In line with the objectives of its Three-Year Operational Plan 2020-2022 (ref. action no. 11 of the POT – strategic objective "Port and Territory"), the Ionian Sea Port System Authority promotes the project "Open Port - Exhibition Center of the Port of Taranto". This initiative aims to disseminate maritime and port culture, aspiring to become the first Port Center in Southern Italy as well as an immersive experience hub connecting the port with the city of Taranto, serving as an educational, informational, and interactive center open to the community.

Created to celebrate the sea as a resource, in April 2022 the "Open Port" project launched its virtual platform at www.tarantopenport.com. The platform engages web visitors worldwide in an innovative journey of discovering content and educational, informative, and immersive experiences with a shared goal: opening the Port of Taranto to the city and the national and international community of port cities, fostering interaction for transnational cultural exchange and establishing a new way to experience port heritage.

The launch of the virtual port center represents the culmination of design activities that helped activate an innovative process in Taranto to co-create themes and activities that animate the virtual Open Port today.

Conceived as an interactive tool for disseminating maritime-port culture, the Open Port website was developed through a dynamic and participatory design process. This was accomplished with the support of experts in museum communication and the collaboration of numerous public and private, local, national, and international stakeholders who contributed original content. Men and women enthusiastically shared port anecdotes, historical references, direct testimonies, and documentary or iconographic materials.

The platform features an original and modern narrative language to enhance storytelling. Navigation in the virtual port center develops through connected network nodes, each leading to in-depth research, contacts, and personal explorations for every visitor.

The narrative adopts an eco-museum framework designed to highlight the rich connections between places, people, events, and projects through seven thematic sections:

Open Port Thematic Sections

THE PROJECT: illustrates the steps in creating the portal, from logo selection to the collaborative network formed for content development.

THE PORT: features an interactive map of the contemporary multifunctional port and a dynamic infographic of the port of Taranto.

PORT LIFE: a fascinating journey across time and space between the port and city, encompassing places, activities, and memories connecting past, present, and future.

PORT PEOPLE: dedicated to the human and emotional side of the port, told through faces, voices, and sounds of the port cluster.

• TIMELINE: a journey through the history of the Port of Taranto from the Neolithic era to the establishment of the Port Authority;
• ARTS, RITES AND MYTHS: explores the port through literary and cinematic perspectives, delving into marine rituals, myths, and legends;
• BLOG: embodies the strategic vision of the virtual Port Center focusing on sustainability, public participation, and community belonging. It invites citizens, students, associations, and scholars to submit original contributions to build individual and collective visions of "Taranto, my port-city".

The evolving nature of the project will continuously drive the search for historical content, testimonies, photos, and videos, as well as creating new narratives. Ambassadors will share their experiences and visions of the future, building connections between the Port Center and city streets suspended between the sea, an industrial hub, and the hinterland.

Open Port will eventually be physically housed in the Falanto Building as part of the future Exhibition Center of the Port of Taranto, turning it into an international cultural, educational, and tourist landmark.

Official Social Media Channels

Follow Open Port on its official social media channels:

@openport_tartanto

@OpenPortTaranto