To Mario and Nuto: I have two brothers with a lot of life behind them / born in the shadow of the mountains. / They learnt the indignation / in the snow of a distant country, / and they wrote not useless books. / As me, they have tolerated, the sight / of Medusa, who has not petrified them. / They did not let themselves be petrified / by the slow snowfall of the days.
To write these verses is Primo Levi, a short time before his tragic death. A poem that has remained unpublished, focused on the friendship that bound him to Nuto Revelli and Mario Rigoni Stern. A friendship that will be celebrated in Mondovì on October 19th at the “Passaggio di testimone” conference, promoted by the Associazione Culturale “Gli Spigolatori”. An event conceived by the Coolturing Collective which intends however to move away from the traditional canons of convention, weaving together literature, music, cinema and art. Two, in particular, the sessions, interspersed with the authorial music proposed by the Castadiva band: first, the interviews with the sons and close friends of the three great writers, to dig in the most familiar and intimate dimension (present in this sense Renato Portesi, friend and colleague of Primo Levi at the SIVA of Settimo Torinese, Marco Revelli, eldest son of Nuto and Alberico Rigoni Stern, Mario’s eldest son), and then a round table on the topicality of their historical, social and literary message.
For the occasion, the journalist and writer Enrico Camanni, the biographer and writer Giuseppe Mendicino and the literary critic Giovanni Tesio will intervene. To moderate the day, instead, the will be teacher and classicist Stefano Casarino. Then, as said, the artistic appendices are different and will enrich the whole day: from the exclusive opening movie of Alessandro Ingaria to the readings of Ada Prucca, up to the paintings by Teresita Terra and the sculptures by Ferruccio Spezzati.
“It is difficult to hide the emotion for such an important event, whose organizational journey began almost a year ago,” said the President of the Spigolatori, Giuliana Bagnasco. “A sincere thanks, therefore, to all those who supported us, and sometimes endured. First and foremost thanks to our sponsors, essential pillars without which nothing could have been built: the Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo Foundation, Banca Alpi Marittime – Cooperative Credit of Carrù and Assicuraci – Gastaldi Assicurazioni Group. To our partners, then, precious confidants who have helped us in drafting the contents of the day. From the ANPI Province of Cuneo to the Municipality of Mondovì; from the Primo Levi International Studies Center to the Nuto Revelli Onlus Foundation which included us in the official celebrations for the centenary of the birth of Nuto; from the Historical Institute of the Resistance and the Contemporary Society “Dante Livio Bianco” of Cuneo to the Province of Cuneo itself. A collaborative synergy that sincerely made us proud. We hope at this point not to disappoint the expectations “. The event, as mentioned, falls in the Centenary of the birth of Nuto Revelli and Primo Levi and takes place on a non-random date: on October 19th, 1945, in fact, Primo Levi returned to Turin after the terrifying Auschwitz experience. The appointment, therefore, is for Saturday 19th October 2019 at 4.30pm in the Sala Ghislieri in Mondovì (Via Francesco Gallo).
