Dialogues in Spoleto

Dialogues in Spoleto, now in its fifth edition, returns to the Festival – an acclaimed series of encounters conceived and curated by Paola Severini Melograni.

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We are convinced – because we are shaped by what we once were – of the need to return to our Roots.
And what are these Roots? We find them in the most fertile ground: the courage of women.

The 2026 edition of Dialogues in Spoleto carries a subtitle inspired by the work of the great French philosopher Anne Dufourmantelle, mentor to Madame Charlotte Casiraghi, who brought her life to a close through an act of extraordinary courage, saving two people from drowning.

For the courage of women is the foundation of the world. Dufourmantelle’s In Praise of Risk reminds us how necessary it is to embrace risk, even in an age that seeks to eliminate all uncertainty and claims to foresee the future. One need only consider how opinion polls are interpreted today—almost as a new Sibyl of Cumae. It may seem an impossible undertaking, yet the previous four editions have shown that it can be done. The courage of women is rooted in their history—a history we have explored over the first four editions and continue to bring to light this year.

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At Palazzo Leti Sansi, visitors will also have the opportunity to view the exhibition Le Marianne d’Italia, a symbolic and civic tribute to women who have embodied freedom and rights. The exhibition celebrates the strength, courage, and determination of women who, each day, contribute to the country’s civil, cultural, and social progress.

The eighty figures portrayed by photographer Riccardo Bagnoli are women who have demonstrated leadership, creativity, altruism, and vision in fields such as science, the arts, social engagement, culture, medicine, communication, education, economics, and interfaith dialogue. Women who have chosen to act against discrimination, prejudice, and the barriers that still persist today.

Inspired by Delacroix’s Marianne – the universal symbol of liberty – each portrait tells a story of both personal and collective struggle, of achievement and hope. It also stands as a modest act of moral redress for the humiliations, violence, and injustices that too many women continue to endure, while recalling the path traveled since 1946, when Italian women finally exercised their right to vote.