From Gaiole to Matera: culture as a point of union, diversity as an asset

Articolo disponibile anche in: Italian

Matera is a 12-hour drive, and you have to cross four regions to get there from Gaiole in Chianti. But a cultural event, that has acknowledged the excellence of the Tuscan town, has recently brought the two towns closer together.

Gaiole in Chianti has been a key player in the event organised by the Fondazione Cultura Italiae, “S.E.M.I. Storie di Eccellenza, Merito e Innovazione” (“Stories of Excellence, Merit and Innovation”), three days dedicated to promote and support the Italian excellence, that happened in Matera, from October 13th to October 15th.

During this event Angelo Argento, president of the Fondazione Cultura Italie, awarded an important recognition, the “Presidio Culturale Italiano”, to Michele Pescini, mayor of Gaiole in Chianti, and Paolo Verri of the Fondazione Matera 2019.

The ceremony was broadcast by journalists Mario De Pizzo of RAI News24, Maria Cristina Bigongiali, RAI and Roberto Arditti.

The Cultura Italiae’s approach is at once original and conventional. The originality comes from the desire to suggest models and formats to the communities. But it also has a conventional need to recognize and celebrate social excellence.

“Gaiole in Chianti – said Michele Pescini, Mayor of Gaiole, in receiving the prize – is not a sheltered haven, that wants to protect its uniqueness. On the contrary, connections are part of its strength. We export the concept of “the good life”, which is also made up of human relationships, and our Eroica bike race is an example of this”.

“We tell the story of our territory – he concluded – where beauty is not just an aesthetic concept. The Chianti region represents many things at once: an agricultural economy where the land is the focus and the reason; a series of local communities who welcome the future but always follow what they have learned from the past”.

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