Rome is Presented with the First Nucleus of a Virtual Museum of Art
  (PISA, Italia, Friday 29 March 2002) Il Messaggero The Magician Rambaldi will Revive the Colosseum by PAOLA POLIDORO The Italian republic waits to celebrate a virtual birthday. From this 2 June we will in fact relive the history of our Risorgimento walking in the corridors and rooms of the Vittoriano. In what way? With special effects, thanks to noises (the clangor of her arms), three-dimensional images and related odors (like that of the dust from shot) that will be faithfully reproduced. The creator of the plan could none other than the genius of virtuality: Carlo Rambaldi, winner of three Oscars for special effects in King Kong, Alien and ET, at Rome for the 20th anniversary of the extraterrestrial creature most beloved by children. Rambaldi, named adviser to the administration of the National School of Cinema, takes the opportunity to present the show-event that will be inaugurated in October in the rooms of Castel Sant'Angelo (where it will stay for three months), the first nucleus of a virtual Museum of Italian art already named "museum of the museums." "Thanks to the new tecnology", explained Rambaldi in the course of a press conference in which the Urban Minister Giuliano also participated, "it is possible to completely reconstruct the monuments of 2000 years ago, explain visually how they were built with the labor and intelligence of only men armed with hammer and chisel". Understand how they transported the blocks of marble for construction of the Colosseum, walk in the burrows of Pompei, observe Michelangelo taking on the Sibilla Cumana. An extensive appendix will be a substantal complement to the history books. There is excellent probability that students and others curious will be attracted by the virtual gallery (accessed with three-dimensional images, interactive and tactile protections and optical theaters) that will be prepared in the mausoleum of Adriano. And that such a laboratory constitutes a desirable alternative to a documentary. "To tell the history of the monuments", explains Urban, "the technology is not enough, but needs a considerable love for the work of art and certainly an extensive job of documentation". From the Tower of Pisa to the Basilica of Assisi, from Piazza San Marco to the Valley of the Temples: all the most beautiful and suggestive places of the artistic Italian patrimony will become likewise "pieces" of the virtual Museum destined to a general catalog of the monuments. "It will be a crucial test", underlines Giovanni Negri, president of the Committee for Art and Virtual Museums, "to understand if and how it is possible to valorize our artistic patrimony - 60-70% of the world's - through these tecnologies. If it is possible to educate, amuse and deliver entertainment, but also if the system is profitable". The economic aspect of the enterprise is, as could be imagined, a fundamental problem. "The office", explains Urban, "has financed for 90 million lire the plan for Vittoriano and likewise for Castel Sant'Angelo. But these plans cost much more: 1 billion lire that of the Vittoriano and 3 billion that of the "museum of the museums." At first a public institution will contribute, for the second we must have the collaboration of a banking foundation". Article translated by Gary Feuerstein, 9 June 2002 from the Il Messagero article. |
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