READING FORWARD. DIALOGHI SULLA BIBLIOTECA

» Wednesday 26 February, 6 p.m.
Sala Michele Ferrero – Casa Betania | via Bersezio 9, Cuneo 
KRIST BIEBAUW
Director of the “De Krook” Library in Ghent (Belgium)

In conversation with

Davide De Luca, Director of Fondazione Artea
Cristina Clerico, Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Cuneo
Stefania Chiavero, Director of the Civic Library of Cuneo
Oliviero Ponte di Pino, author, lecturer and cultural planner

Simultaneous interpreting by Studio Kosmos 

The event can also be followed live via streaming on Fondazione Artea’s YouTube channel.

Kicking off the 2025 schedule is Krist Biebauw, director since 2011 of the futuristic “De Krook” Library in Ghent and a key figure in the substantial transformation of the library network, now a modern, multifunctional hub for culture, knowledge and innovation that brings together the city’s 15 libraries and aims to connect people through reading, learning and technology.

The building housing the library, designed by the architectural firm Gand Coussée & Goris Architecten with RCR Aranda Pigem Vilalta Arquitectes, is the result of a major urban renewal project in the post-industrial Macharius-Hernis neighbourhood near the city centre, transforming an area once used for unloading coal from southern Belgium into a special meeting place for residents, students and visitors alike.

The imposing multifunctional building sits along a bend (“krook”) in the Scheldt River, from which it takes its name, and besides hosting Ghent’s new civic library, it houses Imec (the Flemish research centre for nanoelectronics and digital technologies), labs and offices of Ghent University, Urgent.fm (including a radio station, recording studio and platform for young producers), spaces for research and digitalisation (such as Comon, a collective of scientists, technologists and creatives; Digipunt, a free advice centre for using PCs, tablets and smartphones; and Culturcoonect), a multipurpose hall, a study room and a café-restaurant.

COMUNICATO STAMPA

The upcoming conferences scheduled for 2025 will feature further international guests: sector experts, directors of some of Europe’s most important libraries, and heads of outstanding cultural centres.

The events will continue to be held in the Sala Michele Ferrero at Casa Betania, headquarters of Confindustria Cuneo, according to the following schedule:

Wednesday 16 April – 6 p.m.
Reinert Mithassel – Head of the “Deichman Biblo Tøyen” section in Oslo (Norway)

Wednesday 11 June – 6 p.m.
Roel Van den Bril – Cultural Coordinator of the Library “Het Predikheren” in Mechelen (Belgium)

Wednesday 17 September – 6 p.m.
Vincent Eches – Director of the Cité internationale de la bande dessinée d’Angoulême (Francia)

READING FORWARD. Dialoghi sulla Biblioteca is a journey accompanying the creation of Cuneo’s new library hub, which in 2026 will find its home in the historic Palazzo Santa Croce. Through a series of talks, it aims to explore and examine the role and identity of libraries, future challenges, and management, enhancement and development processes that can foster cultural growth and social well-being. It is an important opportunity to find inspiration and good practices to draw on, and to rethink how a civic library can be conceived so that it is ever more a space at the service of the city, a welcoming place for books but above all for people, and a cultural and community centre in all its many forms.

READING FORWARD is a project by the Municipality of Cuneo and Fondazione Artea, with the support of Banca di Caraglio, in collaboration with Confindustria Cuneo. Media partner La Stampa