Il Popolo giusto vuole la neve
 
From the very beginning of my conversations with the artistic direction of the Festival Aperto, it was clear to me that what I wanted to deal with was the very place that would host me: the city of Reggio Emilia. The title refers, of course, to the exciting story of the "Popolo Giusto" ("Righteous People"), which in my opinion is no longer known outside the city only because, considered problematic or controversial, it has been more or less consciously removed from the official narrative. The phrase "il Popolo giusto vuole la neve" ("the Righteous People want the snow") can be found on a now illegible plaque on a building in Vicolo Venezia, in the heart of Borgo Emilio, and it seems to me to collect in itself not only a fascinating historical record but also, in different ways, a kind of "genius loci" of the city of Reggio Emilia and its inhabitants, up to the present day - with all that has changed since then."
The piece features among others the storyteller Stefano Enea Virgilio Raspini, the graffiti artist Youness PsikoPlanet Nazli, the hurdy-gurdy virtuoso Paolo Simonazzi, Simone Beneventi (percussion), Tiziano Bianchi (trumpet), Mirco Ghirardini (clarinet), the AltreVoci Ensemble and OOOPStudio (video).
Special thanks to Binario49 (Claudio Melioli) and the ViaRomaZero street museum (Marco Appiotti).

Andrea Molino, 2024