How to liven up and strengthen local communities with MERITA

News | October 23, 2024

MERITA Networking Meeting for Historic Houses represented an engaging forum for sharing success stories about Artistic Residencies, discussing best practices to reinvigorate private heritage through concerts, and identifying common challenges faced by historic houses in Europe. More than 60 participants engaged in two panels, various presentations and testimonies, emphasizing the importance of community engagement.

The meeting, moderated by European Historic Houses Secretary General Ewelina Oksiuta, was opened by Bianca Traxler from Le Dimore del Quartetto who explained the connection between the European Project MERITA and ordinary activity of the socio-cultural enterprise. With more than 300 houses inside the network, all its activities aim at supporting the best musical talents on their way to start a career and bringing chamber music back to the places for which it was conceived.

The first panel was framed with some insights provided by Diletta Paoletti, from MERITA platform member EuAbout Lab. On one side, owners appreciated the availability and politeness of musicians, and acknowledged that the project has been very useful for the house; on the other, musicians valued the intimate experience of the test concert. Concerts have been described as emotionally engaging from 99% of the audience, with appreciations for both the general organization and the quality.

Then the floor was given to Karolina Sajniak-Drzyzga and Wiktoria Bloch, from MERITA platform member Julian Cochran Foundation and to house owners who received MERITA Artistic Residencies to share their remarks. “It was a pleasure to have the Skazka Quartet in our Castle. The atmosphere was very familiar,  we enjoyed some fun-time with musicians, we even played table tennis together. For me, the MERITA Artistic Residency also represented an occasion to bring high cultural content to the local community. ” said Katerina Sostok, from Castle Knezice, in Czech Republic.

“MERITA is the most beautiful project I’ve ever witnessed. Meeting young and passionate people and listening to classical music is one of the best things you can imagine as a house owner, especially nowadays when you have to dig for authentic cultural content and move away from mass culture.” explained Pawel Esse, President of Domus Polonorum and owner of Somianka Manor, in Poland. “Opening the house for the local community” he added “is not a sales strategy for me. It’s an authentic experience between human beings, and a chance to fulfill my responsibility towards the local community to keeping it up and to creating shared value”

The second panel moved the focus to events organization and the combination between sustainability and chamber music concerts. Cesare Buffone, from the Italian consultancy firm Punto3, affirmed “There is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to sustainability. The most important is to translate this umbrella concept into concrete initiatives, such as training programs for staff and stakeholder engagement. For Historic House owners, in particular, sustainability shall be a compromise with the huge commitment to preserve historical and cultural value.” After him, John Reisky de Dubnic, from Vilemov Castle, in Czech Republic proposed some real-life scenarios in organizing events in various periods of the year, focusing on energy efficiency.

At the end, Elisabeth Gierveld, from the MERITA platform member String Quartet Biennale Amsterdam reported some of the feedback gathered from musicians about their MERITA Artistic Residency “The fresh energy and the comfortable environment is what distinguish working on a training programme in an Historic House from a studio. The joy and the pleasure of working close to nature is also per se a source of inspiration that reinvigorates the professional routine. It was a perfect match!”.

To conclude, the meeting was a real chance to go inside the polyphony of the MERITA project and learn the impact of Artistic Residencies in Historic Houses. The final comments from the organizers, European Historic Houses and Le Dimore del Quartetto,  included a profound sense of gratitude towards all the house owners who constantly follow the initiatives of the network and feel a sense of responsibility towards their communities.