ISSN 2283-835X Florence is You!
Your Newspaper in English and Italian
April - may 2014
10.000 copies free press every issue
Antonio Natali
on page 3
Fabio Cavallucci
on page 10
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Mary Faley
on page 27
Giorgiana Corsini, Neri Torrigiani on page 29
In this issue Florence is...
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By Anna Balzani Editor-in-chief
very spring Florence welcomes his guests with a new range of cultural events, musical entertainment and food and wine festivals which add to the charms that our territory offers. Here at Florence is You! we have singled out what you really should’t miss if you are a resident or if you are visiting Florence for a few days in April and May. Antonio Natali, Director of the Uffizi Gallery, guides us through “Le stanze delle Muse” an exhibition of refined paintings from the collection of music conductor Francesco Molinari Pradelli (on page 3). Sarah C. Morrison, U.S. Consul General in Florence, greets us in the U.S. Consulate grand salons to introduce us to the Wom-
en’s Working Group in Florence (on page 5). Fabio Cavallucci, Director of the Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art in Prato, analyzes for us the work of Florence artist Franco Ionda. Events in the city will be finally mirrored by pleasant sunny days and it will be possible to enjoy a close touch with nature and to take a stroll through parks and gardens in and outside Florence. We introduce you to an unusual selection of them (on page 28). Princess Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani receive us in Palazzo Corsini Garden to tell us about this year’s news and the preparations of the international handicraft fair Artigianato e Palazzo (on page 29). Coming to me, I would like to
Organizzano
piazza frescobaldi
(ponte s. trinità)
8r
firenze
in collaborazione con
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1° Art Live Paint 4 Artisti con stili differenti disegnano dal vivo con 4 prodotti Caran d’Ache presso i locali LORY
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thank you and all our readers for the suggestions that you keep sending and for the growing enthusiasm which you are showing in following us. Thanks to your comments and to the messages that you sent us, leafing through the newspaper you will find a renewed graphics. Thanks! Moreover, my special thanks goes to all our staff members for the passion they are showing and a warm welcome to our new contributors and to the students who have chosen to do an internship with us and to share the beauty of the Florence they are experiencing. Have a merry spring! Continued on page 2
BUONO SCONTO SPECIALE DEL
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30 giugno 2014
2
Art
April - May 2014
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The Hat between art and extravaganza Il Cappello fra arte e stravaganza
Your Newspaper in English and Italian
3 December 2013 - 18 May 2014
The free newspaper of Florence N. 3, Vol. II, April - May 2014 Two-monthly Issn 2283-835X Editor-in-chief Anna Balzani anna@florenceisyou.com Editor Ellen Miller Graphic designer Manuela Ranfagni Social media strategist Cristiano Imperiali Photos Mary Faley, Cristiano Imperiali di Francavilla, Evgeny Osipov Translations Chiara Francioli, Stephen Tobin Concept &Logo Anna Balzani, Cristiano Imperiali di Francavilla Contributors Alberto Bartolomeo, Pasquale Bevilacqua von Gunderrode, Fabio Cavallucci, Giorgiana Corsini, Jennifer Davis, Chiara Francioli, Eugenio Giani, Ludovica Ginanneschi, Claudio Giudici, Yunè Hikosaka, Kellie Malone, Ellen Miller, Antonio Natali, Carly Nelson, Niccolò Rinaldi, Neri Torrigiani, Fabrizio Ulivieri, Paola Vojnovic © 2014 Acontemporaryart Publisher Acontemporaryart C.F. 94200800483 P.IVA 06337320482 Printed in Grafiche Cappelli S.r.l Via Arno 49, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino FI Registered at the Tribunale di Firenze N. 5932 del 2013 Iscritta al registro degli operatori di comunicazione (ROC) al N. 23617 del 12/06/2013
Contact us Editorial Office and information Lungarno Vespucci, 18, Firenze info@florenceisyou.com Advertising adv@florenceisyou.com
Information Florence is You! is distributed throughout Florence in all key reference points for the English speaking community including hotels and hostels, universities and language schools, libraries, museums, tourist information points, restaurants and cafes. Free magazine in official point of distribution and also published online at www.florenceisyou.com. The Publisher is pleased to acknowledge the autorship and author’s rights of any photos whose source it has not been possible to trace. While every care has been taken to ensure accuracy, the publisher cannot be held responsible for any errors or changes in the information provided. Nessuna parte di questo periodico può essere riprodotta senza l’autorizzazione scritta dei proprietari. La direzione non si assume alcuna responsabilità per marchi, foto e slogan usati dagli inserzionisti, né per cambiamenti di date, luoghi, orari degli eventi segnalati. Per sapere dove trovare Florence is You! puoi cercare la lista completa dei punti di distribuzione su www.florenceisyou.com.
