Halloween may be a chance for the most extravagant among us to finally put on that costume they have been longing to wear for the entire year. But there are other occasions to show your love for costumes on ordinary days as well, such as joining a very special crowdfunding project to restore a unique garment.
Prato's Museo del Tessuto (Textile Museum) has just launched a crowdfunding project to restore costumes from the première of Puccini's Turandot.
The opera was first staged at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 25th April 1926, but the rich costumes inspired by the Orient and designed by legendary La Scala costumier Luigi Sapelli, better known as Caramba, were considered lost.
In 2017, though, the museum got a phone call from Sardinia where a trunk of costumes, wigs and jewellery had resurfaced: investigations led the curators to realise the costumes had belonged to the famous Pratese soprano Iva Pacetti and were the long-lost gowns for Puccini's Turandot.
The two costumes preserved in the trunk survived the Second World War, but their state of conservation is particularly bad: the materials are very fragile and the fabrics have been damaged by time and improper storage, so both costumes need important restoration in order to be shown to the public.
One of the two Caramba costumes is in a particularly bad state with various parts of the beautiful woven fabric, decorated with metallic thread, presenting holes and lacerations as well as dirt.
The complex restoration project costs 35,000 Euro and the Region of Tuscany has agreed to contribute with 15,000 Euro. To complete the job, however, the museum has turned to all of us, ordinary people and fans of costumes, opera, music and fashion and has launched a campaign that will be online until 8th December 2019. The campaign is on Eppela under the name "The Lost Costume" (Il Costume Ritrovato).
While it is already possible to join the crowdfunding campaign, the project will be launched officially at the Prato Museum with a dedicated event on 11th November (at 9.00pm), with a special presentation during which it will be possible to learn more about the Turandot costumes and even view just for one night the costumes in their pre-restoration state.
It won't be easy to reach the 12,000 Euro-goal, but supporters will be happy to know there are some great rewards for them, going from museum tickets and exhibition catalogues to special edition scarves and the option, for companies and associations, to use the museum's event space.
The biggest reward for all costume fans will be seeing the Caramba costumes restored, though: the spledid gowns will be the centerpiece of a temporary exhibition about Puccini's Turandot, scheduled for next Spring at Prato's Textile Museum.
As Francesco Nicola Marini, President of the Fondazione Museo del Tessuto, states, "By entering into the patrimony of the museum, the Turandot costumes have become the patrimony of everyone. Everyone can contribute to this fundraising, with any amount, transforming the delicate process of restoring these extraordinary dresses into a collective project that involves us all in the history of costume and of lyric opera."
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