Culture And Media
Italy: Mafia museum to open in Calabria
Reggio Calabria, 19 Nov. (AKI) - A new Italian museum is to chronicle a darker aspect of the country's culture - the mafia. The museum will open in the southern region of Calabria and focus on the history and mythology of its home grown mafia, known as 'Ndrangheta, in December.
The museum is being financed by the provincial and regional governments and is located in the city of Reggio Calabria, in a 200 square-metre villa confiscated from organised crime and restructured at a cost of 125,000 euros.
According to the museum's website, the museum will chronicle the history and the image of the region's mafia and raise awareness about its operations which has made it one of the most powerful criminal organisations in the world.
Italian authorities estimate the organisation is composed of around 100 clans or families and generates revenues totalling 40 billion a year.
"Presently, we are confronted with a culture of 'Ndrangheta that works well," the museum says on its website.
"Besides economic power, there is a codified system of symbols at work that allows groups of organised crime to create a high degree of internal coherence, to easily communicate values, to hand down a certain type of knowledge, and to guarantee charming models of manhood and a defiance of rules."
The museum site sought to emphasise it did not believe there was " widespread connivance or implicit participation in crime, nor that it is a natural attitude adopted by people, or any other judgment conveying racism" in the area.
It said it aimed to tackle the values that are transmitted to younger generations so it can have a "positive" influence on their attitudes.
The museum will be officially inaugurated on 1 December with a photo exhibition by Adriana Sapone.
“Silence and memory” will feature 150 colour and black and white pictures showing images of the mafia, the victims of murder and violence and also people’s demonstrations against the mafia.
A book by authors Enrico Bellavia and Maurizio de Lucia entitled Il Cappio, or The Noose, will also be released at the launch on protection rackets and people's rebellion against them.
The museum is being financed by the provincial and regional governments and is located in the city of Reggio Calabria, in a 200 square-metre villa confiscated from organised crime and restructured at a cost of 125,000 euros.
According to the museum's website, the museum will chronicle the history and the image of the region's mafia and raise awareness about its operations which has made it one of the most powerful criminal organisations in the world.
Italian authorities estimate the organisation is composed of around 100 clans or families and generates revenues totalling 40 billion a year.
"Presently, we are confronted with a culture of 'Ndrangheta that works well," the museum says on its website.
"Besides economic power, there is a codified system of symbols at work that allows groups of organised crime to create a high degree of internal coherence, to easily communicate values, to hand down a certain type of knowledge, and to guarantee charming models of manhood and a defiance of rules."
The museum site sought to emphasise it did not believe there was " widespread connivance or implicit participation in crime, nor that it is a natural attitude adopted by people, or any other judgment conveying racism" in the area.
It said it aimed to tackle the values that are transmitted to younger generations so it can have a "positive" influence on their attitudes.
The museum will be officially inaugurated on 1 December with a photo exhibition by Adriana Sapone.
“Silence and memory” will feature 150 colour and black and white pictures showing images of the mafia, the victims of murder and violence and also people’s demonstrations against the mafia.
A book by authors Enrico Bellavia and Maurizio de Lucia entitled Il Cappio, or The Noose, will also be released at the launch on protection rackets and people's rebellion against them.
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