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he Galleria del Costume will host until May 18, an accessory not destined to pass unnoticed. This will be the first monographic show dedicated to hats. The Museum’s collections of this accessory, attributable to the generosity of many donors, amount to more than one thousand items usually kept in storage. Only a part of these will be exhibited. Most of items on show are by famed fashion houses including Christian Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, John Rocha, and Gianfranco Ferré. There will also be a substantial number of items by celebrated international milliners of the present and past, such as Philip Treacy, Stephen Jones, Caroline Reboux, Claude Saint-Cyr and Paulette. Finally, this will also be the first show to exhibit creations by Italian and Florentine milliners, some of them all but unknown. The hat thus becomes a ‘work’ of art with its aesthetic harmony consisting in its ‘sculptural’ conformation, chromatic component and ornamental elegance. Superintendent for the Polo Museale Fiorentino, Cristina Acidini writes: “This exhibition turns its attention to the changeable and subjective hat, the hat as a “work of art”, the hat as an “object of design” of the XX century and of the third millennium”. Director of the Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti, Caterina Chiarelli stresses that hats can be studied from the historical-artistic viewpoint or they can be interpreted under the purely aesthetic profile, taking the liberty to formulate judgments or to express oneself using all-inclusive adjectives like “nice”, “imaginative”, “fantastic” and “fun”. The element of play prevails over the educational purpose in this exhibition and this is the message we want to launch and that Katia Sanchioni
writes about. The exhibition presents important loans from Cecilia Matteucci Lavarini, a private collector of haute couture and an illustrious donor of the Galleria del Costume, which are characterised for their value, taste and style. This is also the opportunity to exhibit the extraordinary sketches Maestro Alberto Lattuada has created especially for the show, as well as to draw attention to the specimens created by Clemente Cartoni, famous Roman milliner in the 1950s and 60s. The exhibition promoters are: Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Toscana, Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico, Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze, Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti, Firenze Musei. The show also benefits from the contributions of the Consortium Il Cappello di Firenze. Italiano
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a Galleria del Costume ospita fino al 18 maggio 2014 un accessorio destinato a non passare inosservato. Si tratta della prima mostra monografica dedicata al cappello, le cui collezioni, patrimonio del museo si devono alla generosità di molti donatori ed ammontano a oltre mille unità custodite solitamente nei depositi, di cui soltanto una parte sarà destinata alla mostra. Potrete ammirare semplari di note case di moda fra cui Christian Dior, Givenchy, Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, John Rocha, Prada, Gianfranco Ferré e celebri modisti internazionali del presente e del passato come Philip Treacy, Stephen Jones, Caroline Reboux, Claude Saint-Cyr, Paulette, inoltre per la prima volta saranno presenti in esposizione
manufatti di modisterie italiane e fiorentine, di alcune delle quali si conosceva appena l’esistenza. Il cappello diviene ‘opera’ d’arte, con una sua armonia estetica cui contribuiscono la conformazione ‘scultorea’, la componente cromatica e la raffinatezza ornamentale. Scrive il Soprintendente per il Polo Museale Fiorentino, Cristina Acidini: «E’ il cappello mutevole e soggettivo, il cappello “opera d’arte”, il cappello “oggetto di design” del Novecento e del terzo millennio, quello cui si rivolge l’attenzione di questa mostra». Un cappello che, come la Direttrice della Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti Caterina Chiarelli sottolinea, può essere studiato da un punto di vista storico - artistico ma può anche essere interpretato sotto un profilo puramente estetico, prendendosi così la libertà di formulare giudizi o esprimersi mediante aggettivi omnicomprensivi quali bello, fantasioso, fantastico e divertente. La mostra annovera importanti prestiti di Cecilia Matteucci Lavarini, collezionista privata di haute couture nonché illustre donatrice della Galleria del Costume, che si caratterizzano nel percorso per valore, gusto e stile. Questa è anche l’occasione per esporre gli straordinari bozzetti realizzati appositamente dal Maestro Alberto Lattuada e per riproporre all’attenzione gli esemplari creati da Clemente Cartoni, celebre modista romano degli anni Cinquanta-Sessanta. Alla realizzazione della mostra, promossa dal Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo con la Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Toscana, la Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico, Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze, la Galleria del Costume di Palazzo Pitti con Firenze Musei, ha contribuito Il Consorzio Il Cappello di Firenze.
