Manuela Iannetti: Remember or forget? Archives, memory, and storytelling in the Archivissima experience

Archivissima is Italy’s first festival dedicated to promoting the heritage preserved in the historical archives of entities, institutions, and companies. Conceived by Promemoria Group and organized by the cultural association Archivissima APS, the event was born in 2018 following the success of the format “La Notte degli Archivi.” Year after year, the festival renews its commitment to promoting the stories preserved in historical archives to the wider public and to enhancing Heritage through a blend of different languages and media. In 2026, the event reached its ninth edition, held from June 4th to 7th in Turin at the Turin headquarters of the Museum Hub of the Gallerie d’Italia of Intesa Sanpaolo, and on June 5th across Italy, maintaining the goal of renewing tools, media, and formats to serve archive content. The main objective of Archivissima is to promote the richness of patrimonies. To do so, it is necessary to change the perspective on the past stored in papers and documents, viewing it as a space of possibilities rather than something fixed and given forever. Archives speak to the present and help shape new paths for the future, from the valorization of assets to widespread cultural participation, shared knowledge, and the development of new models for the growth of the cultural industry. To maximize opportunities for participation and engagement by entities, large and small, present in various territories, Archivissima invests in creating forms of involvement that include both traditional and digital formats, supporting the development of original products and formats alongside in-person meetings and experiences.

Manuela Iannetti

Born in Turin in 1976, she works on cultural content and projects. Since 2018, she has been the director of Archivissima – The Festival and Night of Archives, the first Italian event dedicated to the promotion and valorization of the historical archives of organizations, institutions, and companies. She oversees cultural programming, partner relations, and overall coordination. She also collaborates with Promemoria Group, a leading company in heritage valorization, to create digital itineraries for archival content. In the publishing field, she managed the editorial department of the Alicubi agency for over ten years and continues to design cultural products for associations, non-profit organizations, and companies. Her publications include: The Continent Next Door. Travels, Encounters, and Stories from Another South East (2025) and Those Wonderful Stories. Stories of Women in the South East (2021), published by Kurumuny Edizioni; the narrative reportage Claroquesí was also published by Antonio Tombolini Editore. Postcards from the Revolution (2018) and the short story collection Boris and the Strange Case of the Yellow Pig (2016).

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