A series of conferences focusing on the Opera dei Pupi, intangible heritage of Humanity, is scheduled for 12 and 18 May at 6.30 pm — streamed live on the Facebook channel of the Italian Youth Association for UNESCO.
During the first event, after the introduction by Eleonora Orfanò, Regional Representative, and Chiara Ficarra, Southern Area Coordinator, the talks – moderated by Valentina Selvaggio and Roberta Di Rosa, AIGU members – will be given, in order, by Professor Alfonso Cipolla, President of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette – Italy, followed by a contribution from Professor Rosario Perricone, representing the Antonio Pasqualino International Puppet Museum of Palermo. Maestro Alessandro Napoli of the Marionettistica F.lli Napoli will lead a focus on the Catania puppetry tradition, and the artist and engraver Francesco Scherma will close the event.
The second day, introduced by Eleonora Orfanò and Laura D’Ascanio, National Coordinator, and moderated by Mariachiara Signorello, AIGU member, will feature talks by Aldo Zucco, lecturer in Stage Design at the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania, and Antonino Viola, lecturer in Theatrical Make-up and Masks at the Academy of Fine Arts of Catania. The event will close with the staging of repertoire episodes by the Compagnia Teatrale Thalìa, with filming and editing by the film production company Ciclope film, directed by Francesco Di Mauro.
As Eleonora Orfanò, AIGU-Sicilia Regional Representative, states: “On 18 May 2001, the theatre of the Sicilian Opera dei Pupi was proclaimed and subsequently inscribed in 2008 on the WHL. For AIGU, and in particular for the Sicilian team, it is essential to give prominence to an intangible asset that represents our history, our tradition and carries with it universally recognised values.”
The AIGU Sicilia Team
For info and contacts: sicilia@aiguofficial.it