July 31 – “Seven years of collaboration, seven years of research, study and growth. The heart of our project is excavation: discover, restore, and enhance the area. These are our daily activities that have so far given us the opportunity to bring new life to forgotten places, implement study courses, publish volumes of analysis, and at the final stages also set up shows and exhibitions.” Roberto Perna, researcher and director of the Museum System of the Province of Macerata, and director of the archaeological excavations at Hadrianopolis – in Albania – speaks with enthusiasm of the scientific and educational cooperation that involves the University of Macerata and the University of Tirana and Gjirokastra. The visit of the Ambassador of Albania, Neritan Ceka, at the University was an opportunity to discuss the agreements already in place, make the point on the continuation of the archaeological mission in Hadrianopolis and investigate the possibilities for further economic and cultural relations development between the institutions and enterprises of the province of Macerata and the Albanians. In 2005, the University of Macerata and the Archaeological Institute of Tirana began a scientific collaboration later reinforced by two cooperation protocols signed between 2006 and 2009. This collaboration was made effective through the creation, under the direction of Perna and Dhimiter Çondi, of excavations sites in the Roman city of Hadrianopolis (Sofratike) and the entire valley of Drino, always in Albania. “We started seven years ago with a European project; then these were joined by other projects funded by the Region,” said Perna, reminiscent of the early excavations, “enclosed” in a book published by the Italian University entitled “Hadrianopolis II.” In recent months, a framework agreement was signed between the University of Macerata and the University of Tirana: “Macerata professors will host courses in Albania – explains the director of the Mission – and Albanian students will come to study with us while our students will go to Tirana. Always in the archaeological field, the two universities have embarked on a collaboration with the University of Oxford,” says Perna, who adds: “As an archaeologist, I know how important it is to travel, discover, experience abroad and engage with other realities. In this field, more than ever, you need not to isolate yourself: Italian universities provide great theoretical training, but I always recommend my students to gain experience outside Italy. It’s a fascinating but difficult field, and the important thing is to believe in it and yourself.” Perna, finally, would like to recall with particular satisfaction the conclusion of the seventh series of excavations in Sofratike, celebrated with an evening of music and literature staged in the ancient city theater, within the Rebed Project. Entitled “On Path of Hadrian,” “the theater of the ancient city restored thanks to our project was the charming scenery where, after 2000 years of silence, music and dance returned to the stage,” said Perna, particularly satisfied of the mission because it allowed an Albanian-native dancer, already successful in Italy, to perform in her home country: Anbeta Toromani. “Our duty as archaeologists cannot end in research and in the scientific publications. – says Perna – Only by spreading the knowledge of our discoveries and proposing different resource and territory management models can we think of a modern economic and cultural development, without which our own research would lose much of its meaning.”
