Teens Who Talk, A History Lesson for Everyone

Being a city of great history starting before the Bronze Age (between 1500 BC and 800 BC), and then having a significant role in WWI and WWII, Parma has many stories to tell. As we wandered the city, we saw several bronze statues and were happy to see little placards with small descriptions to help travelers like us understand the reason for the statue. After seeing several placards with QR codes, we finally used our tiny little computers to open one. What a discovery of knowledge!!

An idea was conceived and curated by Paola Greci in which teens bring alive their cultural heritage for all of the community to share in the modern age. As Americans tear down statues of once heroes because another piece of their lives are considered derisive, the town of Parma, instead, is giving voice to the statues as a history lesson; even those with a controversial past. “The heroes of the past were on pedestals, those of today are often in the palms of our children's hands, on the screens of mobile phones.” Can you name a teen who doesn’t have a cell phone? We didn’t think so. Now, let’s have them tell their history.

"During the 2018-2019 school year, the ECHO association invited all high schools in Parma to participate in the project "Talking Teens - The Statues Speak!". Each school has adopted a statue of the city and "donated" it with its voice to tell its story from the top of its pedestal. The classes that joined worked for a year with passion and enthusiasm, studying the characters carved in marble or cast in bronze and creating texts that became small masterpieces of creativity, respectful of the characters portrayed and philologically impeccable. The texts were then interpreted by important Italian actors and transformed into phone calls that today, anyone who arrives under one of these monuments, can listen to on their mobile phone."...

"Each participating class will be able to develop a project dedicated to their hero, designed to exist on a square or in virtual reality, but in any case to "mark" the city or their own reality of a statue, a work of art that expresses a current model of contemporary hero."…

"These are phone calls designed to bring students closer to the study of their territory, to understand the historical evolution of the city, to reason in a simple and creative way about the thought that underlies the statues that decorate the spaces we still inhabit today."...

In May of 2025, we were able to use a map of the statues to walk the city streets and see parts of Parma that tourists don’t navigate. We were able to listen to stories about artists, freedom fighters, and even Enzo a local homeless man who touched the lives of Parma citizens. The project was brilliant. The execution of history that came to life was out of this world. The opportunity to bring this type of project to other communities is ripe for the picking (see their website). Wouldn’t it be grand if Americans stopped destroying the historical monuments, but instead, told their story of heroism AND controversy. These stories can be updated over time as new information comes to light.

The students, with help from many community organizations, were able to fold us into their culture and teach us, foreign American travelers, about their history and their values. If you want to be folded into Parma’s history, we won’t make you travel there. Instead, click this link to the Talking Teens webpage, choose a statue, and answer the telephone call from history. Yes, even through your computer 5,000 miles away, you can feel the heartbeat of Parma, Italy.