Culture plays a crucial role: it regenerates communities and unlocks their greatest potential
A call to action for a collective and shared initiative.
This morning, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Prato and the Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci sent out a letter to cultural actors across the territory, inviting everyone to take part in a shared working day on the theme Culture re-generates communities, to be held on Wednesday, September 17 starting at 10:00 AM, at the Centro Pecci.
This is a collective invitation addressed to the region’s main cultural institutions, educational and research bodies, associations, and individuals. The goal is to “discuss and share key ideas, and to relaunch cultural work by coming together for the future of the Prato community.”
Diana Toccafondi, President of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, and Stefano Collicelli Cagol, Director of Centro Pecci, note that “The time we are living through is extremely delicate, both locally and globally.”
Their message is one of hope and responsibility: to not lose heart, but to begin again with shared commitment through culture.
“This situation—disorienting and uncertain as it may be—has long sparked in us a growing awareness, and a sense of responsibility: the belief that culture, now more than ever, can play a crucial role, offering regeneration, serving as a foundation for community, capable of listening to its deeper needs and unlocking its best potential,” write Toccafondi and Collicelli.
They point out that Prato has rich resources in the cultural sphere:
“We know how dynamic and generous Prato’s cultural landscape is—from institutions to associations, from volunteers to enterprises and individuals. It holds great value and strength, and it’s time to bring that forward,” they affirm.
Hence this community-wide call to action: to build a space for encounter and active listening, one that can both bring to light the many existing experiences and best practices—like the ancient system of underground water canals (“gore”) still flowing beneath our city—and inspire us to renew our language, our approaches, and our collective awareness.
“The key word is what unites us: culture,” Toccafondi and Collicelli write.
“We want to explore this word together—starting from the contexts and experiences each of us works in—to offer a contribution that highlights Prato’s strength in this field, and the yet-untapped potential that this network can generate for the good of the community.”
Several proposed topics for discussion are already on the table:
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Culture and the future
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Culture and plurality
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Culture and the commons
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Culture and crisis (political/environmental/identity)
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Culture and spirituality
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Culture and information
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Culture and health
All invitees are encouraged to help prepare the event by contributing ideas and proposals by September 4, to ensure the meeting is truly shared and participatory.