Annual report 2004 - Compagnia di San Paolo

Institutional activities in 2004
Cultural heritage and activities
Exhibition “From the Anti-Jewish
Laws to the Shoah. Seven Years
of Italian History”, Rome
Theatre
The long-standing tradition of Ligurian theatre takes centre stage with a significant boost to the
prestigious season of the Teatro Stabile of Genoa and the presence of high-level organisations in
call for proposal “In Compagnia del Teatro”, which saw 42 initiatives being selected for € 1.2 million.
The Teatro Stabile of Turin, reconstituted as a foundation in 2004, finds new balance among
production and hospitality, confirming its bond with the metropolitan area also in regenerating
important buildings like the Astra cinema, Moncalieri’s former Limone Foundry and the new Vittoria
theatre.
The “Born to Read” Project
“Born to Read” is a project aimed at all children from birth
to the age of 5 years, which seeks to transmit to parents the
importance of telling and reading stories to their children,
in the name of the right of the child to be protected not only
from illness and violence but also from the lack of adequate
opportunities for affective and cognitive development. The
practice of reading aloud to children from the first months
of life is in fact a fundamental and irreplaceable tool for
encouraging harmonious development of the child’s
personality and extends its beneficial effects to a multitude
of areas: from affective-relational to linguistic-cognitive.
The project aims at involving the subjects who deal with
the world of reading and literature for children and those
who, for various reasons, participate in caring from
children from birth. In Piedmont the promoters of the
initiative are the Piedmont Region, the International Book
Fair, the Italian Library Association and the Italian
Paediatric Association, who have created a Scientific
Committee with coordination and assessment functions
for the projects developed by the individual libraries on the
basis of the interest and adherence to the common project
guidelines. Following contacts with the Piedmont Region,
the Compagnia supported the initiatives submitted by the
towns of Settimo, Moncalieri, Cameri, Chieri, Asti,
Pinerolo and Alpignano for a total sum of approximately €
140,000. All the towns involved donated books to new
born babies, increased the collections dedicated to infants,
and organised refresher courses for librarians and contact
persons for the project. The future plans provide for
meetings in libraries and schools, the extension of
relationships with day care centres, nursery schools and
other public and private educational centres, the
construction of libraries for small children and refresher
courses at paediatric clinics taking part in the initiative.
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