Mittelfest

It is a mobile word that, on the one hand, makes us think about the relationship between the past and the future, but being in the present, and, on the other hand, it adapts to suit the individual (anyone, willing or not, is an heir or an heiress, and the Italian term applies to both masculine and feminine). One is an heir or an heiress not only for the traces that have been settled on each of us by people and customs over time and space, but especially when one chooses what to do with this individual heritage in the present. 

Thus, being an heir or an heiress has different as much as intertwined meanings. One is an heir or an heiress of material goods as well as of a cultural heritage, therefore, both intellectually and physically… This heir/heiress condition concerns us at all times: when wondering about its meaning, one tries to find one’s way in everyday life; it is a way to give meaning to actions. We are repositories of something that we have received and that we are still receiving, but what shall we do with this heritage? What choices shall we make? To disown or to pass on? To get better or worse? To take something new or to give up? What freedoms and responsibilities lie within our scope? These are the questions and the fascinations that in 2021 will lead the work of Mittelfest, which is called to measure with several anniversaries, each providing food for thought on our heterogeneous heritage. 

Hence, wondering about one’s heritage is the starting point to speak about the present. And 2021 is a time full of reverberations: from the most recent one – and unfortunately still in progress – of a pandemic that has changed our habits and forecasting skills, to the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, as well as Cividale del Friuli 10th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of Italia langobardorum (Longobard Italy). Moreover, in particular indeed, 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the formidable intuition of the international and multidisciplinary festival between East and West that is Mittelfest.

Giacomo Pedini, Artistic Director.