € reduced. Free admission for children under 6 years, disabled and accompanying person

Discover the event dedicated to the exhibition on Asiago.it:

Exhibition "The papers of Mario" at the Museum The Prisons of Asiago