ilCartastorie: Storytelling in the Archives

EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award 2017

 

Multimedia Storytelling in the Archives

 

 

The museum at the Banco di Napoli Historical Archives was created as a public gateway to the enormous patrimony of documents from the ancient Neapolitan public banks, the largest bank archives in the world. Within these documents are nearly 17 million names, hundreds of thousands of payments, and detailed reasons for payment, creating a fascinating picture of Naples and all of Southern Italy from the past 450 years, since 1573.

Established in 2016, the museum brings back the voices, the stories and the historical events which have been immortalized in the pages of the large tomes found at the Archives, using the latest technological innovations.
ilCartastorie continues to enhance the content and the research carried out in the Archives through storytelling and multimedia technology to promote knowledge and showcase the local heritage.
The patrimony of stories found in the ancient volumes and the polizze (payment orders) are translated into emotions, anecdotes, music, voices and images that suggest the vastness and the beauty of this very special archive.

Visitors learn interesting details about Caravaggio’s masterpieces in Naples, the plague of 1656, the intuitions and torments of the Prince of Sansevero, as well as the innumerable stories of Neapolitans and foreigners, from the Neapolitan Revolution to the first archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum.
The multimedia exhibit envelops the visitors and accompanies them through the corridors lined with the historical documents of the Archives, which continue to work their magic through images and sounds.