Matera 2019

A difficult and risky idea, almost impossible. We are in 1741 and count Theodor Rendina has an ambitious project: to repopulate Campomaggiore, a small village of eighty people given to his family by King Philip the Fourth in 1673. Count Theodor Rendina has a big dream, he imagines a village without poverty: the city of Utopia.

'The count’s utopia' is a cultural journey to know Campomaggiore Vecchio and its story. A study convention will analyse the story and will trace the profile of the courageous and visionary figure of Count Rendina, in front of the local authorities and the well-renowned descendant Emanuele Cutinelli Rendina, Renaissance History professor at the Strasburg University. Today, just like yesterday, the old town will be the protagonist: the streets in Campomaggiore will be brought to life with a historical re-enactment, where the citizens will parade in their ancestors’ clothes. The event will continue with a video analysing Campomaggiore’s urban aspects -  which were, for the time, visionary and futuristic - also the customs of an important and glorious period for all the local people.

Realized in co-production by
Municipality of Campomaggiore

for Capital for one day