On March 6th and 7th, CREA Agriculture and Environment, coordinator of ARACNE (the acronym stands for “Advocating the Role of silk Art and Cultural heritage at National and European scale”), officially launched the project, hosting its kick-off meeting at the Padua headquarters. The project, whose name is inspired by the weaver transformed into a spider by the goddess Athena in Greek mythology, aims to exploit silk as the common element of the pan-European culture and history. ARACNE is one of the three projects funded by the European Commission that emerged victorious over a fierce competition with 55 projects in the framework of the call “Research and innovation on cultural heritage and Cultural and Creative Industries” (HORIZON-CL2-2022-HERITAGE-01-02).
The project activities will support European companies operating in the Cultural and Creative Industries sector, which can promote and strengthen a common cultural and artistic heritage centred on silk. The project also aims to prevent the loss of know-how and traditional technical and cultural skills; in fact, this loss has led to a decline in the production of the fibre and, consequently, has damaged the competitiveness of these companies in fashion, art, design, and product communication.
The development and revitalization of the sericulture sector in the countries involved in the ARACNE consortium will also be strategic for the future realization of the European Silk Route, strongly desired by the Council of Europe and by the local and regional authorities; it is intended as a cultural itinerary capable of linking Europe around the silk arts and effectively promoting their immense material and immaterial cultural heritage.
ARACNE has the ambition to contribute to the creation of a broad and connected innovation ecosystem related to silk in Europe, including the industrial sector, and intended as a tool for expressing cultural and landscape heritage, thus, connecting culture, tradition, and new industrial production within an ideal network of exchanges and visions. ARACNE has a duration of 36 months and involves 11 partners and 3 associated partners from 7 European and non-European countries.