Matrangola Viviana

Councillor for Culture, Protection and Development of Cultural Enterprises, Migration Policies, Legality, and Social Anti-Mafia of the Puglia Region.

She graduated in Architecture in 2004, with a thesis on properties confiscated from the mafia that had particular historical and architectural value and were reused for social purposes thanks to Law 109/1996, promoted by Libera, of which she has been a member since 2000.

Since 2000, she has actively collaborated with “Libera associazioni nomi e numeri contro le mafie.” She was a member of the Presidency Office from 2005 to 2009 and responsible for the National Memory sector (2005–2009) and the International sector (2009–2011), coordinating projects and international conferences, summer schools OLE (Otranto Legality Experience) on legality and environmental issues, and assisting with relations with institutions at provincial, regional, and ministerial levels, as well as with Avviso Pubblico on criminal infiltration in local authorities.

She has supported social engagement projects in urban peripheries against degradation and illegality. She participated in and wrote educational programs on legality for schools. She represented Italy in establishing the Global Network for Peace and at world conferences at Columbia University and NYU, and reported to the United Nations in New York.

As the international Libera Memory representative, she founded ALAS (Latin America Alternative Social), a network of associations in Mercosur countries, and provided support to the “Red por el derecho a la Identidad” for the disappeared in Argentina, meeting with the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, Abuelas, and Familiares, and reporting to the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires.

Annually, she provides training at Libera Summer Camps throughout Italy on the culture of legality and respect for the environment. She has served as an expert consultant for several PON safety programs in schools across Italy and as a consultant for the Cabinet of the Ministry of Justice during the 2016 States General of Anti-Mafia roundtable.

She received the Borsellino Prize in 2017 for her civic engagement. She is the author of the traveling exhibition “Abbracci,” reflecting on hospitality, included in the 2017 Binario 18 “Stay Human Art” event, receiving an honorary mention from the President of the Republic.

In 2019, she founded the social promotion association FLOW Libere Espressioni, focused on social anti-mafia initiatives and promoting active citizenship. She coordinated youth programs in collaboration with FLARE (Freedom, Legality and Rights in Europe), of which she was a founder, and with Italian cultural institutes in Krakow and Berlin.

Since 2021, she has been the librarian of Biblioteca Vergari in Nardò; previously, she worked as a freelance architect (2006–2015) and in hotel remodeling (2016–2020).

Education:

1999: ESL Advanced Program, Columbia BC, USA

2000: Bachelor’s in Movable and Artistic Heritage, Faculty of Cultural Heritage, UniSalento

2004: Degree in Architecture, Politecnico di Milano (100/100)

2006: State Exam for professional qualification, Federico II, Naples

2018: Training in Blog and Web Writing, Rubik Srls

2020: 24 CFU, Cultural Mediation Course

Current studies: Master’s in Archival Science and Library Studies, Sapienza University of Rome