Devotio arrives at the second edition, and the event dedicated to products and services for the religious world proves to have all the credentials to become a staple in the sector.
Scheduled from 17th to 19th February at BolognaFiere, it will renew the appointment with Devotio Lab, dedicated principally to priests, liturgists, diocesan leaders, parishes, religious communities and professionals; the coordination will be curated by Dies Domini –Study Center for Sacred Architecture of the Card. Foundation. Giacomo Lercaro. Claudia Manenti, director of Dies Domini. “In an age when membership of the Church is no longer by tradition, but a personal choice, everything must be thought out to help those who are far away to discover the beauty of Christian life and those already on their way, to live it. In this intent, the welcoming gestures are fundamental, which must permeate not only the people belonging to the communities, but also the spaces and the rites. ” Five meetings, and two exhibitions, will animate the three-day event in Bologna. For Sunday, February 17th, the program sees the first meeting on the theme “The open arms of the Crucifix” on the pastoral significance of the welcoming gesture represented by the open arms of the Crucifix and on its artistic representations, with the participation of the bishop of Imola, mgr. Tommaso Ghirelli. On Monday 18th there will be two meetings: “Farewell spaces and rites for the Christian funeral in a multireligious society” and “Reborn from the water and the spirit: art and catechesis – Baptismal journeys”. They will be an important opportunity to reflect on how to propose and face the moments of the baptism of the children and the last greeting of the dead. Finally, Tuesday 19 is the appointment with “Liturgy and disability in ecclesial spaces”. It will be discussed how to make participants of the ritual “special” people with different abilities, followed by the convention “The heating of historical churches” on the need to physically heat up the liturgical environment. As for the exhibitions, Sunday 17th will see the inauguration of “The beauty of the Crucifix”, where will be exhibited 6 works of the nineteenth century from the collection Lercaro and a silver crucifix of the eighteenth century. Along with these works, two works commissioned for the occasion to two young artists who participated in the second edition of the “Approach paths: contemporary artists in comparison with the Christian mystery” will find adequate space. The first work is entitled “Dal legno oscuro” (pencil on paper, size 70×100 cm) and was created by Luca Pianella, a 34-year-old Genoese artist who studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan. The second work, entitled “Dono” (mixed technique, 61×76 cm), was instead realized by Saba Masoumian, a 37-year-old Iranian artist living in Genoa, who studied at the Azad University in Tehran and at the Academy of Fine Arts from Bologna. The exhibition space will be completed by “Liturgy and reception”, which will see the exhibition of photographs taken by Giorgio Barrera, which will allow us to “enter” the community relationship between the priest and the community and to grasp its beauty and difficulty. To date, the presence of 173 exhibitors is confirmed (+ 38% compared to the last edition of 2017), of which 20 are foreign, while requests for participation continue. The size of the exhibition will also increase, which will be developed in 2 pavilions (only 1 in 2017): the exhibition area already sold is about 8 thousand square meters (+ 60% compared to 2017). There are numerous sponsorships received from the organizing company Officina Eventi, including the Pontifical Council for Culture, the National Liturgical Office of the CEI, the Church of Bologna, the Order of Architects of Bologna, the Italian Federation of Catholic Weeks (FISC) and the association of Assoreli operators.