Cultural volunteers, culture is for everyone

Lhe church of S. Maria de Lama, which it preserves the only Lombard frescoes in Salerno, had been closed for decades. In front of the entrance the characteristic steps were covered in rubbish. Thanks to the commitment of a handful of cultural volunteers from Italian Touring Club, in 2015 the church was reopened to the public. «We made an agreement with the Curia and within a year the Municipality, seeing how we were taking care of it, intervened to restore and clean the steps» says Annamaria Petrocelli, the “soul” of the project and coordinator of the group of volunteers. Their presence created a virtuous circuit; the inhabitants of the neighborhood are now the first to keep the steps in order and the area, which was degraded, has been recovered. S. Maria de Lama today is a center for concerts, exhibitions and book presentations. There are many school groups, which makes Annamaria, a former Italian and history teacher, enthusiastic.

Cultural volunteers: places open to all

S. Maria de Lama is one of the 85 places of Open for you, the Touring initiative with which 1700 people make their time available free of charge to open the doors of 86 properties in 35 cities. They are some of the many cultural volunteers who take care of our heritage and make it accessible. Students, workers and pensioners who have a common passion for beauty and want to share it. According to ISTAT data from 2023, out of the total of 4 million and 600 thousand volunteers in Italy, the cultural ones are 752 thousand. After the blow of Covid, which forced the closure of public places, the desire to participate and lend a hand slowly began to revive. Almost everyone has returned.

Explains Nadia Pellacani, manager of Aperti per Voi, founded in 2005. «When a body, public or private, wants to make an asset accessible, it reports it to us. We are not the managers but we collaborate for the reception. We network with other associations to broaden the possibilities of use but we do not replace professionals, i.e. guides” continues Pellacani. Anyone can apply, just apply on the Touring website. «We ask for two four-hour shifts per month, the choice is free, but seriousness is required. At least two/three times a year we make insertions.” In Milan, where Aperti Per Voi was born, there are 15 locations, 500 volunteers and among them there are six who manage the shifts. A well-oiled mechanism: «In S. Maurizio there are 10 volunteers a day, and at least one knows English» says Gabriella Mariani, one of the six. «At the weekend there are many young people. Of course, with all the closed places there are, it would be nice to open others…”. In the coming months, Pellacani anticipates, some new openings will arrive.

The FAI Days, a great event

In addition to Touring, there are two other national associations at the forefront of cultural volunteering: The You do And Our Italy. Fai, born in 1975 on the model of the National Trust, it is responsible for protecting, enhancing and managing assets received as a donation or under managementas well as carrying out awareness-raising work with the Spring and Autumn Days, which allow you to discover little-known and inaccessible places. «Overall we have around 12 thousand volunteers» says Irene Mearelli, head of the territorial network. «Of these, 800 are stable in our assets, where they welcome and assist the public, as well as small maintenance or greenery jobs; others are in the FAI delegations, where they organize local events; still others plan initiatives with schools. Most participate in the Spring and Autumn Days, the largest events dedicated to cultural heritage in our country, when we open around 800 and 500 venues respectively. For these occasions we always need help. We ask you to apply on the site at least 2-3 months in advance.” A piece of advice: it is useless to aim for Villa Necchi Campiglio, the flagship of Fai in Milan, because it is the most requested.

There are 200 territorial sections of Italia Nostra, the association created to spread the “culture of conservation” and carry out battles for protection, from the one that led to the establishment of the Po Delta park, to the latest for the expansion of the Portofino park, in addition to the participation at the demonstration against the bridge over the Strait, in Messina. There are two assets under management: Boscoincittà, in Milan, and the Valle dell’Imera in Sicily.

The Verona model: the gift economy

But there are also local associations that should not be underestimated. Among the most interesting is the Minor Verona Hierusalem Foundationwhich is established by the diocese but involves the whole city, from the mayor to the university, with a model based on the gift economy: «The volunteer offers his time and in exchange receives individualized interdisciplinary training» says the director Paola Tessitore, who dedicated the book to this model Cultural volunteering (Aegean). «Everyone has their own personal goal, talent is valued. There are those who want to donate knowledge of languages ​​and those who want to learn them: we make the match. Generations mix, and it is a benefit for both young people and adults. Everyone discovers what they can offer to the project and what the project can do for them, always looking at the common good.” The director receives each candidate for an interview but, she specifies, there is no selection because “ours is an inclusive project, there is room for everyone”. Minor Verona Hierusalem does not limit itself to opening individual properties, but has created three artistic and religious itineraries outside the historic center, in order to enhance the neighborhoods on the fringes of large tourist flows.

Museums, churches, historic buildings: cultural volunteering allows everyone to visit them. Even to those who have never done it, indeed they have always felt left out. Rosa Improta lives in Scampia with her husband Eduardo and three children, but she did not know the historic center of Naples. «Sometimes I took the children to the Capodimonte forest, which is free, but we had never entered the museum, too expensive». The opportunity materialized thanks to a very good teacher, Elvira Quagliarella, who put her in contact with Cultural foster carea national project financed by the social enterprise Con i Bambini as part of the Fund to combat educational poverty.

Cultural foster care, museums for all

Raffaella Auriemma, responsible for social planning at Pio Monte della Misericordia, the lead organization, explains: «A voluntary “resource” family takes care of a culturally disadvantaged “beneficiary” and takes her to museums, historic churches, or involves her in theatrical performances and workshops. The selection was simple, spontaneous, through parishes, schools and associations». Started in four cities, then increased to 11, Cultural foster care will close in spring. But in the meantime, “spin offs” have sprouted, which have found other funding. At the beginning of 2024 the project will start in Venice, thanks to an agreement between the Guggenheim Collection and the local CSV (Volunteering Services Centre) headquarters. In recent weeks, matches are being made between the “resource” families and the “beneficiary” families. The Guggenheim, which has a tradition of educational activities for children, will promote agreements with other organizations.

For Rosa, the experience was so exciting that she deserved a promotion: from “beneficiary” she became “resource”, and took on foster care with another family from Scampia. «Now we can do a “review” of the beautiful things about Naples that we didn’t know. We were all passionate about it. My youngest child, who started going to museums at the age of one, never cried. What do I want to see most of all? The Veiled Christ. I was left speechless, the emotion was too strong».

Cultural volunteers: «Let’s excite with stories»

«Our volunteers read in hospitals, RSAs, prisons and bookshops. You don’t need acting skills, we all have many voices, you just need to find the right one. Reading to others is a gift». Martina Evangelista is the president of LaAV – Readings alouda widespread organization with 80 clubs throughout Italy. You can count on 1200 volunteers, 25 percent of them teenagerswho have read 200 thousand pages this year.

«Generally the clubs receive the requests. You sign an agreement and set a calendar of appointments, the important thing is to meet the people you read to. We have built bibliographies tailored to the recipients, which we update often. In RSAs, short stories that make you laugh and excite, such as those by Gianni Rodari, or Fabio Genovesi’s book The Sea Where You Don’t Touch It (Mondadori), are fine. In prisons stories of redemption, such as The Sumo Wrestler Who Didn’t Get Big by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (E/O), or The Long Descent by Jason Reynolds (Rizzoli). Anyone can try, it takes good will. We offer training, but you learn above all through practice. Those who read do so for others but also for themselves.”

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