Parma 2020: Interview with Milo Adami on Invisible City and Community Archives

Milo Adami, co-creator of Piccoli Archivi di Quartiere, discusses the risks of 'postcardization' in Parma's year as Italian Capital of Culture 2020. The official video shows a deserted city, contrasting with the vibrant community initiatives that won the title. Adami's project, funded by MIUR and MiBACT, digitizes amateur films from three peripheral neighborhoods, involving high school students from Albertina Sanvitale and Ulivi. The digitalization was done by Digitarlo with Home Movies (National Archive of Family Films in Bologna). On January 22, 2020, at Officine On/Off, Piccoli Archivi meets AstroLab, a virtual archive rethinking the city. Adami emphasizes the need to 'awaken dormant images' and avoid monumental narratives, citing Walter Benjamin: 'The more we leave the center, the more political the atmosphere becomes.' The project aims to preserve fragile memories and make them accessible to citizens, artists, and documentarians. Adami calls for a return to collective struggle against individualism and the commodification of public space, exemplified by 'Airbnb cities.'