This Face-to-Face meeting was hosted by FRH member Spazio Kor in Asti, Italy. The meeting featured presentations by local stakeholders, member exchanges and study visits to several religious heritage sites in Asti and Alba.
These meetings, organised on a regular basis exclusively for FRH members, enhance the role of our network as a platform where members meet, network and exchange ideas, information and practices.
On the first day of the meeting, FRH members and local stakeholders met at the Spazio Kor in Asti. This fascinating baroque building was formerly known as San Giuseppe di Asti, a church that was deconsecrated and recently restored by the Municipality of Asti to become a theatre called Piccolo Teatro Giraudi.
Begining with a warm welcome from the Mayor of Asti Maurizio Rasero, the introduction of the session was followed by Mario Sacco the President of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Asti Mario Saca, Don Lorenzo Mortara, from the Cultural Heritage Office of the Asti Diocese and Don Marco Prastaro, Bishop of Asti. The session continued with presentations by local partners, mainly focused on the reuse of deconsecrated religious heritage buildings, and were conducted by Andrea Longhi, Giulia De Lucia, Carla Bartolozzi and Francesco Novelli of the Politecnico di Torino, Chiara Baudino and Paola Bordignon from the Faber Teater and Baruch Lampronti of the Jewish Community of Turin, and our hosting member Aldo Buzio from Spazio Kor.
The morning session continued with presentations by FRH members on their respective organisations and activities, concluding with a brief presentation of FRH activities during the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018.
After the morning session, participants initiated their study visits, first heading to the Asti Synagogue, which now features a museum in an adjoined space. This was followed by the medieval Cathedral of Asti and the San Secondo church, ending with the reused church now called the Diavolo Rosso.
The second day of the meeting began with a member’s face-to-face exchange, where FRH projects and activities were presented, followed by a joint reflection on ways to further promote FRH’s mission and vision in the coming years. The meeting took place in the Spazio San Giovanni – Diocesis Museum, the first public museum space situated in a Diocesan building in Asti. In the afternoon, FRH members took part in a study visit to the town of Alba, where they visited the Cathedral of Alba dating from the 15th century, the diocesan museum and other interesting local churches.
This Face-to-Face meeting highlighted the challenges and opportunities regarding the reuse and additonal uses for religious heritage, and the great initatives that are taking place around Europe, providing excellent case studies for further projects and developments.
We would like to thank all the members and participants who joined us in Asti for the wonderful presentations and discussions. We are also very grateful to Aldo Buzio and his colleagues from Spazio Kor for hosting us.
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