Bari Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri

“The Journey of the Constitution” has also reached Bari, the fourth of 12 cities to host the traveling exhibition on the Constitutional Charter. Puglia’s capital city took center stage in the project promoted by the Prime Minister ‘s Office and coordinated by the Mission Structure for Anniversaries of National Interest from Dec. 12 to 27.

The opening ceremony was held at Spazio Murat, attended by Bari Mayor Antonio Decaro and Professor Piero Logroscino.

The Bari stage explored the fourth article of the Constitution – “The Republic recognizes the right of all citizens to work and promotes the conditions that make this right effective. Every citizen has the duty to perform, according to his or her ability and choice, an activity or function that contributes to the material or spiritual progress of society”-and introduces an opportunity for dialogue on the right to “Work.”

“We enthusiastically welcome the Bari leg of the Journey of the Constitution, a commendable initiative that aims to raise awareness of the normative, ethical, cultural and political pillars on which our Republic was born. Exactly 70 years ago the Constitutional Charter went into effect, and today, in our city, we have the honor of hosting the focus on Article 4, that which concerns work understood as a fundamental right and duty for ‘the material or spiritual progress of society,'” said Antonio Decaro, Mayor of Bari. “Work is and remains a necessary tool of emancipation for so many people, I am thinking especially of women and young people in this land, in the South of Italy, where precisely work can make the difference for new development and more equitable growth. Therefore, I am proud that the Bari leg of the Journey of the Constitution can talk about labor, in a land that has given birth to extraordinary personalities, protagonists in the great battles for the conquest of workers’ rights in our country. I am sure that there will be many citizens who will visit this exhibition, and I hope that schoolchildren in particular will be among them, because I believe that only through a thorough understanding of our country and its democratic foundations can we write a better future.”

Each of the cities is associated with one of the first twelve articles, bearing the basic principles, and the pivotal theme inspired by it. The purpose is to promoteuseful opportunities for discussion to guide students and citizens in understanding the historical and cultural value of the Constitutional Charter.

The traveling exhibition on the Constitution, with free admission, is enhanced by graphic and multimedia insights: historical footage, famous phrases of key figures, and audio commentaries on the 12 fundamental articles entrusted to the words of Roberto Benigni. At the end of the tour, visitors will be able to renew their adherence to the Constitutional Charter with a symbolic act: the affixing of a “virtual” signature next to that of the Constituent Fathers. The exhibition was open from Dec. 12 to Dec. 27, 2017 (11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday) at Spazio Murat in Piazza del Ferrarese.

The theme “Labor,” associated with this fourth stage, was explored in depth on Dec. 15, 5 p.m., at the Aldo Moro Room of the Department of Law, as part of the Bari meeting of “Dialogues on the Constitution”: a series of lectures, curated by Editori Laterza, structured in the form of a debate between a jurist and a researcher of another subject, and coordinated by a journalist.

In the year of the celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Italian Constitution, this project traced a symbolic path between the birth of the Republic and our days, creating a representative space open to citizenship.