Divided for decades by a wall, both tangible and ideological, between East and West, today Europe seems to be facing a new divide, this time drawing a line between North and South. No more checkpoints, vertical metres of concrete or iron curtains stand between two ideas of Europe, more than twenty years after the collapse of the communist systems. The recent division between North and South, laid bare by the deepening economic and financial crisis, is measured in terms of economic robustness and welfare state, as well as the status of rights. It is a division that, by pitting vaunted capabilities against structural fragilities, raises new dividing walls, fuels distances and risks relegating the South to an uncomfortable periphery. Once again, the European Union project is confronted with factors of disunity. In this context, is it possible to seek, and find, an element of conjunction, so that the process of European integration does not founder, together with the countries closest to the Mediterranean? Culture is one of the necessary foundations for a vision of a common Europe. The debate on the future of Europe focuses precisely on culture as an indispensable component to nurture a feeling of belonging to a collective destiny, sustainable development, and progress that can also be calculated in rates of civilisation. The story tells how Europe and Europeans are pervaded by differences, starting with the absence of a common language. It also tells how these differences have contributed, from the post-World War II period until today, to the construction of a grand vision rooted in democracy and peace.

Culture is the thread that interweaves differences by restoring empathy, that amalgamates borders by bringing citizenships closer together. Crossing Europe from the North to the Mediterranean, from the East to the West, we try with this edition of Oriente Occidente to stitch together a common garment, to bring together scattered pieces of a mosaic that gives us back the image of an ‘us’. We do this through dance, in a Festival that has always explored distant worlds in order to feel that they are closer, to contrast clashes of civilisations with encounters of cultures, in the conviction that the construction of a common Europe necessarily passes through the establishment of a dialogue between cultures.

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