Students from Class III H at the Mengaroni Art High School in Pesaro have explored the ‘Pesaro Silk Routes’, as part of their Work-Related Learning Programme (PCTO). This programme was carried out in collaboration with the State Archives of Pesaro and as part of the ARACNE educational project ‘Cultural Heritage for the European Silk Route’, which is coordinated by the CREA-AA Laboratory of Sericulture in Padua.
On 13 May, the final results of the students’ PCTO project will be presented in Room 66 of the Mengaroni High School building. Those in attendance will include Maria Rosa Conti, Pesaro’s Councillor for the Environment; the entire class; Headteacher Serena Perugini; Sara Cambrini, Director of the State Archives; Cristina Ravara Montebelli, a silk historian; Diana Mantegazza, Educational Coordinator at CREA-AA Padua; and Mary Paolucci, a textile consultant at the Art High School.
The students, coordinated by Wilma Cangiotti, under the guidance of Cristina Ravara Montebelli and with technical support from Diana Mantegazza, geolocated the silk reeling plants on the ArcGIS platform which gathers all the routes from the European schools involved in the Aracne project. They created a Pesaro silk itinerary based on historical documents from the State Archives of Pesaro, visual materials from the Gabriele Stroppa Nobili Archive, as well as photographs, texts, and themed drawings produced by the students.
The ArcGIS itinerary also includes the geolocation of the school premises, a weaving course used to take place. This location features a section of the TAME Museum dedicated to textiles created by students of that course, along with a valuable Jacquard loom.
The itinerary also includes the State Archives of Pesaro, which hosted the exhibition “Pesaro Silk Routes. Reeling plants in Pesaro between the 19th and 20th centuries” and it preserves archival documents.