From March 8 to May 29, 2025, ten events curated by choreographer Virgilio Sieni in the museums of Empolese Valdelsa, dedicated to the dialogue between citizens and cultural heritage, with a program of initiatives open to all and sundry.
Walden Valdelsa / Museums and Communities of Valdelsa for the Construction of the Territory takes inspiration from the experience of Walden Way in the Woods by the American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau, an inner journey that takes the form of openness and discovery, turning attention to the essential things in life. The goal of the project is to create pathways of regeneration, cultural and environmental, civic and social to stimulate citizenship participation toward processes of sustainable renewal and territorial proximity.
What makes the Valdelsa area unique and extraordinary, enhanced by the variety of museums – of
art, archaeology, memory, science and technology – is the concept of proximity and closeness in the
preservation of diversity. The territory expresses the values of coexistence through the differentiation of its heritage and the processes of care undertaken by the community, opening up to inclusion and accessibility. The dislocation of museums, in the geography of Empolese Valdelsa represents an opportunity to undertake together with citizens a process of cultural activation, based on the discovery of new functions and frequentation of places.
Walden Valdelsa, thanks to the many years of experience of the National Center for Dance Production Virgilio Sieni, is articulated in an articulated program of practices, workshops, meetings, creative processes and training paths “in the field,” developed with the participation of the inhabitants: young people, elementary school, guests of RSAs, citizens of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, creative people, and universities.
Starting March 8, lectures on gesture, meetings and study days will be developed in the museums of Castelfiorentino (March 8), Montelupo Fiorentino (March 9), Gambassi Terme (March 11), Cerreto Guidi (March 12), Montaione (March 24), Certaldo (March 25), Fucecchio (March 31), Vinci (April 22) and Montespertoli (May 10).
The program will conclude with a study day on Thursday, May 29, 2025 at the Cenacolo degli Agostiniani in Empoli, to draw an innovative map on how to inhabit, frequent, and regenerate cultural and social heritage places.
“Next Saturday, at the BeGo Museum,” stresses Castelfiorentino’s Culture Councillor Franco Spina, “the Castelfiorentino appointment of the project “Walden Valdelsa/Museums and Communities of the Valdelsa” organized as part of Mudev to build, in the Empolese-Valdelsa territory, a red thread of nonverbal communication, linked to gesture as a relational act aimed at making community. Activities focus on creating participants’ relational experiences with artworks and museum heritages to stimulate imagination and creativity. “Looking” will be a workshop on gesture, starting with Benozzo Gozzoli’s frescoes, which retrains the traditional artistic gesture of ‘painting-making’ to its more authentic role as a vector of sensations and communication that is more experiential than visual. For a living museum, made of relationships and people. With Mayor Giannì we will be present. See you on March 8!”