Piccolo museo del diario - Little Museum of Diary

logoMuseo The Piccolo Museo was created to display the collection of National Archive of Diary of Pieve Santo Stefano and its autobiographical testimonies in a innovative and engaging way. Still a work-in-progress, it will soon be enriched by a new hall and new installations dedicated to those who, in the last thirty years, donated their story to the Archive: from its founder, Saverio Tutino (the Piccolo Museo is named after him), to many diarists who entrusted here their writings.  Today the Piccolo Museo del Diario (directed by Camillo Brezzi) counts three rooms: in the first two - accessible from the Sala del Consiglio (board room) of the sixteenth-century praetorian palace - you will find an interactive art installation that lets visitors hear, see and touch some of the most fascinating stories chosen amongst more than seven thousand diaries, memoirs and letters preserved in the Archive. Just get close to one of the twenty drawers set in a beautiful handcrafted wooden wall that symbolizes the countless shelves of the Archive, pull it out and have a look: you'll find one of the fifteen digital screens and five original diaries, and will be able to read and hear them from the voice of the “narrators”, friends of the Archive (Andrea Biagiotti, Grazia Cappelletti, Mario Perrotta, Paola Roscioli). Like a background music, you will feel the rustling of others: that is how Saverio Tutino used to call that peculiar whispering rising from the shelves filled up with diaries. Year after year more diaries are donated, enhancing the heritage of our Foundation.  For now, drawers contain the diaries and tell the lives of:
 Vincenzo Rabito, Maria Pia Farneti, Paolino Ferrari, Saverio Tutino, Antonio Sbirziola, Ettore Finzi e Adelina Foà, Emilia, Luigi Re, Massimo Bartoletti Stella, Orlando Tonelli, Raul Rossetti, Luisa T., Antonio Rossi, Sisto Monti Buzzetti, Tommaso Bordonaro, Liberale Medici, Maria Anichini, Francesco Stefanile, Orlando Orlandi Posti, Leo Ferlan.

Stories kept in the drawers can be replaced any time, giving the chance to arrange a new exhibition, celebrate an anniversary or display a different thematic path.   dotdotdot is the name of group of artists who designed and realized the Piccolo Museo del Diario, a special architecture that harmonizes many different sources: audio and video, sensors, microcontrollers, lights and computers. They were inspired by the story narrated by Mario Perrotta, testimonial of the Archive, in his book “Il paese dei diari” (Terre di mezzo, 2009).  The third room of Piccolo Museo del Diario hosts an icon of the Archive: the Sheet of Clelia Marchi, a diary written by a peasant woman of Poggio Rusco (Mantua) on her two-meters wide bed sheet. Visitors may not only admire the original fabric placed inside a glass case, but also browse through the lines written by Clelia on a touchscreen device which offers panoramic views of other significant autobiographical works preserved in Pieve Santo Stefano.  The Piccolo Museo del Diario is the natural evolution of the project “Impronte digitali” (Fingerprints) and also one of the most significant milestones of Memory Route, an innovative tourism project promoted also by the National Diary Archive of Pieve Santo Stefano.

 OPENING TIME 
The museum, accessible from Piazza Plinio Pellegrini 1, is open from Monday to Friday (working days) from 9.30 to 12.30 and from 15.00 to 18.00. Starting from May 17, 2014 it is open on Saturday and Sunday from 15:00 to 18:00. During the week, visitors are asked to contact the Head Office of the Archive located in the adjacent square Amintore Fanfani,14. 
Admission to Museum is free. Nonetheless, it is possible and much appreciated to support it along with the other activities of the Archive by purchasing our publications or making a donation. 
Groups are allowed with fee and must always agree visiting time, either by phone (tel 0575797730 - 0575797734) or by email addressed to adn@archiviodiari.it or info@archiviodiari.it  

The Piccolo museo del diario was made possible thanks to the contribution of: