Many believe Piedmont has adopted the most forward-looking policies in the country
hough
not as famous abroad for its cultural heritage as Florence or Rome,
Turin and Piedmont
have a great deal to offer in the way of history and the arts. There
are more than 100 museums, including a world-famous Egyptian collection.
It is in Piedmont that one can find the most spectacular legacy of the
house of Savoy, which ruled over the duchy of Savoy and became the royal
house of Italy before the dissolution of the monarchy in 1946.
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Within
Italy, Piedmont is recognised as investing the most money in promoting
culture, which is one reason why the chairman of the country’s
regional ministers for culture is Piedmont’s incumbent, Giampiero
Leo. He is proud of the region’s cultural policy,
which he says has avoided falling victim to political dogma.
“Everybody thinks Piedmont is promoting the most forward-looking
culture in Italy,” says Mr Leo. “Piedmont is the home of freedom.
Anybody who has a passion for culture or free speech can release their
spirit.”
This means embracing diversity, even contradiction. “Piedmont must
be seen as a region where royal tradition and great innovation, experimentation
and cutting-edge theatre live together,” he says. “We are
in a region with lots of industrial enterprises, but which also has
a beautiful landscape.”
Old
and new live side by side. One of the biggest Savoy palaces contains
the Civic Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art (GAM). Other royal
residences are being restored, including the royal palace of Venaria
Reale, while new institutions – such as a Science Centre, planned
for 2005 – emphasise the future. “We want young people to
be interested in history, but we also want to promote and spur scientific
vocation,” he says.
The authorities can count on the cooperation of several independent
foundations in the cultural and educational fields, such as the Compagnia
di San Paolo and the Fondazione CRT. The largest and most venerable
is the Compagnia di San Paolo, originally set up in the 16th century
to provide micro-credit to the poor, so they would not fall into the
hands of unscrupulous money-lenders.
Over the centuries, Compagnia di San Paolo has developed into a substantial
bank, but in recent years the banking and charitable functions have
been separated. The foundation is able to make substantial grants from
its investments.
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“The
Compagnia has an understanding of the evolution taking place in Turin
and Piedmont,” says secretary-general Piero
Gastaldo. “It therefore tries to define its role
in ways that will promote development of the positive trends that we
see in the region.”
In particular, the foundation has been concentrating on three main areas
of activity. “The first is enhancing the attractiveness of the
city through the improvement of its cultural and environmental quality,”
says Mr Gastaldo. “The second factor is human capital. And the
third is the development of the research potential of the area.”
Hence the Compagnia di San Paolo’s involvement in collaborative
schemes with the Politecnico di Torino and other academic institutions.
The growth in opportunities for students in the region has been remarkable
in recent years, and there have been strong efforts to devolve some
of these from Turin.
One
of the most significant developments in that direction was the establishment
in 1998 of the University of Eastern Piedmont, based at Vercelli, though
it also serves Alessandria and Novara. “We know we have to compete
with the large number of universities in Lombardy, as well as Turin
and Genoa,” says its rector, Ilario Viano. “But we don’t
want to be a big institution of learning. We are satisfied with being
a medium-sized one.”
That still means more than 8,000 students, following a wide variety
of disciplines, some taught through distance learning. “We have
very young teachers,” Professor Viano points out, “so the
cohesion between them and the students is greater.”
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