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Continued from page 1 Italiano
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el periodo primaverile Firenze accoglie i suoi ospiti con grandi eventi culturali, musicali ed enogastronomici che arricchiscono la proposta del nostro territorio. Noi di Florence is You! abbiamo selezionato per te il meglio di Firenze con alcuni suggerimenti su ciò che davvero non puoi perderti se vivi in città o semplicemente vi trascorri qualche giorno durante i mesi di aprile e maggio. Antonio Natali, il Direttore degli Uffizi, ci conduce alla scoperta de Le stanze delle Muse che ospita la raffinata collezione di dipinti
del maestro d’orchestra Francesco Molinari Pradelli (pag.3); Sarah C. Morrison, Console americano a Firenze, ci accoglie nei saloni del Consolato per presentarci Women Work Group Firenze (pag.5); Fabio Cavallucci, Direttore del Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci di Prato, ci racconta l’opera dell’artista fiorentino Franco Ionda (pag.10). Le manifestazioni in città saranno corollario a piacevoli giornate in cui sarà possibile vivere a contato con la natura, passeggiando nel verde dei parchi cittadini ed extracittadini di cui ti presentiamo una singolare rassegna (pag.28). La Principessa Giorgiana Corsini e Neri Torrigiani ci accolgono nel giardino di Palazzo Corsini per raccontarci i pre-
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parativi di Artigianato e Palazzo e le novità di quest’anno (pag.29). Quanto a me, colgo l’occasione per ringraziare te e tutti i nostri lettori, per i suggerimenti che continuate ad offrirci e per l’entusiasmo crescente con cui ci seguite. Sfogliando il giornale troverete una grafica rinnovata anche grazie all’ausilio dei vostri commenti e dei messaggi che ci avete inviato…Grazie! Un particolare ringraziamento, inoltre, a tutti i membri della nostra Redazione per il lavoro appassionato che svolgiamo insieme ed un caloroso benvenuto ai nuovi collaboratori ed agli studenti che hanno scelto di svolgere l’internship con noi raccontandoci la bellezza della Firenze che vivono. Buona Primavera!
