Cultura materiale e immateriale di Matera. Architettura, immaginario e identità

In 2014 Matera was proclaimed European Capital of Culture for 2019. Before this event it has been the subject of various narratives that have deeply marked the imagery concerning its territory. After the identity trauma due to the abandonment of the historical center, important recognitions have been achieved, such as the UNESCO World Heritage List (1993). The current image of Matera throughout the world, thanks to communication tools such as cinema, has strongly influenced the collective memory and imagery in favor of a re- appropriation of places and a sense of belonging. The reconciliation with one's own history, deeply marked by the culture of shame, has led to the recovery of a vernacular architecture model, more often proposed for tourism rather than for housing purposes. This proposal attempts to understand the mutual influences between architecture and imagery. It also aims to understand what has changed this event in the redefinition of cultural identity through cinema, storytelling and television products.