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The Chinese poet, novelist, artist and playwright Gao Xingjian will be the special guest of the Poetry Festival in Genoa.

His presence is really significant also because the leitmotif of the Festival is "the poetical recontruction of the universe", an impulse to recreate a human society based on art, culture, passion, creativity, and Gao Xingjian wrote two years ago a Call for A Renaissance In Literature And Art.

In this document, Gao declares "In the present globalized era of all-intrusive politics and advertising, where even culture has become totally market-oriented, is it possible for literature and art not to degenerate into a form of cultural consumerism, and still retain spiritual independence and adequate creative freedom? This is the question we will discuss today. It’s not a new question, and has been around for quite a while. It goes back to the 20th century, so it’s necessary first of all to revisit the 20th century to see where the source of the problem lies".

Concerning this, a cultural, artistic and ethical recontruction involves personally and directly artists.

Too often they are completely disconnected from the contemporary society and his problems.

"Such a renaissance in literature and art can only emerge from the individual awareness of writers and artists, and does not come from additional initiatives and developments in the cultural policies of government institutions; instead it is the exact opposite. What is indeed is that society should be open and accommodating. Government-administered cultural institutions would best be decentralized, and operated by the ordinary people to ensure maximum pluralism and diversity.

Such a renaissance in literature and art definitely requires the support of various non-profit cultural foundations, but in the first instance the awakening of writers and artists is critical in calling out, arousing attention, and at least causing a stir in cultural circles to gain traction, and thus generate a certain common understanding in society. So to publicly raise questions and provoke discussion is of vital importance. Such a renaissance in literature and art is not at all impossible."

For this reason and also to listen Gao's poetry, Sunday 18th of June The Major Court of the Palazzo Ducale will be an oasis in the middle of the indifference, a signal of resilience against all forms of ignorance, arrogance, obscurantism.