Talking Teens

Talking Teens - Le Statue Parlano! is a journey back in time: a tour around 16 of the city’s statues to connect with local history and the life of Parma through the voices of some of its greatest characters. An innovative project of cultural promotion developed by students and accessible for all!

App Features:

• Precise geo-location service to give the statues the ability to “call” you when you walk by them!
• Map of all the monuments including parking lots, bike rentals and info points.
• Info Card to provide more information about each statue, the actor who recorded the statue’s voice, and the class that wrote the phone call script.
• Two suggested itineraries which can be initiated from anywhere in the city: a “Complete” one and an abbreviated one of the “City Centre”.
• “Games Area” with trivia questions to test your memory and culture.
• QR Code Reader to scan the QR codes placed on the plates that are near the statues as an alternative method for receiving the phone calls (rather than the geo-location service). “Talking Teens: Le Statue Parlano” is a project that was created by the non-profit organization “ECHO | Education Culture Human Oxygen” in 2017. The project was created also with the objective to collaborate with high school students in order to expose them to the city’s culture in an innovative way and spark their interest in the past. 15 High Schools in Parma participated on the project. The phone calls were created by the students with the support of their professors and checked by a science committee for quality and accuracy. Talking Teens “adopted” 16 statues in Parma, and each one has a story to tell! Thanks to technology, each statue can call you and tell its story personally! Many famous Italian actors including Franco Nero, Elisabetta Pozzi, Lino Guanciale, and many others (some students also!) lent their voices to record the statues’ phone calls.

HOW IT WORKS When visiting the statues on the Talking Teens circuit, one can listen to a phone call of approximately 3 minutes narrated by the statue. An information plate containing instructions for receiving or making the phone call is located near each statue. There are also instructions on the plate for the visually impaired (in Braille). There are 3 ways to listen to the phone calls:

1. Download the app and automatically receive the phone call as you approach the statue (free).
2. Scan the QR code inscribed on the plate near the statue and receive the phone call (free).
3. Dial the phone number inscribed on the plate (carrier costs may apply).

LANGUAGE Choose to listen to the phone call in Italian or English or even in parmesan dialect for certain statues. Video-calls in LIS, Italian Sign Language, are also available.

ACCESSIBILITY “Talking Teens” is accessible to everyone including people with movement and sensorial disabilities. The instruction plate near each statue includes Braille for the visually impaired, and there is a video-call option in LIS, Italian Sign Language.

WITH THE HELP OF The municipality of Parma, Fondazione Cariparma, OCME and Uniontel (tech sponsor).

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH Liceo Artistico Toschi, Istituto Tecnico ITIS Da Vinci e FAI Delegazione di Parma.

IN COLLABORATION WITH 15 High Schools in Parma, Consulta del Dialetto Parmigiano, Famija Parmazana, ENS (Ente Nazionale Sordi) Parma, ANMIC Parma (Associazione Nazionale Mutilati e Invalidi Civili), UIC Parma (Unione Italiana Ciechi).

A special THANKS to everyone who believed and supported “Talking Teens - Le Statue Parlano!” and a special thanks to all the generous participants in the crowdfunding!