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Art
April - May 2014
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The Molinari Pradelli collection at the Uffizi Gallery
e are delighted to be able to devote the Uffizi's temporary exhibition rooms to the collection of celebrated conductor Francesco Molinari Pradelli, thus opening it up to a broader audience, because we at the Uffizi believe that it is a crucial part of our brief to offer the general public a chance to get to know private collections which, while culturally outstanding and of exceptional quality, would otherwise be almost impossible to access. Moreover, in the case of this particular collection the maestro himself never missed an opportunity to share the paintings he had so painstakingly gathered together in his private residence with the broader public, a custom which has been deliberately maintained since his death by
Fiorentino" festival of music. The maestro's numerous memorable concerts and operas with the "Maggio Fiorentino" were all of the highest quality, so we felt it would be not only meaningful but also extremely moving if two of the most highly respected institutions in Florence, and indeed in Italy, were to get together to share in celebrating a man who, in different ways, enjoyed such important cultural ties with both. It is worth adding that these two institutions with their splendid history are the pride not only of the city that hosts them but of Italy as a whole, and so they both deserve to be nurtured and adequately sustained. But while the Uffizi enjoys the financial support of its countless visitors, the Teatro Comunale (which obviously cannot count on similar hordes of enthusiasts) should be entitled to funding equal to its international prestige. When we talk about the importance of our heritage, I consider it a sign of intellectual vulgarity that we concern ourselves only with those cultural assets that are capable of keeping the money flowing in. Apart from anything else, it is downright short-sighted. The world does not love Florence only for the Uffizi, nor does the city owe its greatness solely to the Uffizi. If Florence is a great city, it is because its past is peppered with men and women of courage and wisdom who made it great with their enterprise, thinking not of how they could personally profit from that enterprise but of how it would contribute to the city's future. The title we have chosen for the exhibition, The Rooms of the Muses, is designed to evoke an environment inhabited by poetry in the broadest sense of the term, declined in this particular instance in the form of painting and music. Francesco Molinari Pradelli's approach to art was far from conventional. If
his widow Bianca Maria and his children Cecilia, Cristina, Alessandro and Marco. So we owe it to them if visitors to the Uffizi can admire and enjoy such a large part of the collection over the next three months. One of the primary reasons that prompted us to display the collection in Florence is the close connection that Francesco Molinari Pradelli enjoyed with the "Maggio
he had bought the works of art endorsed by the culture industry at the time, his collection would have ended up being an anthology of "great names" rather than a collection of paintings of lyrical beauty chosen on the basis of his own personal inclination. So the layout of the Uffizi exhibition - curated by Angelo Mazza, an art historian of rare sensitivity and humanity who has had the op-
By Antonio Natali
Director of the Uffizi Gallery
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portunity to study the Molinari Pradelli collection on several occasions in the past - is designed to echo the rooms in the Molinari Pradelli residence and its decor includes the maestro's own piano and a selection of his favourite pieces of furniture. Translated by Stephen Tobin Italiano
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e sale degli Uffizi, che sono al momento votate alle esposizioni temporanee, si aprono alla collezione di Francesco Molinari Pradelli per una sua più diffusa conoscenza. È un gesto che la Galleria compie nella convinzione che sia importante aver nozione di quelle raccolte d’opere d’arte che, essendo poco accessibili per via della loro natura privata, siano qualitativamente e culturalmente cospicue. D’altronde è noto che lo stesso maestro volle, ogni volta che gli fu possibile, offrire al pubblico godimento i quadri che aveva radunato nella sua dimora. La vocazione del maestro è stata dopo di lui assunta dalla signora Bianca Maria e dai figli Cecilia, Cristina, Alessandro e Marco; ed è grazie a loro se per tre mesi i visitatori della Galleria degli Uffizi potranno apprezzarne una gran parte. Fra le ragioni che hanno però indotto alla risoluzione d’esporla a Firenze non è certamente l’ultima quella che si fonda sui legami di Francesco Molinari Pradelli col “Maggio fiorentino”. Non poche (e tutte di pregio) furono le direzioni del maestro al Teatro comunale. Sicché c’è parso suggestivo e fors’anche toccante che due istituzioni, fra le principali di Firenze e fra le più ragguardevoli d’Italia, s’accordassero per un’impresa comune, celebrando la figura d’un uomo che a vario titolo aveva con esse intrattenuto rilevanti relazioni di cultura. Due istituzioni che,
