LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT OR FLASH IN THE PAN?

by ANDREA BELLAVITE

With the year of Nova Gorica with Gorizia European Capital of Culture, it is as if the two cities, after a rather stormy past and a long period of relatively cordial neighborliness, have begun to get to know and discover each other.

Of course, from here to talk about engagement it takes a lot! But those who ordinarily frequent the Epicenter, the “knižnice”, the knjigarna kavarna Maks, the Kinemax, the various Kulturni dom, Casa Michelstaedter, have certainly been able to experience a new air, a singular daily intersection of languages, cultures and shared initiatives.

Will something more derive from this knowledge? The etymology of the word “wedding” refers to the unveiling of the veil worn by the bride. Between Nova Gorica and Gorizia there is – albeit slow and a little awkward – this progressive manifestation of the specificities of one and the other. Will we venture on a path together? And will the families of origin, Slovenia and Italy, accept this complex and controversial relationship?
The goal, as in any relationship that is being consolidated, is that of marriage or civil union, whatever you prefer. As in any self-respecting marriage, the conjunction cannot be missing, without which the rite is null, because, as they say in canon law, “ratified and not consummated”. Will Nova Gorica and Gorizia be able to unite, to transmit to each other the lifeblood of their diversified history? Will they be able to create a new reality – a “family” precisely – in which the beauty of the dual number can be verified? Each is itself and by uniting with the other creates a new reality that not only does not annul, but on the contrary enhances the specificity of both to the maximum possible.

Leaving the metaphor behind, how is it possible that this marriage “has to be done” and that the territory does not allow itself to be condemned by the many “bravos” of Manzoni’s memory who would like to prevent it in any way?

A city is not simply a name or a set of urban and architectural structures. It is a “place”, that is, a living space, an infinite bundle of relationships between people, each of whom instinctively makes his or her relational heritage available to the others. It is a hyper-inhabited environment, in which ties create networks denser than the apparently inextricable radio waves that allow us to communicate with our deadly mobile phones. Sometimes the meshes are so tight that solitude and silence are almost impossible, without which the dimension of interiority and creativity is lost. This is why we constantly need the call of poets and artists, not surprisingly true masters during the unforgettable 2025.
So, Nova Gorica and Gorizia proceed towards an engagement and a conjugal union, if their inhabitants begin to meet in the squares, in the streets, in the houses and among them the authentic miracle of friendship sprouts. And if in many cases friendship will also pass to real love, in whatever form it may manifest itself, then the situation will be created – vital environment, milieu and so on and so forth – in which truly every barrier can be removed, indeed, it will be nothing more than a faded memory.

Yes, because as long as the “problem” of relations between Italians and Slovenes arises (we also add Friulians, Afghans, Russians, Argentinians, Moroccans, Somalis and so on) it means that we are still in the condition of those couples in difficulty who continually feel the need to “clarify themselves”, often hiding in this way the recognition of a moment of crisis.

When diversity is simply joyfully experienced and lived, the experience of love fills every moment of life, people, cities and peoples with warmth and color.
In short, between Nova Gorica and Gorizia will it be true Love?
To posterity the arduous sentence.