Mental Health Festival, over two thousand attendees and 'sold out' initiatives. Prominent names and great participation in the events held in Arezzo.

The curtain fell, with the last show last Saturday, of the first edition of Mental Health Festival. Over two thousand attendees to the great event which brought together in Arezzo, from 20 to 24 February, exponents of literature, art, theatre, but also educators and mental health workers.

Over thirty events, among cultural initiatives, lessons, round tables, shows, exhibitions, screenings, workshops, guided tours, sports and a contest with schools, which have opened spaces of reflection on the topics of psycho-physical well-being and social inclusion. Students, citizens, families and education, health and service workers were able to reflect on diversity, disability and mental well-being. In the rich program that animated the five intense days, there were also initiatives for the valorization of the memory linked to the former Pionta psychiatric hospital, now a university campus.

Prominent names among the guests of this first and successful edition: the psychiatrists Vittorino Andreoli and Paolo Milone, the singer-songwriter and performer Lorenzo Baglioni, the playwright Stefano Massini, the director Susanna Nicchiarelli.

The festival concluded on Saturday evening with the theatrical performance “Lyrical folders – Insane existences" edited by Cinzia della Ciana, Laura Occhini and Andrea Matucci, who told surprising and exciting stories of women, men and children who lived within the walls of the Pionta neuropsychiatric hospital.

Meanwhile, the work continues at the Fraternita dei Laici, in its headquarters in Piazza Grande exhibition “The illusion. Stories of ordinary addiction" edited by Mario Perini, professor at the University of Siena, and the TerraProject collective, in collaboration with the Department of Law of the University of Siena. The exhibition presents research and documentation on the profound problems linked to gambling addiction. Free entry from 15pm to 18.30pm Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, from 10.30am to 13pm and from 14.30pm to 19pm from Friday to Sunday.

The teacher said Simona Micali, who coordinated the organizing committee: “I am very grateful to our partners at the South East Tuscany Local Health Authority, to the health director Assunta De Luca for believing in us, and above all to the managers, doctors and operators with whom a climate of authentic collaboration and exchange has been established. I thank the Municipality of Arezzo and the provincial school office for supporting us and collaborating on several of the activities. But above all I thank the numerous organizations from Arezzo and Tuscany who have worked together with us to build a rich, complex, engaging and participatory Festival: for me the Festival was a splendid opportunity to meet extraordinary people and entities active in our territory, and this meeting, the network of relationships and collaborations that we built, was one of the most important results of the Festival".

"As organizers we were very impressed by the interest and great participation, – continues Professor Micali – and it's not just a question of numbers. It is naturally pleasing that many of the events were 'sold out', that many came to Arezzo from all over Tuscany and several from outside the region to attend and participate; but personally, what struck me most was the attentive and passionate participation of the public, in all its components: young people, teachers, families, healthcare personnel and those from the world of services. The debates were lively, long and always well attended, demonstrating that the themes at the center of the festival affect everyone, not only on a professional or cultural level, but also on a personal one. We can only see everyone next year for the second edition of the Festival. Already in the next few weeks we will get to work planning times, guests and expanding institutional partners. I would like to thank the Rector Roberto Di Pietra who believed in this project from the beginning and supported it; and together with him all the colleagues of the Arezzo Campus, teachers, researchers, technical-administrative staff, who worked with passion and generosity together with me to make the complex machine of the Festival work".

The complex program was organized by the Arezzo Campus Service Center of the University of Siena, in collaboration with the South East Tuscany Local Health Authority and the Feltrinelli Point Bookshop and with the patronage of the Municipality of Arezzo. The provincial school office, the Arezzo Community Foundation and numerous associations and bodies in the Arezzo and Tuscan area also participated in the organization of the festival.

The Mental Health Festival logo was created by disabled artist Federica Mauro.

For information at this link

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