The workshop Geographies of Memory, presented by Gustavo D'Aversa, puts into discussion performing arts as a tool for bottom-up participation, enabling the co-creation of shared meanings in public spaces, through the lens of public geography and citizen science.

Contents and Objectives

The workshop focuses on the interdisciplinary project #39, which recounts the forgotten history of the Displaced Persons Camp 39, located in Tricase Porto (Lecce, Italy), operational from 1943 to 1948. This camp represents a significant yet unknown example of a crucial period in contemporary history, marked by forced migration and the reception of refugees from various nationalities.

During and after World War II, millions of people were left stateless due to persecution, deportation, and destruction. DP Camp 39, managed by UNRRA, hosted individuals from various parts of Europe: survivors of concentration camps, political exiles, and displaced communities. It was a place of transit and survival but also of identity reconstruction and hope.

The story of this camp, along with the many microhistories of those who found refuge there, was quickly forgotten by the local community, which hastened to erase all traces of it. Nevertheless, it holds extraordinary significance from historical, humanitarian, and intercultural perspectives because DP Camp 39 was a microcosm of multicultural coexistence, anticipating modern themes such as integration and dialogue among peoples.


Bio note

In 2013, Gustavo D'Aversa founded A.Lib.I. Artistas Independentes Livres, a cultural association of which he is Artistic Director. He is a director, actor and promoter of Social Theatre Workshops. In 2016 he founded Essenza APS, Corigliano d'Otranto. In 2020 he was project manager for the “Interpreters of a Territory” project at the Teatro Comunale Leverano, as part of the Municipal Places Call (ARTI Puglia Region) and Proximity Spaces (Puglia Region, Youth Policies). As a trainer he has run numerous theatre workshops with a special focus on children (maldEstro Campus Teatrale), teenagers (Liceo Comi di Tricase, Liceo Classico Dante Alighieri di Casarano 2007-2011) and people with disabilities.

He is currently a visiting doctoral student at the Centre for Social Studies with the research project "A country in needed: a model of laboratory-theatrical practice for the narration and development of local cultures", within the Doctoral Programme in Human and Social Sciences - XXXV (III cycle, Historial-Geographical Curriculum) of University of Salento, Italy..  

Activity within the Working Group on Citizen Science and Education of the Centre for Social Studies