Last August 9, at the Arena dello Stretto di Reggio Calabria, the Gerhard Rohlfs Greek-Calabrian Language Museum received a decidedly important recognition: the Antonino Scopelliti Award, 2022. The small museum established in Bova in 2016 was awarded of the award on the occasion of the fourth edition, promoted by the judge’s daughter, Dr. Rosanna Scopelliti, former deputy and councilor of the municipality of Reggio Calabria, as well as president of the Antonino Scopelliti Foundation, born to remember the memory of the judge, killed in a mafia attack in 1991, while coordinating the accusation in the Court of Cassation in the Maxi-trial against Cosa Nostra. The jury decided to reward the Rohlfs Museum for the work of promoting local languages linked to ancient traditions, a driving force for development for the territories and a determining factor for the enhancement of cultural identities. The Bovese Museum, as stated in the motivation letter of the Scopelliti Prize, has distinguished itself in recent years for the effectiveness of its cultural programming, aimed at protecting and promoting the linguistic uniqueness of the Greek-Calabrian oral heritage, thanks to which it has achieved the goal of intercepting ecological tourism, thus making known the culture of the Greek Aspromonte. A commitment, the one carried out by the Museum, bearer of ethical messages, of social values, of great professionalism. Combining the promotion of the Greek cultural heritage with the protection of its agricultural landscape is the mission of the Rohlfs Museum, which in these six years of activity has prepared a program aimed at sensitizing local communities towards the recovery of identity traditions through culture from sustainability. Since 2016, the Bovese museum, born from a financial contribution from the Aspromonte National Park, has considerably expanded its audience thanks to the enrichment of its collections and the implementation of the offer of services.
It has also carried out an in-depth work of research and enhancement of the Greek Calabrian cultural heritage in collaboration with the Superintendence of Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the city of Reggio Calabria and Vibo Valentia, the MIFT Department (Mathematical and Computer Sciences Physical Sciences and Earth Sciences) of the University of Messina, the FAI delegation of Reggio Calabria and many local associations committed to safeguarding the Greek language, first of all the Jalò tu Vua Association. In particular with the MiFT department, the Bovese museum is carrying out diagnostic research on the most significant materials of the collections, the subject of targeted scientific articles. No less important was the recent collaboration with the Department of Humanities of the Unical, which led to the cataloging of some Greek intangible assets, now usable in the museum, through qr-code and on the website of the Bovese museum. Fundamental was also the reorganization of the book and archival material of the Franco Mosino Fund, which currently constitutes the library of the Rohlfs Museum, equipped with a reading room, enriched by a prestigious contemporary art installation. Among the achievements it is worth mentioning the museumization, in 2018, of the Pirgoli district, a circumscribed urban space in the historic center of Bova, inhabited between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by a small Jewish community. This interesting corner of the village, now known as the Giudecca, has become a tourist destination for a trip to Bova, thanks to an interesting enhancement and redevelopment work. The Giudecca in fact boasts an educational panel, equipped with a qr code system in English and Italian, thanks to which it is possible to take a guided tour with your mobile phone to discover the history of Jewish settlements in Calabria. An itinerary enriched by a contemporary art installation by Antonio Puija Veneziano focused on Jewish spiritual symbols and on the nature of the historical sources that led to the rediscovery of the Giudecca di Bova. Also recent is the birth of a literary park, in front of the Rohlfs Museum, called the Garden of Words – O Cipo ton Logo, which brings together, in an original installation, the main verses of Calabrian Greek literature, included in a chronological span that goes from XII century to the twentieth century. Small and important pieces that demonstrate how the virtuous management of the Rohlfs Museum has always been able to generate new opportunities for growth. So declared the Director of the Rohlfs Museum, Pasquale Faenza, who on the occasion of the award thanked the Bovese municipal administration and those who contributed to making the small museum container an important cultural institution for the enhancement and protection of the historical-linguistic minority of the Greeks of Calabria.
08-11-2022 16:59
Antonino Scopelliti Award 2022 at the Gerhard Rohlfs Museum in Bova