Jacopo BARDI
(University of Florence, Italy)

Keywords: theatre, Cultural Heritage, Florence

Abstract:

Considering the long established Florentine theatre tradition, stemming from the result of more than five centuries of history and the importance that theatre plays in the Florentine community, there has been a diagnosis of the inherited theatrical heritage in order to determine the state of its well-being and any possible solutions.
For the identification of the assets the following benchmark standards have been used: 1) for cultural heritage materials, the Italian Code of Cultural Heritage; 2) for the intangible cultural heritage, UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The diagnosis showed, as expected, the presence of an enormous heritage that expects to be fully protected and enhanced.
There are 4 specific critical points:
1) The inexplicable and non-recognition of certain types of theatre equipment (by the local government), especially those that belong to the theatrical art handicraft production (sets and stagecraft material);
2) The cultural theatre heritage, such as, furniture and equipment, which is stored in libraries storages and archives. This creates dispersion and the historical heritages loses value thereby making an organic treatment impossible;
3) Several theatres, such as Teatro Comunale (born in 1862), the Arena Goldoni (born in 1818) and the National Theatre (founded in 1790) are in danger;
4) drawing attention to the intangible cultural heritage theatre, which is identified primarily in the tradition of opera, it’s believed that the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino could be revived in some sectors (currently without storage rooms for scenes that are instead stored in the containers, and long tradition laboratories stage designs which are at risk of closure).
For those 4 critical points there are 4 possible solutions. The most important one is being able to create a single national museum of the theatre, which includes new laboratories, workshops-atelier and storage rooms for the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. This would enhance the synthesis of theatre and all the “behind the scenes”.