Gerhard Rohlfs, the archaeologist of words. History, topicality and perspectives of an ethno-linguistic minority. This was the theme of a meeting held a few days ago in Bova, in the conference room of the public library of the "G. Rohlfs" Language Museum. The meeting, promoted and organised by the Cultural Department of the Municipality of Bova and chaired by Margherita Festa, the museum's manager for relations with universities, schools and research groups, was attended by Daniele Castrizio, director of the museum centre, Salvino Nucera, a literature lecturer and Greek-Calabrian speaker, Vittoria Camobreco, a writer, and Paolo Di Giannantonio, a well-known face in national television journalism. 

Many topics were discussed during a meeting which, according to a press release, "included institutional greetings from the Mayor of Bova, Santo Casile, and the Deputy Mayor for Culture, Gianfranco Marino, as well as numerous interventions from the audience". The past, present and, above all, the future of the Greek minority in Calabria were the focus of a debate that focused on budgets but, above all, on possible ways forward. In promoting this moment of reflection," explained Gianfranco Marino, "we wanted to address the issue of the minority by trying to avoid the usual rhetoric and pointless polemics that have often accompanied these issues for over half a century.

The idea of an itinerary that focuses not only on the linguistic element, but also on the heritage of history, traditions, cultural and archaeological assets, seemed to us to be a necessary condition for putting into practice the many efforts that have been made for decades by a small number of associations and individual enthusiasts. It goes without saying that the element of language protection must remain at the centre of our action, identifying its true value and its potential uses. The most difficult objective," Marino concludes, "the real challenge today is to preserve the language and to be able to communicate to the youngest generations the need to preserve their own identity, which is made up of a set of characteristics, without which we would be condemned to perpetual anonymity. 

In our vision for the development of the structure of the Language Museum and the soon-to-be-opened Costume Museum," continues Daniele Castrizio, "we wanted to identify the scientific study of language and the study of the figure of Rohlfs as the core elements. In this context, we have envisaged an interaction with the universities (we have already formalised a memorandum of understanding with the Faculty of Letters of the University of Messina) and with the schools in the area (we have already held a dialogue with the school directors, to whom we have presented some proposals for collaboration that will begin next November)'.