Santarcangelo, Ten Days That Last One Year

Does a festival that lasts ten days have any chance to have an impact throughout the year? Which is the better way to get a tight relation between international artists and a city? Can you instill to the community the sense of adventure and risk that comes with any new artistic creation? These are some questions that Silvia Bottiroli, non-academic teacher at CLEACC and ACME and artistic director for the fifth and final time of Santarcangelo Festival Internazionale del Teatro in Piazza, has asked herself. The festival was created some fortyfive years ago. From July 8 to July 17, 2016 it will investigate the art's ability to create imaginary worlds.
How important is the idea of a festival that has a uninterrupted influence on a city?
It is important because it covers some crucial matters. Festivals are often paradoxical subjects: they must hold together very strong local roots and an international character, they must belong to a territory and to the wider community of artists as well. On one hand, a dense event in a short period of time is full of potential, on the other hand there's the will to find a voice and legitimacy to contribute to the cultural debate on a longer period.
Why should a festival not exhaust its influence over the course of a few days?
The potential of a festival with a long design and production time like ours, or like others in Italy, should not exhaust in ten days. Last year, for instance, we started a project to publish contents that are part of the making of the festival, contents that can nourish the audience's experience. And then there is the issue of sustainability: a cultural organization which is public funded cannot think of having an impact that lasts just a few days a year. We have the responsibility to promote change in society in a more continuous way.
And so, the festival becomes a context, an ambience...
Yes, it's the alternative to the idea of the festival as a showcase. It's also a way to create a cultural climate that allows the city to develop non-artistic projects too.
What is the most interesting challenge that the Italian cultural organizations face today?
They have to rethink their relationship with the audience. The spectator should not be considered only as an user of a cultural offering, but also as a potential co-creator. That's one of the major issues today. It's a bit simplistic to think that only cultural organizations have the right and the responsibility to create art and that the community should find its way to enjoy it. We're living in a changing society where it is important to imagine new ways to start dialogues with the audience. The very idea of artistic or cultural organization should be called into question.