The Silent Storm

On June 17, Rome will be gripped by The Silent Storm, a new reading format conceived by Alessandro Baricco. Promoted and supported by Rome's Department of Culture and the Coordination of Initiatives Related to Holocaust Remembrance Day, the event draws thousands of people for an unprecedented collective experience. This free initiative invites participants to gather in a single space, silently reading the same book, at the same time, with the same passion, in a single large theater. The uniqueness of this event in the capital lies in the fact that it involves the entire city, its neighborhoods, and cultural venues.

The Department of Culture and Alessandro Baricco - as artistic director - share the vision of Rome as a larger place, composed of countless other, different spaces, all traversed by the same wave of intensity. The event extends to six main locations: the Palatine Stadium, the Ara Pacis, Villa Torlonia, the Mattatoio of Testaccio, the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and Piazza del Campidoglio (all with free admission upon reservation starting June 3). In addition to citizens, spaces such as bookstores, libraries, theaters, cinemas, meeting places, and associations are welcome to participate: anyone is an integral and vital part of the project and can therefore become a "little storm”, hosting readers.

The book chosen for the evening of June 17th is Fyodor Dostoevsky's White Nights, distributed to participants at all the stands located in each municipality. The meeting is scheduled for sunset, at 8:47 pm, at the Palatine Stadium; Alessandro Baricco himself will open the evening by reading the first pages of the novel.
The stage sound, which accompanies the reading, will be broadcast live in all other locations, guiding the community of readers into the experience itself. After about an hour and a half, Isabella Ragonese will conclude the reading, but not the evening; there will be time for a DJ set.

The event officially opens the Palatine Stadium's summer events season, which continues with Letterature – Rome International Festival.

The Silent Storm initiative is promoted and supported by the Department of Culture and the Coordination of Initiatives Related to Rome's Holocaust Remembrance Day, coordinated by the Department of Cultural Activities and the organizational coordination of Zètema Progetto Cultura, in collaboration with the Colosseum Archaeological Park, the Rome Library Institution, the Mattatoio Foundation, the Rome Opera House Foundation, the Capitoline Superintendency of Cultural Heritage, and the Municipalities.

All information is available at culture.roma.it and at latempestasilenziosa.it

Photo: official poster of the event