Bari – “The barcode is an invitation to realize the “scientific richness of Bari.” Cinzia Giannini, Head of the Bari Research Area at the National Research Center, presents the zero edition of the Science Festival that opens today at 5 pm in the Piccini Theater, focusing on the value of publishing. Not only the story of prestigious laboratory results but the joy of knowledge, with the ambition of showcasing the work of hundreds of talented researchers and highlighting the barcode, the identity of a city that contains a unique concentration of cultural bodies and institutes, universities and research centres, like few others in Italy.
What prompted the National Research Council to “gift” a science festival to Barry?
“The draft was born with the centenary of the National Council of Resistance and the desire to organize parties throughout Italy. The Bari Research Area has chosen to report on the study carried out on the trees, because we have all the scientific expertise and because Puglia is a land of important trees, starting with olive trees. Lacking the humanitarian element, I asked Rector Bronzini for the input of historians, philosophers and psychologists, but we immediately thought of going beyond the Cnr-Uniba combination to involve all research and higher education bodies in the region. We brought together the legacy of the relationships built with the European Researchers’ Night and the Pnrr projects and we all developed the idea of creating a science festival in Bari, as Genoa or Naples had already done.
The unifying theme of the events that will move Barry through Friday is the tree, a symbol of life.
“At the opening ceremony, I will present the painting “Radisi” by artist Francesco D’Apico. Not only is the work beautiful, but the young artist’s comment from Barry is very important: The roots are invisible, underground, they create networks, they must find a way to be together with what they encounter in the earth, they do. Long silent labor before the tree was born. It is somewhat symbolic of what research is doing, of this science festival that has been contemplating for some time, that has “taken root” and is now showing its buds.
BariCode combines science, music and art. Unusual but strategic.
“Including the Piccinni Conservatory and the Academy of Fine Arts, with all the other research bodies, that is, the University, the Polytechnic of Bari, Infin, Lomme and Arte, have a reason: science, so that it becomes a communication for all citizens, starting with children must be beautiful, fun and able to participate. What better way to spend it on your relationship with art? In fact, today we no longer talk about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) but about science and technology (SteAm), that is, not only scientific and technological disciplines but art. As Piero Angela taught, if science is not beautiful, it distances us rather than brings us closer. In Fortino, 8 works by Academy students will welcome visitors in 4 exhibitions, while the Conservatory will present interludes for the event dedicated to Pnrr and the theme “How the Bari research community participates in recovery”. On Tuesday, “Musicarte” will mix electronics and plant sounds at the Department of Earth Sciences and Geoenvironment, and on the 25th in the Cathedral, the band Calixtinus and Giovannangelo De Gennaro will present, between music and research, a BariCode mix.
The festival wants to cultivate the joy of science, and discover the beauty of research. What would you like to see remain in Bari besides the promise of repeating it in 2024?
“The first gift will be trees. The “Let’s Root” project includes educational workshops in primary schools as well as tree planting. We will plant other seeds with high school children through mentoring and science education actions. We will distribute posters created by the youth of the Academy to citizens who participate in “Green Living Rooms”.
BariCode is a cultural science education project. What would you like to see grow in nationals?
“I would like us to start to feel that science is close, friendly and fun, and for the city to feel strong in its scientific culture, to realize the unique and exceptional richness that Bari has as an elect in the Italian panorama.”
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