Procida is the Italian capital of culture for 2022. It was chosen from a batch of candidates that included among others Ancona, Bari, Cerveteri (Rome), L'Aquila, Pieve di Soligo (Treviso), Taranto, Trapani, Verbania , Volterra (Pisa). This was decided by a jury chaired by Professor Stefano Baia Curioni who recommended to the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism Dario Franceschini the nomination project presented by the Campania city chosen from among ten finalists.
The minister commented on the victory as follows: “Long live Procida who will accompany us in the year of the restart. Today is a signal to look to the future. It is a complicated year for everyone, we are trying to support cultural and tourist activities in every way and the designation today of the Italian capital of culture for 2022 is a signal for the future, the recovery. In 2022 we will be back to normal and culture and tourism will return as important and very strong as they were before the pandemic ", then he underlined how" the conception of the Italian capital of culture that dates back to 2014, determines a path of enhancement of all city beyond the winner, setting in motion a virtuous and attractive mechanism, as for the Oscar candidates ”.
“Culture does not isolate”, this is the name of the dossier presented by Procida, who explained that she had applied because “the island's land is a place of exploration, experimentation and knowledge, it is a model of cultures and a metaphor for contemporary man. Power of imagination and concreteness of vision show us Procida as an exemplary capital of relational dynamics, of practices of inclusion as well as of care of cultural and natural heritage ". The path that led to the creation and delivery of the candidacy dossier “is a significant experience of social innovation, due to the centrality of an active urban life model, oriented towards culture and the wishes of the community. Procida is the island that does not isolate - reads the project - a cultural laboratory of social happiness ”.
"Procida can be considered a metaphor for many places, many administrations, many communities that have rediscovered the enthusiasm and pride of their territory and that with this title want to build an important redemption for their lands". Thus the mayor of Procida, Raimondo Ambrosino, commented on the victory of the island. "We are honored and congratulate all the other cities of which we have seen the dossiers and we have studied the cultural proposals - said the mayor - and how culture, for us and for them, can be an extraordinary detonator of the strategic plan of relaunch. We thank you for this enormous historic opportunity for a small municipality, for a small island - he added - that we will certainly take advantage of by working hard to make Italy proud for this choice ".
According to the jury, the pomosso da Procida project “presents elements of attractiveness and quality of an excellent level. The context of local and regional public and private support is well structured, the patrimonial and landscape dimension of the place is extraordinary, the laboratory dimension, which includes social aspects and technological diffusion, is dedicated to the Tyrrhenian islands, but is relevant for all the realities of the small Mediterranean islands ".
Moreover, “thanks to the combination of these factors, it could determine an authentic discontinuity in the territory and represent a model for sustainable development processes based on culture of the island and coastal realities of the country. The project is also capable of transmitting a poetic message, a vision of culture, which extends from the small reality of the island as a wish for all of us, to the town, in the months that await us ”.
