2023 is the year of Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture, and to celebrate this event, a high-profile project was born in response to the great challenges of our time. Bergamo and Brescia have identified culture as a central element of rebirth and hope after the difficult experience of the pandemic.
The nomination of Bergamo and Brescia as Italian Capital of Culture 2023, which took place in July 2020, was the result of the Italian government’s decision to respond positively to a proposal made by the two cities. It is an acknowledgement of their history, artistic and cultural heritage and ability to regenerate through work, solidarity and innovation.
For the first time, since the title Italian Capital of Culture was established, two cities have been awarded a single Capital. The main theme of the project is ‘The Enlightened City‘.
Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2023 is a platform of events and initiatives of extraordinary attractiveness for tourists, bringing the two cities to a leading position on the map of ‘European culture’.
Between 20 and 22 January 2023, Bergamo and Brescia celebrated the opening of the widespread event with a big party open to all, with shows of great impact and artistic value, and with extra-ordinary openings of cultural venues.
On 26 January 2023, the Accademia Carrara reopened to the public with its renovated spaces. The occasion saw the inauguration of the first exhibition ever dedicated in Italy and the world to Cecco del Caravaggio (1585-1620), the most mysterious pupil and model of the great painter Michelangelo Mesisi, known as Caravaggio. 41 works: 19 of the approximately 25 known paintings by Cecco, 2 works by Caravaggio and, together, artists who inspired and were inspired by this painter known to specialists. National and international loans from Berlin, London, Madrid, Oxford, Warsaw, Vienna, Brescia, Florence, Milan and Rome. An exhibition to discover an extraordinary painter.
About the Italian Capital of Culture
The Italian Capital of Culture initiative was established in 2014 and one of its objectives is to support, encourage and enhance the cities’ autonomous planning and implementation capacity, so that the value of cultural leverage for social cohesion, integration, creativity, innovation, growth and economic development is increasingly understood.
The title of Italian Capital of Culture is conferred for the duration of one year, the 2022 nomination being awarded to Procida, while 2024 will be the year of Pesaro.
All information on the Italian Capital of Culture project can be found on the dedicated portal.