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per la loro storia, non sono l’orgoglio soltanto della città in cui sono nate, ma dell’Italia intera, e che pertanto meritano - entrambe - d’esser coltivate e adeguatamente sostenute. Se gli Uffizi godono del conforto economico dei loro tantissimi visitatori, il Teatro comunale (che ovviamente non può far affidamento su folle d’appassionati) deve poter contare su finanziamenti che siano all’altezza del suo prestigio internazionale. Quando si ragioni dell’importanza del nostro patrimonio, reputo sintomo di volgarità intellettuale volgere l’attenzione unicamente a quei beni che siano capaci di garantire una rendita economica. Attitudine, oltretutto, miope: Firenze non è amata nel mondo grazie agli Uffizi, né è grande perché ci sono gli Uffizi. È grande perché ha un passato ricco di uomini sapienti e coraggiosi che grande l’hanno fatta con le loro imprese, compiute ognora pensando non già a quanto denaro ne sarebbe venuto, bensì al futuro della loro città. Non è un caso che si sia voluto titolare la mostra degli Uffizi Le stanze delle muse. L’epigrafe aspira a evocare un luogo abitato dalla poesia, che, in questo frangente, trova espressione nella pittura e nella musica. Francesco Molinari Pradelli si presta a offrirsi come modello d’un approccio alle opere d’arte che non sia convenzionale. Se lui avesse acquisito quelle assiduamente promosse dall’industria culturale, la sua collezione sarebbe composta di nomi, invece che di quadri di lirica bellezza; dipinti scelti secondando le proprie personali predilezioni. A curarne l’esposizione agli Uffizi è stato Angelo Mazza, storico dell’arte di rara sensibilità (anche umana), impegnato in più d’una circostanza nello studio della collezione Molinari Pradelli che in Galleria sarà esibita con echi degli ambienti della dimora di provenienza, accanto dunque al pianoforte del maestro e a qualche arredo a lui caro.
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Interview
April - May 2014
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A few words with Marco Jodice
A tour through unexplored sacred sites in Florence
By Anna Balzani Editor-in-chief
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ssociate Professor of “Estimates and Professional Practice” and past Lecturer at Faculty of Architecture of Florence, Marco Jodice is a manager and developer of cost control methods for construction. To this he adds his research activity on theory and applications of technical and economic strategies to environmental resources, landscape transformation, infrastructures and urban renewal. Since 2011 he has been President of the Central Institute for the Sustenance of the Clergy at Archdiocese of Florence, the administrative deeds of which he takes care of. Fine Arts and Photography lover, through his words shines a passion for - and a wide knowledge of- an unexpected Florence. One of the most important initiatives pursued by the Institute involves the Santo Stefano a Ponte Auditorium. What are you working on? The secularised Church of Santo Stefano a Ponte is one of the most ancient Churches in Florence, its existence being documented back in 1116 but being probably founded way before this date. It was deconsecrated in 1986 due to the depopulation of Florence historical centre. The Church has always
been a music venue, hosting major concerts, although irregularly. Our aim is to re-estabilish it as a privileged music venue with a stable program and to make it able to host different events such as conventions, meetings, cultural events and both modern and contemporary art exhibitions. There has been a lot of talk about the reopening of the Diocesan Museum of sacred Art. When is it expected? The Diocesan Museum takes up some spaces of the adjacent Santo Stefano Church and it is the place where all the artworks coming from suppressed parishes of the Diocese of Florence have flown into in the course of time. Just to name a few names, here we find juvenile works of artists such as Giotto, Paolo Uccello, Masolino, Mariano Romanelli, Pietro Tacca.We are working to reopen it by the end of the year. In 2015, Catholic Church will converge in