The 9th edition of the Biennale Democrazia opens from 26 to 30 March. With the title Wars and Peaces, this year's edition is dedicated to conflicts, also in the light of the current scenario of increasing global tension. In particular, four discussion paths are planned:
- violence and dissent in democratic societies;
- geopolitics of war and peace;
- global conflicts, local conflicts;
- imagining peace, between utopia and heresy.
There will be over 100 meetings, events and performances with more than 220 Italian and international guests.
Among the international guests: Fariba Adelkhah, Mats Berdal, Vincent Bevins, Asmae Dachan, Cédric Durand, Elgas, Élise Féron, Maaza Mengiste, Asma Mhalla, Atef Abu Saif, Barbara Stiegler
Italian guests include: Edoardo Albinati, Alessandro Barbero, Raffaella Baritono, Annalena Benini, Daria Bignardi, Annalisa Camilli, Franco Cardini, Francesca Coin, Gabriele Del Grande, Adriano Favole, Alberto Grandi, Carlo Greppi, Gad Lerner, Francesca Mannocchi, Chantal Meloni, Luca Misculin, Paolo Nori, Matteo Nucci, Laura Pepe, PIF, Stefano Rapone, Sabina Reghellin, Matteo Saudino, Giulia Siviero, Daniele Tinti, Benedetta Tobagi, Nathalie Tocci, Alessandro Vanoli, Gustavo Zagrebelsky.
Gustavo Zagrebelsky, President of Biennale Democrazia, states: «Biennale Democrazia is ready to return to the city to discuss war, violence and conflict, unavoidable themes of our present, because there can be no democratic coexistence without peace. In a climate of growing polarization of positions and opinions, it is essential to reiterate the profound meaning of Biennale Democrazia: coming together to discuss, dialoguing to compare even very distant positions, taking the time for mutual understanding as a necessary first step to find peaceful solutions, never so longed for»
The guiding image of Biennale Democrazia this year is the work of Alessio Mamo, a photographer who received multiple awards at the World Press Photo in 2018 and 2020 for his reportages from conflict zones: Ukraine, Iraq, Syria and Palestine. The photograph was taken in Qaraqosh, the largest Christian city in Iraq, liberated by the Iraqi army in October 2016, after two years of occupation by ISIS, and shows signs of total devastation. None of the houses in the village were preserved. The living room bears witness to the concrete impact of the war, but also to the possibility of change, and the beginning of peace.
The events of the IX edition of Biennale Democrazia will take place in the following locations: Academy of Sciences of Turin, Auditorium skyscraper Intesa Sanpaolo, Aula Magna Campus Luigi Einaudi, Aula Magna Cavallerizza Reale, Circolo dei lettori, OGR Turin, Palazzo Capris, Polytechnic of Turin, Polo del ’900, Teatro Carignano, Teatro Gobetti, Lorusso and Cutugno prison.
