Pompeii, Ragghianti's 1958 critofilms return: art and cinema between memory and innovation.

Two rare 1958 art films by Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti dedicated to Pompeii are being given a new lease of life by the Ragghianti Foundation, which will present them as part of the study days "Visual Culture in Pompeii: From Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti's Critofilms to New Media," scheduled for November 11th and 12th in Naples and Pompeii. The initiative, organized by the PhD programs in Architecture at the University of Naples Federico II and in Archaeological, Historical, Artistic and Landscape Heritage of the Mediterranean at the University of Bari, is carried out in collaboration with the Ragghianti Foundation of Lucca, the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, and the Research Center for Architectural and Environmental Heritage at the Federico II. The workshops, curated by doctoral students Simone Policarpo and Riccardo Maria Polidoro, aim to explore the value of audiovisual documents as tools for interpreting and enhancing the historic city. The journey begins with Ragghianti's critofilms—works that combine cinema and art criticism—and continues to the most recent digital and multimedia experiments dedicated to the archaeological site. The conference will begin on Tuesday, November 11, at 9:30 a.m. in Naples, in the Aula Magna of Palazzo Orsini di Gravina, and will continue the following day at the Pompeii Archaeological Park. Speakers will include Paolo Bolpagni, director of the Ragghianti Foundation; Fabio Mangone, professor of architectural history and director of the Correale Museum in Sorrento; and Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park.

Art historians, archaeologists, architects, and anthropologists will discuss topics ranging from heritage protection to visual communication, with the aim of promoting new approaches to the preservation and enjoyment of cultural heritage. The first day will be livestreamed.