"Cimitero dal Vivo": a unique way to discover Ravenna's Historic Cemetery. An innovative format that includes a digital game R-Tales, a new digital map, and a live show with music, theater, and performance.
Playing in a historic cemetery may seem transgressive, but you can do it, you must. This was precisely the goal set by Panda Project's "Cimitero dal Vivo" (eng. "Cemetery Live"), winner of the PNRR TOCC Call for Proposals Digital Transition Cultural and Creative Bodies funded by the European Union - Next Generation EU.
In December 2022, Emilia Romagna was the first region in Italy that passed a law for the "Recognition and Enhancement of Monumental and Historic Cemeteries", with the aim of ensuring the enhancement, preservation and promotion of these assets, encouraging their use by citizens.
In England, cemeteries are living places, where it is possible to walk, read, study or have a picnic with friends. The northern European cemeteries provide a different way of being with the deceased. The Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen, for example, is not experienced as a place of sadness but of recreation, and it is not uncommon to see people sunbathing.
The "Cimitero dal Vivo" project, carried out in 2024, aims to regenerate the entire Darsena district and is based on an innovative format for visiting Ravenna's Historic Cemetery that makes use of new digital tools and immersive audio. The project created the urban digital game R-Tales, a new digital map, and a live show that combines music, theater, and performance creating a unique and unforgettable experience.
How does the game work? Davide Leone, Soc. Coop U'Game, explains: "The purpose of the R-Tales game is to help a mysterious soul find himself by confronting four exciting missions that recount as many important events in the city's history. You will discover, through the deceased voices of the main characters the adventure of Giuseppe Garibaldi and the exploits of Romolo Gessi, the mystery of Dante's bones, the quarrel between the most important orchestra conductor of the time and Giuseppe Verdi over the love of a soprano."
The map and urban game are part of a series of interactive online paths that take us through emotional-collective memories to discover the characters buried at the cemetery who made the city's history, such as Luigi Rasi and Filippo Mordani. They immerse us in the mysteries hidden among the graves and the artistic wonders of the Monumental Cemetery.