The value of narration, and the bond with nature: “Cambiare Menti” by Academia Berlucchi

Make wine, gastronomy, agriculture, and the territories with art, literature, music, and not only dialogue to reason, in an unanimous way about the current events, and future to share values and ideas, and imagine the tomorrow: a path, which some of the most virtuous companies of wine world undertook since time, such as Berlucchi, winery in which the history of Franciacorta began, which, in the last days, sent on stage edition No. 5 of Academia Berlucchi, the project of Corporate Social Responsibility of family Ziliani, which fulled in any order of places Teatro Grande, in Brescia. “Cambiare Menti” - “Change Minds” is the theme of this edition, which saw, on the stage, among others, actor and activist Alan Cappelli Goetz, journalists and writers Daria Bignardi and Francesco Costa, explorer Alex Bellini, singer-songwriter Vasco Brondi, writer Nicola H. Cosentino, and philosopher Ilaria Gaspari.
“Today, as in the past, Franciacorta becomes a place of culture, and open debate thanks to some of the most authoritative voices. Academia Berlucchi  - explained Cristina Ziliani, vicepresident Berlucchi -  arises exactly with the intention to stimulate constructive reflections about the great themes of current events, particularly about the protection of people, territories, and the environment. The speakers who accompanied us in this new and revolutionary piece of the history of Berlucchi, together with the musical moment of this evening, represent, for us, a new language with which one enters into contact with the territory, and people going beyond wine: from culture to music. It is our thanks: our way to give back what we received for more than 60 years: thanks to our founders Guido Berlucchi and Franco Ziliani, to moraine hills of Franciacorta that we try to preserve, to people who live in it, and protect it, to you who choose Berlucchi for the special moments of your life”.
The event, totally free, and, for the first time, open to the public, was inserted in the Festival of Sustainable Development, national initiative aiming to sensitize and mobilize citizens, young generations, businesses, associations, and institutions about economic, social, and environmental sustainability thanks to the patronage of the Municipality of Brescia, and with the collaboration with the Foundation of Teatro Grande di Brescia, and Association Oltreconfine with the artistic direction of Stefano Malosso.
“Academy Berlucchi is a place where wonderful things happen, it is a place where we meet, we dialogue, we exchange opinions, we donate us time. A project of social sustainability arisen in 2019 by a vision of business going beyond the profit, Academy Berlucchi is one of the ways in which family Ziliani takes care of he environment, people in these places of growth and inspiration”, commented the director of Academy Alan Cappelli Goetz.
With the speakers, they discussed about the theme of “Le storie che (ci) cambiano. Narrazione tra libro e digitale” - “The histories which change us. Narration between book and digital”, confronting about the central role of the narration in our lives, in a period in which words, images, and contents multiply, but the sense seems to get away. “Literature can be useful to “anticipate a nightmare”: if a thing is said in a novel, the risk is defused – affirmed Nicola H. Cosentino - reading means choosing, but, today, we read what it occurs in front of us without really deciding. We are living a crisis of choosing ability, and the narration can help us put order, recover awareness”. Francesco Costa, from his point of view, underlined how, today, the distance between literature and journalism is very reduced: “both try to make the same thing: explain. And, even before than writing, work is made up of translating the reality into words. The things which happen don’t occur in the form of words, it is up to us to decode them”. Costa also talked about the radical transformation of the job of journalist, overwhelmed by an epochal crisis: “we feel uninformed despite reading a lot. Audience didn’t read so much as today, but, journals have never been so few read. It is also a professional crisis, we are in an unexplored earth. But, histories remain the only means to understand the world”. Daria Bignardi explained how literature, and the need to narrate passed through all her career: “my first book arose after a life spent to observe: my family, my cat, all was already narration. And, I also understood that what I did before, on Tv, or on the journals, replied to the same urgency. For me, storytelling is life. It is in the histories that we recognize ourselves, that we find a sense”. The debate touched also the risks, and the challenges put in place by Artificial Intelligence to the world of the narration. “The real danger is that true things begin to be believed as false – said Costa – if nothing can be assumed as certain proof, our bond with truth will change. And, so, a new need will emerge: look for authenticity, trust, humanity. Something that machines could not imitate”.
To follow, panel “In ascolto. Riscrivere il rapporto tra uomo e pianeta” - “On listening. Rewrite the bond between man and planet” saw the participation of explorer Alex Bellini, and of singer-songwriter Vasco Brondi, moderated by philosopher Ilaria Gaspari, who discusses about how the bond between man and nature is evolving into an increasingly more necessary way. “Filosofare è meravigliarsi” - “Making philosophy is be amazed”, commenced Ilaria Gaspari, mentioning Aristotle to recall that wonder is the same origin of thought. “The myth, such as that of Hades, and Persephone, shows us as natural events were explained through human relations: there is something subliminal resisting to logical explanation, and pushes us to put us in listening. To begin, we have to move by our position of centrality”. From here, the dialogue with Alex Bellini, who explained how his way of traveling radically changed. “At the beginning, I escaped from something, then, I began to move towards something – explained – today, exploring is not measure ourselves with a hostile environment, but narrate with new eyes the world that we already know. The real change was understanding that we have to confront with limits, not necessarily overcome them”. Bellini narrated his most recent expeditions, including that on Icelandic glaciers, marked by the effects of climate change. After an accident on a snowy volcano, he began to questioned himself about what, today, pushes the man to explore. “We live as we already saw everything. But, maybe, we should change perspective: rather than asking what we can do against climate change, ask ourselves who we must be. Sustainability is not only a strategy: it is an inner transformation”. Artist and musician Vasco Brondi brought his experience of return to nature in an increasingly more rooted path in the landscapes out of cities. “Going out from Milan to live in mountain changed my music – he explained – that transparency that I feel in the air reflects in my music pieces. Mountain reshapes you: it makes feel you part of something bigger, that there was before you, and there will be after”. Brondi also underlined the growing distance between man and natural world. “We know everything about the news of the day, but we don’t know the name of the tree under the house. It is a deep gap of our informative culture”. Places such as Polesine, explained, “are outposts of climate change in Italy, and will become increasingly more central in our future imaginary”. The panel closed with a collective reflection about the sense of loneliness and interconnection of today. “Nature sometimes seems a stepmother – said Bellini – other times, we feel to be part of it. And, I do my work to earn those rare moments in which the perfect fusion happens”. Brondi concluded: “this deep connection can happen anywhere, also in the city. It is a listening, a tuning with the beat of the world”.
To close, mixing the sparkling wines of Franciancorta, also with music “Semplicemente Frida”, concert by Frida Bollani, accompanied by composer Mark Glentworth.