BluEtrusco Festival 2023
The BluEtrusco International Festival aims to promote and raise awareness of Etruscan culture through lectures, excursions, experimental archaeology, workshops and educational reconstructions. For this 8th edition the theme has been indicated: "Lords of Etruria," a narrative line that will connect all the activities present.
For two days the entire castle of Murlo will be involved, the rooms of the museum will come to life as if they were the private rooms of the Etruscan lords who lived in the princely palace of Poggio Civitate in the 6th century B.C. On the three floors of the museum it will be possible to deepen and explore specific themes through the reconstruction of different re-enactment settings; in the castle square, on the other hand, a market day will be ideally re-enacted, with the artisans' stalls at work, the military school and the writing school.
During the two days it will also be possible to witness experimental archaeology activities, operated by archaeologists specializing in the field who will show us how some of the jewelry of the bronze tools and part of the rich architectural decorations preserved inside the museum were made. An experimental section will also be devoted to the making of perfumes and body ointments, produced in the ancient Mediterranean. Active participation in numerous workshops will be possible alongside the experimental and educational activities.
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Program
The detailed program will unfold over the two days of Saturday, August 26, and Sunday, August 27, with a fixed structure proposed so that everyone will be able to take part in all the activities present; only the evening performances and lectures, two per day, lasting a total of about 2 hours, will differ; the speakers will be both archaeologists officials of the Superintendency and archaeologists working in the university environment.
The morning will begin at 09:00 a.m. with the departure, from Cathedral Square, of the Archeotrekking route , an archaeological nature walk on the Etruscan site of Poggio Civitate, expected to last about 2 1/2 hours , at 10:30 a.m., at the same time as the archeotrekking, it will be possible, for those who prefer to remain in the castle, to participate in the Breakfast at the Museum ( organized by the Ass. Culturale Murlo), a regular appointment of the summers at the Museum of Murlo and always divided into two parts, the first consisting of a small live concert of chamber music (upon reservation and payment), and the second, which will fall in coincidence with the return from the excursion, with a breakfast/brunch in Piazza delle Carceri organized by "Il Libridinoso," with savory pies and cold drinks. A guided tour of the museum will be available at the conclusion of the morning.
In the afternoon, the real activities will begin, opening at 5:00 p.m. with the lectures ( Saturday - Federica Pitzalis archaeological officer DG ABAP- MiC, Lords of Etruria and Latium, aristocratic residences between the 7th and 6th centuries BC, and then Sara Neri archaeological officer DG ABAP - MiC, The aristocratic residences, the case of Veio Piazza d'Armi (RM) and Sunday - Matteo Milletti UnivAQ, Lords are you born or do you become? The Necropolis of Fonte San Cerbone in Populonia (LI), and to follow Ada Salvi archaeological officer SABAP-SI, Jacopo Tabolli UniStraSI, Emanuele Mariotti excavation director, UniStraSi , Lords and Ladies of the Waters: faces and words from the Bagno Grande of San Casciano dei Bagni (SI)).
From 5:30 p.m., it will be possible to participate in educational activities, workshops and watch reconstructions of experimental archaeology.
Inside the museum, distributed on the floors, it will be possible to discover the educational installations of the associations Suodales and Herentas that will tell some aspects of the life of the Etruscan lords inside the Palace of Poggio Civitate, on the second floor, "The banquet and the symposium" and "The music of the Etruscans, the instruments and the dance" , on the second floor, "the lord's journey, moving in Etruscan times," "Etruscan writing," and "Women's life, Etruscan women, dressing, spinning and weaving."
Outside the museum, an ideal re-enactment of how life might have unfolded around the palace will be proposed in the Carceri Square and adjoining spaces.In particular, an attempt will be made to reconstruct a market day inside the large courtyard of the Poggio Civitate residence, ideally superimposing the perimeter of the ancient courtyard with the current area of the small square.
Various thematic areas dedicated to the many aspects of daily life in the ancient world will be organized. It will be possible to see a blacksmith specialized in metalworking at work, with his forge for weapons and his table with all the tools (Herentas). It will be possible to observe all the educational displays present of various types: from one dedicated to warfare and combat in the Etruscan world (Suodales), to demonstrations and didactics on archery-where it will be possible to shoot! - of the Avxilia legionis.
Also in the square, two interesting displays on ancient territory and Etruscan cuisine, by the Suodales.
Other workshops will focus on Etruscan writing and craft production. With "Dear Larth I write to you," we will discover the toolkit and techniques of a scribe (curated by Suodales), while with "How a Martacos Pottery is made," we will learn about the production of pots with a ceramic artisan and his potter's wheel. With "Necklaces for Thesan" by Ancient Glass Art we will observe the making of beautiful glass paste necklaces. Other workshops, however, will be devoted to reproducing jewelry and objects contained in the museum (Valter Fattorini). In addition, Etruscan painting and architecture will also be explored thanks to a "colorful" display by the Suodales.
The market will also be enlivened by the melodies and dances of Etruscan comasti (curated by Herentas) who, in addition to illustrating the construction techniques of ancient musical instruments, will offer the workshop "Etruscan dance to the sound of an auleta" while the Suodales will explain ancient metrics to the youngest with the workshop "The melodies of Aplu, music and ancient metrics."
Rich offerings of experimental archaeology, which, after the anticipation in the last edition of Blu Etrusco, brings back after many years in the square of Murlo the reconstruction and study of ancient production techniques, the archaeologists of Archeoworld, led by Riccardo Chessa, creator of the park of experimental archaeology Albori - Campagnatico (GR), having studied some salient aspects of the production area excavated in Poggio Civitate will offer us the creation of Etruscan roofs, from the tile to the antefix, of a forge to bronze, with the creation of small objects, faithful reproductions of finds from Poggio Civitate and the making of perfumes, aromas and body care oils with the same techniques used in antiquity. Active participation in some workshops will be possible alongside the experimental activities.
Finally, from a collaboration born between Chessa and Francesco Mondini ( EtruscanyWine - Az. Agr. Bio Tarazona), an agricultural entrepreneur who for decades has been engaged in the research of ancient winemaking methods, we will discover the Etruscan techniques of production and preservation of wines that for the occasion will be possible to taste.
The activities, inside and outside the museum, will extend until about 10 p.m.
Local associations such as Arci (Casciano and Vescovado), Pro Loco Murlo, Associazione Sportiva La Sorba Casciano and Associazione Dilettantistica Sportiva Vescovado will take care of the food and wine reception aspects with kitchens and tables set up in the area in front of the Cathedral and a refreshment point below the Palazzina on the side of Piazza delle Carceri.
Saturday evening will be concluded with the performance "Music and Stars, the Sound of the Instant" an hour-long concert about an hour, in Cathedral Square, given by Sara Calvanelli and Virginia Sutera, the duo will know how to create a floating interaction between violin, accordion, voices and live. Looping through baroque sounds, folk and meets contemporary moving from lyrical moments to real dances. On the occasion their new album EJADIRA will be presented and to follow in Piazza delle Carceri, it will be possible to admire the stars guided by Simone Marchini director of the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Siena and his staff.
The Sunday evening will instead be closed by the concert of Fratelli Lambretta Ska-Jazz, a young group from Turin that knows how to energetically mix Ska with Jazz, creating a powerful and enthralling groove, full of irony.
