The exhibition “A Rebirth from Destruction: Ebla, Nimrud, Palmira” was inaugurated today at the Colosseum. The event was attended by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni, and the Minister for Cultural Property and Tourism, Dario Franceschini.
The exhibit, which has been granted UNESCO sponsorship, has been designed and curated by Francesco Rutelli and Paolo Matthiae, with the support of the Associazione Incontro di Civiltà and the Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Italy and the Mediterranean. The exhibition has been promoted and implemented by the Special Authority for the Colosseum and the Central Archeological Area of Rome, together with Electa.
“The protection of archeological property is a way of defending pluralism. This extraordinary exhibition on show today in the Colosseum is evidence of it,” underlined Minister Gentiloni. This is a “major political and diplomatic action, considering that the authoritites responsible for Syrian cultural property have allowed Italy to cater to the restoration of their damaged sites.”
From Oct. 7 to Dec. 11, thanks to the expertise of three Italian firms, the Colosseum will be home to real-size monuments of the Near East destroyed by wars and iconoclastic fury: the Bull of Nimrud, the Temple of Bel in Palmyra, and the Palace of Ebla. The works have been carried out under the guidance of a scientific committee of archeologists and art historians. The exhibition is complemented by a video-installation by Studio Azzurro, which navigates spectators across the sunny atmosphere of Syria and Iraq.
