The seminar is part of the PNRR project IartNET– An International Platform for Artistic Practice/Research and Cultural Heritage at Italian Higher Arts Education Institutions, coordinated by the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, with the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts as a partner institution. The initiative marks the conclusion of the project and presents the activities carried out and the results achieved by the Carrara research unit within Work Package 2 (WP2), devoted to the study, conservation, enhancement, and sharing of cultural heritage, with the aim of fostering a common space of knowledge among academies, conservatories, and other Italian cultural institutions.
Specifically, the project has made it possible to rediscover and systematically catalogue artworks, historical photographs, rare books, and archival documents of the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts, one of the oldest institutions of its kind in Italy. Since its foundation in 1769, the Academy has collected a distinguished heritage of high artistic value, which has also served as a fundamental teaching resource for generations of students. These materials are brought into mutual dialogue, allowing for a reconstruction of the history of the Academy and its teaching life over time.
The seminar aims to foster a broad and plural discussion around the key themes that shape the Carrara IartNET project: the close collaboration with public institutions devoted to preserving cultural heritage (ICCD – Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione in Rome and the local Soprintendenze), as a guarantee of methodological consistency and data interoperability for the project’s digitization campaigns; the adoption and updating of the most advanced ministerial cataloguing systems conceived by the Italian Ministry of Culture; and the ongoing training in best practices for material conservation.
The seminar also highlights the continuous professional development of faculty and students, supported by exchanges with prestigious international institutions, within the broader process of internationalising research and redefining the role of AFAM institutions. Particular attention is given to the dialogue with key stakeholders such as local universities, both in research activities and in the broader mission of strengthening relationships with territories and communities–the so-called “third mission.”
Through high-level interdisciplinary teaching and research, and through collaborative inter-institutional projects, the Carrara Academy of Fine Arts–the main cultural hub of the Massa-Carrara province–not only ensures the proper preservation and enhancement of its collections but also promotes a sustained commitment to heritage education in its broadest sense. Heritage is understood here as an act of citizenship and as an opportunity to foster the informed creative growth of young artists.