The latest edition of the cultural insert “Gutenberg,” distributed with the newspaper “Avvenire” on Friday, September 25, 2026, examines how music physically transforms urban spaces, connects individuals to collective rituals, and preserves historical memory. Through a collection of essays and interviews, the issue explores the intersection of sound, architecture, electronic experimentation, and literature.
Caterina Barbieri and the 70th Venice Biennale Musica
The issue opens with an interview conducted by Alessandro Beltrami with Caterina Barbieri, director of the 70th Biennale Musica in Venice. Centered around the theme “A Child of Sound,” Barbieri describes music as an experience of presence, vulnerability, and transformation. According to the composer, sound precedes language, opening a collective space where raw emotion converts into beauty through an approach that blends sonic experimentation, spirituality, and public participation.
From San Fedele to the Evolution of Electronic Sound
Antonio Pileggi traces the long musical history of the Milanese church of San Fedele, connecting the liturgies of the late 16th century to contemporary electronic performances hosted in the “Inner_Spaces” concert series. The analysis presents sacred music and electronic research as continuous parts of a single history of listening, where sound maintains a ritual and community-building function between past heritage and modern composition. Expanding on electronic music’s cultural reach, Gianni Sibilla examines the trajectory of the French duo Daft Punk from their debut album “Homework” to “Random Access Memories,” detailing how the artists merged sound, visual identity, and pop culture into a global phenomenon.
Urban Electronic Culture and Temporary Communities
Massimo Dezzani explores Turin’s electronic music scene, highlighting how the city converted its industrial heritage into a cultural platform driven by festivals, clubs, and independent collectives. Building on the theme of communal spaces, Massimiliano Padula analyzes the rave phenomenon through anthropological and sociological frameworks. Padula defines the rave as a ritual space where music and physical presence forge temporary communities out of isolated individuals.
Literary Journeys, Memory, and Historical Trauma
The cultural section broadens into literature and historical memory with several contributions:
- Israel Joshua Singer’s America: Alessandro Zaccuri presents “Viaggi in America” (published by Giuntina), a collection of reportage by Singer that captures the contradictions of the United States in the 1930s through the lens of Jewish emigration and the encounter with modern industrial society.
- Italian Psychiatric History: Francesca Orsi details the exhibition “Manicomi italici” by Silvia Camporesi and Luca Marianaccio at the Museum of the History of Psychiatry in Reggio Emilia, focusing on the architecture of former psychiatric hospitals. Concurrently, Laura Badaracchi introduces “Cose di pazzi. Memorie di vite poi recluse” at the State Archives in Salerno, which displays personal objects recovered from the bundles of patients once confined in the Nocera Inferior psychiatric hospital.
- Identity and Migration: Angela Calvini interviews Saba Anglana regarding her recital “La signora meraviglia” presented at the “Genius Loci” festival in Florence, exploring autobiographical migration and multiple cultural identities. Anna Pozzi speaks with Saleem Haddad about his novel “Memorie del diluvio” (Edizioni e/o), which follows an Iraqi family navigating exile, art, and the search for ancestral roots.
- Twentieth-Century Ideology and Poetics: Michele Brancale discusses Anna Akhmatova’s “La sentenza” (Mucchi Editore), available in ten distinct Italian translations, examining how poetry survives state censorship and political repression. Roberto Carnero evaluates Iacopo Leoni’s “Leggere Céline” (Carocci), addressing the complex intersection of literary mastery, ideological compromise, and historical memory surrounding the French writer.