Street artists against the new rules in Genoa
by Raoul de Forcade
3' min read
3' min read
GGGenoese street artists cross their pen, which wounds more than the sword (and here should be understood as a symbol of all art forms), with the Genoa City Council, which has passed a restrictive regulation to clearly circumscribe the places, times, spaces and modes of possible performances in the city streets. In a mid-summer blitz, on 22 July, the city council, at the proposal of the Councillor for Commerce and Traditions, Paola Bordilli, passed the regulation governing the exercise of street arts in the Genoa area. 'A discipline imposed without consulting the parties, as provided, instead, by article 11 of the previous regulation, in force until then and for about twenty years; during which time it was revised several times, always, however, consulting the artists beforehand'. This was specified by Luca Bertoncini, better known as Il poeta di Genova (The Poet of Genoa), because, with a microphone and a small loudspeaker, he usually gladdens the spirits of passers-by (also helping to lift them up a little), reciting poems on the pavement: from Dante to Montale, from Gozzano to Caproni, passing by Saba, Sbarbaro to Merini, and so on and so forth. Announcing the new regulation, Bordilli presented it as 'the result of a long process of synthesis with the current panorama of regulations also launched in other cities such as Milan, Padua and Verona'. Among the new features introduced is 'also the creation of a booking app for the stations in the area'. In essence, the text states, 'the exercise of street arts with sound emission is prohibited at a distance of less than 40 metres from the perimeter of places of worship; at a distance of 30 metres from hospital and in-patient facilities' and from 'cemeteries, school and university buildings and libraries, during opening hours. At each location, the arts 'must be performed with a maximum performance duration of 60 minutes' and also in precise time slots: 'performances without sound emissions between 10am and 10pm; performances with sound emissions between 10am and 1pm, between 3pm and 5pm, and between 7pm and 10pm'. Seventy areas in the city were then identified for each of which the type of sound emission is indicated. After passing the measure, the councillor assured that 'the administration will be engaged in a process of monitoring and sharing, promoting meetings with representative associations, with the aim of enhancing street art'. Previously, Bertoncini emphasised, representing the street artists (those in Genoa are about forty, not thousands), 'we had always come to an agreement with a democratic confrontation. This time, instead, they have churned out a regulation, unbeknownst even to the oppositions'. Most of all, he adds, 'we contest the app, which, by booking the performance venue, binds the artist to a place where he does not know what he will find that day. Maybe a move or another impediment. Not to mention the weather: even if it rains you have to be there, because after three times you book a location and, upon verification, you are not there, you are reported and suspended from street art. So, first of all we reject the app, which was also introduced in Milan and, as far as I know, did not work; then the rest we can discuss. For example, the number of hours, set at 40 per month, which is more or less one per day. I usually do four'. In short, the street artists, in the meantime, will not download the app. It is up to the municipality to find a mediation and show that they really want to enhance street art and not reduce it to a public order problem.
