By: Martina Celegato
Submitted: 2009-12-01 07:35:22 | Word Count: 574
Cassino and the surrounding territory are rooted in history, an ancient history and that has left a lot of marks on these hills and these so beautiful landscapes.
The big history has passed here with Hannibal in the Second Punic War. Later this place has affected the culture of Italy with the Placiti Cassinesi and of the world with S. Benedict and the Benedictine rule. A story that has become too hard during the Second World War, bringing the total destruction of the city and of the Abbey of Monte Cassino, that now with its museum is among the most visited monuments in Italy.
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Today Cassino combines this history with the dynamism and freshness of a town overrun with students attending the University of Cassino. Here you can find both a Roman theater, but also a summer review called CassinoArte. Here we are only a few kilometers from the sea, mountains and lakes. But today we talk about a unique place, which have not equal in Italy, or the Historiale of Cassino.
Result of contamination between the language of cinema, museum exhibition, visual arts, and new models of edutainment, this site uses the best visualization techniques and technologies for the dissemination of cultural content. The Historiale is not a museum, not a show, not a movie. With the traditional concept of museum shares the concentration of experience in a physical space. With modern exhibition has in common a scenic and educational thought. From the cinema takes some figurative languages and the ability to tell through the emotions.
We could say that the Historiale is a new frontier of the museum exhibition, where the experimentation and values are moving the experience towards a more contemporary and modern sensibilities.
The Historiale tells, do not shows, hints, catalogs or exhibits. During the visit, the sense is of moving into a story that is not composed only by history but also by memory, the lives of those that through the events have passed through and suffered.
The story is that of Cassino and the 36 small towns of the martyr, which were the scene of one of the most violent, hard and controversial battles of the Second World War.
Gathered around the Gustav Line, overwhelmed by the advance of the Allies and the German resistance, these villages came out with rates of destruction often above 90%. The survivors lost all point of reference, from fountains to the squares, to the houses. Most of them were forced to emigrate. Others, brave, start the reconstruction and took up the challenge of the chase of modern times. The Historiale tells their story.
The story is constructed in the space of the former municipal slaughterhouse of Cassino, 800 square meters filled with technology and suggestions through which the viewer moves physically, but also takes an emotional journey. The narrative languages are designed to be immersive, multisensory, using music, images, lights and special technologies such as optical theater and talking heads.
This work, planned by the multinational company Officina Rambaldi, was promoted by the Battle of Monte Cassino Celebration Committee, with the assistance of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture and thanks to the facilities made available by the local administration of the city of Cassino.
