Enhance cultural heritage through the public domain. The Public domain #open festival of Turin as case study

The Urban Library Project on Public Domain is the result of a good practice of interinstitutional cooperation which was ratified by a specific convention between the ‘library systems’ of the University of Turin, the Polytechnic of Turin, the Turin Public Libraries and the Foundation “Teatro Nuovo”. This project aims at promoting and disseminating the concept of public domain to highlight its social, cultural and economic importance. By promoting the knowledge and enrichment of cultural heritage, it is possible to design a ‘public domain supply chain’ which can exploit different cultural and social actions. In its early stage, this project offered people a number of educational and entertaining events which were related to the works of the authors who gradually entered into Public Domain. The public domain #open festival was organized for the first time in Italy in 2016 with the aim of extending the range of action of previous experiences. In 5 days a total amount of almost 50 special events (conferences, meetings, workshops, exhibitions, shows, theatrical readings, etc.) related to art, photography, music, literature, theater, cinema and more were offered. This festival was like a party; a large container where everyone was able to learn the meaning and the different facets of public domain (and the cultures related to openness) by appreciating its ethical and economic value in any field of human knowledge. This contribution wants to be an opportunity to reflect on public domain and open cultures and stimulate interest on them beyond the temporal dimension of a festival.