Morettino for the Pupi siciliani, our initiative to save the “Opera dei Pupi”

Preserving one of the symbols of Sicilian cultural identity, the Opera dei Pupi, priceless Unesco heritage for humanity, which risks disappearing due to the economic crisis generated by the Covid-19 emergency.

The historic coffee roastery from Palermo, on a year that marks their one hundred years of business, is supporting the marionette Museum Antonio Pasqualino in Palermo and the Italian Network of authorities for the preservation, promotion and appreciation of the Opera dei Pupi, an association recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism that connects all of the historic puppeteer families in Sicily, with the initiative “Morettino per i Pupi siciliani”.

A few days ago, the Pasqualino Museum and the Opera dei Pupi network called for help, eleven puppeteer families from the Island are living firsthand the immediate effects of the lockdown from the past months. Among these, show cancellations, the impossibility to schedule new programming and the burden of the fixed expenses without the tourist flows and school trips, crucial for transmitting the heritage of the opera dei pupi to the young generations.

The consequence could be that a vast cultural heritage, an inheritance passed on from generation to generation, could disappear forever. With it, an important part of Sicilian history.

For this reason, Morettino, longtime promoter of culture and the territory and partner of the marionette Museum, decided to launch the initiative #MorettinoperiPupiSiciliani.

The campaign will adopt two interventions: the restoration of a few ancient marionettes kept at the Museum Antonio Pasqualino and a contribution to the digitization project of the material heritage of the families of Sicilian puppeteers.

In the following months, Morettino will donate part of the sales from the limited edition coffees from the Sicily Boutique Coffee – I Pupi siciliani product line to finance the creation of cultural digital products and the cataloging, filing and inventory of the material heritage preserved by each company (marionettes, backdrops, scripts), which will be accessible for free on the portal www.operadeipupi.it of the Italian Network of the Opera dei Pupi.

“In a moment of historic crisis for our territory and great difficulties for our business, we wanted to launch this initiative with the goal of preserving one of the symbols of our identity, protecting one of the most notorious Sicilian excellences that attracts tourists form all over the world and will be able to significantly contribute to our economy – Andrea Morettino, fourth generation of the family of coffee entrepreneurs from Palermo, explains – We hope that the project is an encouragement for Sicilians as well: we need to rediscover our ancient traditions, the beauty of our towns and the craftsmanship of our artisans, a message of encouragement for those that care about the past and the future of our land.”

“In this moment of difficulty – according to the Marionette Museum director, Rosario Perricone – we are particularly happy for the support of a prestigious company like Morettino. We hope that this can become a virtuous cycle and that many other companies have the same sensibility”.