DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT

The project aims to revitalize and pass on the ancient tradition of rust printing in Romagna, now carried out only by a few craftsmen located between Forlì, Cesena, Santarcangelo di Romagna and Rimini.
The project consists of two parts: the first is the creation of a digital animation short film and the setting up of a cinema inside room D of MET, designed for a very wide audience, from elementary school children to middle and high school children, tourists, citizens of Romagna and all those who are interested in learning about this type of art. The focus of the documentary is on the history of rust printing and its production process, told through two main characters: Countess Eugenia Rasponi Marat , a character who really existed and owns the Malatesta castle in Santarcangelo di Romagna, and Mastro Bernardo, a craftsman who together with his wife and sons produces rust prints.
The second part concerns a laboratory where visitors can try to make a print on a white t-shirt, provided by the museum and included in the entrance ticket. In the workshop there are several stations of different heights, suitable for both children and adults, where everyone can choose the mould that they like and, thanks to a particular type of ink, designed to resemble as much as possible to the rust paste and able to resist over time, print their T-shirt, bringing home a very special and personal product. In this way, visitors are more involved in visiting the museum and actively encouraged to create an object that will allow other people to know the museum, thus establishing a process of word of mouth that will benefit the museum.

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION

The project is important in the context of the revitalization of an ancient tradition, now almost unknown and disappeared. Unfortunately, today there are only few people who know this art. In schools there are no printing courses on fabric and the history of traditions of Romagna is not explained. This task is usually delegated to the MET, which has among its many rooms, a space dedicated to weaving and printing of fabrics. Unfortunately, however, the MET has been closed since 2017.
The main problem of rust printing is that there are no workshops where children and adults can experience this technique and learn about its origins. It is also important to say that the local craftsmen do not cooperate in this: they jealously guard their knowledge, handed down from generation to generation, and are not in favour of sharing it. So I thought it was important to develop an idea that could give new life to this ancient art, making known its existence and its techniques of realization.
In the design phase, I assessed two possible risks of the project: the first is to be reclined, in a sense, to the MET, then not get the desired success, considering that the museum is located in a small village in the province of Rimini. The second risk that I have considered is that of arousing criticism among the purists of tradition, who could accuse the project of trivializing tradition.

GOALS AND REQUIREMENTS

The aim of the project is to create awareness in people of the existence of the art of rust printing and its precarious situation through a fun and permanent experience, thanks to the vision of the short film and the printing laboratory. What I want to convey is the idea that traditions must be cultivated without forgetting the technological advance, that allows today to develop new ways for the communication of tradition and make it an integral part of the cultural baggage of all people living in that area, from children to the elderly, making them experience of working as people once did in the countryside of Romagna. What is required from users is to get involved by experimenting to learn. It is not a forced and unidirectional learning but, on the contrary, engaging, open and fun.

PROJECT PLACEMENT

The project is developed in two rooms of the museum: the first part, that of the cinema, will occupy room D, while the laboratory part provides for the setting up of the laboratory in room E, the last room before the end of the museum. I chose to use these two rooms because they are the only ones where there is no permanent installation. Room D is completely empty, while room E houses the archive. The arrangement of these two rooms is excellent for developing an additional path to the already existing museum path.
The route designed for visitors is as follows: after visiting room no. 9, they will reach the end of the museum and will have the opportunity to enter in the cinema. The short film, made with Blender and Adobe Fuse, has a duration of 11 minutes and is designed to attract the attention of children and adults. Being a very short film it will be shown in loop in the cinema, which has a large capacity allowing the accommodation of 25-30 people at a time. The short film is intended to explain the printing process, so that it can be done by visitors at the end of the film. In fact, in the next room, room E, there are 30 printing stations. The bookshop will also be in this room, so there will always be a person who will be able to distribute the t-shirts to be printed among the visitors and provide assistance. Each station has a support surface designed to print only one side of the t-shirt, one mould and a particular rust-colored ink, designed to last over time and that does not require drying time. At each station an apron is available, so visitors can use it to avoid getting dirty with the ink. Above each station there is a panel that explains how to insert the t-shirt in the support to be printed and retraces, step by step, the passages of printing. In this way just few assistants are required. At the end of the workshop the t-shirts are ready to be worn.

USER DEFINITION

The project is designed for a wide audience, diversified by age. As the interview with Federica Foschi has shown, school groups are the main factor of presence in the museum, but this kind of experience will also attract many families with children, adults of various kinds and tourists. The museum is located, in fact, in the hinterland of a tourist area, a few kilometers from the beaches of the Riviera Romagnola. The short film has a simple language, easily understood by children and will be subtitled in English to be understood by foreign tourists. The printing stations, have different heights to be used comfortably by both children and adults.

The Ethnographic Museum of the Uses and Customs of the People of Romagna is located in Santarcangelo di Romagna, in the hinterland of Rimini. It was inaugurated in 1981 thanks to the work of collecting material from Romagna started in the 60s by the "Ethnographic Committee", originally only a group of volunteers, led by Giuseppe Sebesta.
The Ethnographic Centre for Research and Documentation was opened in 1985, and the research and documentary production campaigns were launched and systematically organised. With this centre, the museum provides itself with archives and instruments for scientific dissemination, setting up research laboratories to promote the study of popular traditions, the production of audiovisual documentation, texts, periodical exhibitions, conferences, study days and educational initiatives.

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