Calvario // Kalvarija

PROJECT DETAILS

Gorizia // Nova Gorica - 14th June 2025

GO!2025 – European Capital of Culture

CALVARIO/KALVARIJA – Oltre il filo spinato/ Onkraj Bodece Zice

A common thread links European experiences, traditions and communities around a universal language: that of the Passion of Christ, understood not only as a religious ritual, but as a shared cultural heritage, an instrument of dialogue and hope.

The text of Calvario/Kalvarija oltre il filo spinato (Calvary/Kalvarija beyond the barbed wire) was written for the occasion, in a manner consistent with the dramatic history of the cities of Gorizia and Nova Gorica, referring to the tragedies of the two world wars and the painful and dramatic separation of the Italian and Slovenian cross-border communities during the Cold War.

On 14 June 2025, in Piazza della Vittoria in Gorizia, “Calvario, Kalvarija. Oltre il filo spinato” (Calvary, Kalvarija. Beyond the barbed wire) began, a large and historic living representation that brings together Italian and Slovenian communities, promoted and coordinated by Europassione per l'Italia and Ventus Passions - Pasijonski Veter di Skofja Loka. The event not only re-enacted the Passion, but also conveyed a powerful message of reconciliation: where barbed wire borders once stood, bridges of peace are now being built.

The event stood out for its multilingual and inclusive nature: four readers introduced the event in Italian, Slovenian, Friulian and English, accompanying the audience on an emotional, participatory and accessible journey, thanks also to a dedicated app.

Around the performance, the cultural and social realities of the cross-border territory have brought testimonies of commitment to the rights of the weakest, solidarity, brotherhood, integration and coexistence among peoples.

Promoted with the support of Italian and Slovenian institutions, “Calvario, Kalvarija” is more than just a show: it is a European community workshop, where tradition becomes action, faith becomes culture, and memory is transformed into a shared future.

Europassion played a fundamental and incisive role: a common European home and therefore of the Slovenian associations and associations that belong to Europassione per l'Italia. This reality has fostered relations between Italians and Slovenians, from a European perspective, including through the conference held in June in Nova Gorica.

Gorizia and Nova Gorica presented this extraordinary event not as a simple historical narrative, but as a collective cry for peace, an act of purification and hope that, from the European Capital of Culture, wants to resonate strongly throughout Europe.

Flavio Sialino, president of Europassione per l'Italia, recalled how this representation is not a local event, but part of a large European network that carries forward the message of the Passion as a living memory and instrument of peace.

His words, addressed to those present and to future generations, were an invitation: ‘Live this Passion as an experience, not as spectators, but as protagonists of change.’

Andreja Megušar, representative of the Slovenian and Croatian Associations of the Passion of Christ in Europassion, represented an ideal bridge between different cultures, memories and languages, united by the same search for meaning and reconciliation. ‘The Passion unites us, brings us together. It is our common language against oblivion.’