Florence for the Ecclesia National Gathering of the Italian Episcopal Conference, where also the Pope is awaited. Your take on it. It is a great opportunity for the city, an opportunity to spread and increase the knowledge of Florence and of our immense artistic heritage. What is your relationship with Florence? Altough I am Florentine, I believe that “Florentine you become” by embracing the spirit of the city. I am thinking of personalities such us Giorgio La Pira, an extraordinary Florentine who wasn’t born in Florence but who loved and chose Florence as his city and dedicated himself to its prosperity. If we think about it, even the quarrels and animosities that have dotted the history of our city originate from the extraordinary strive for excellence that both its citizens and city attorneys share. Should you recommend to students an unconventional itinerary through Florence, what would you single out? Definitely the Diocesiano Museum of Santo Stefano a Ponte and the nearby Santa Felicita Church, another fascinating place just a few steps away from Ponte Vecchio, in the tiny piazza of the same name. Santa Felicita was probably the first Church of the city, dating back to roman age, when it was
Madonna di San Giorgio alla Costa Santo Stefano al Ponte, Firenze
built over a previous latin cross plan Oratory next to the Paleochristian Cemetery. The remains of the “cappuccina” graves are still visible under the present Church flooring. Italiano
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arco Jodice, professore associato di Estimo ed Esercizio Professionale già docente nel corso di laurea in Architettura di Firenze, si occupa di elaborazione e gestione di metodi di controllo dei prezzi e dei costi, ricerca teorica e applicata nel settore tecnico - economico riguardante le risorse ambientali, la trasformazione del territorio, le infrastrutture ed il recupero urbano. È dal 2011 Presidente dell’Istituto per il Sostentamento del Clero presso l’Arcidiocesi di Firenze e si occupa delle attività amministrative dell’Istituto. Appassionato di Firenze, di Arte, di fotografia. Attraverso le sue parole, emerge la conoscenza e la passione di una Firenze inattesa. Una delle iniziative più importanti che l’Istituto che sta perseguendo riguarda l’Auditorium di Santo Stefano al Ponte, quali sono i progetti sui quali state lavorando? La Chiesa secolarizzata di Santo Stefano al Ponte è una delle più antiche chiese della città, documentata già dal 1116, ma probabilmente fondata molto tempo prima; fu sconsacrata nel 1986 a causa dello spopolamento del centro storico. È sempre stata luogo di musica, ospitando bellissimi concerti, seppur in maniera saltuaria. Il nostro proposito è che torni ad essere luogo privilegiato di musica con una programmazione stabile e oltre a questo che possa ospitare convegni, meeting, eventi culturali, arte moderna e contemporanea. Si parla molto della riapertura del Museo Diocesano per l’Arte Sacra, quando è prevista? Il Museo diocesano occupa i locali adiacenti alla Chiesa di Santo Stefano ed è il luogo dove sono state collocate opere d’arte pro-
Marco Jodice
venienti dalle chiese della Diocesi di Firenze soppresse nel tempo. Vi si trovano opere giovanili di Giotto, Paolo Uccello, Masolino, Mariano Romanelli, Pietro Tacca solo per citarne alcuni. Stiamo lavorando per la riapertura del Museo di Arte Sacra entro l’anno. Nel 2015: la Chiesa Cattolica si riunisce a Firenze per il Convegno Ecclesiale Nazionale della Conferenza Episcopale Italiana ed è atteso anche il Papa. Un suo pensiero al riguardo? Costituisce una grande opportunità per la città, un’opportunità per diffondere ed amplificare la conoscenza di Firenze e del nostro immenso patrimonio storico-artistico. Il suo rapporto con Firenze? Sono Fiorentino, parimenti credo che “Fiorentini si diventa” entrando nello spirito della città. Penso ad uomini come Giorgio La Pira, straordinario fiorentino, non di nascita, ma per scelta, che tanto ha fatto per la nostra città per amore di Firenze. Inoltre, se ci pensiamo bene, anche le liti e le animosità che storicamente hanno caratterizzato Firenze, derivano dalla straordinaria volontà di eccellere da parte dei suoi cittadini e rappresentanti. Se dovesse consigliare agli studenti percorso inconsueto di Firenze, cosa segnalerebbe? Senz’altro il Museo Diocesano di Santo Stefano al Ponte e, proprio qui vicino, un altro luogo ricco di suggestione, ovvero la Chiesa di Santa Felicita, a pochi passi da Ponte Vecchio, sulla sinistra di Via de’ Guicciardini, nell’omonima piccola Piazza Santa Felicita. Fu forse la prima chiesa della città, risalendo addirittura all’epoca romana (V secolo), quando sorse nel luogo di un oratorio di pianta basilicale posto presso il cimitero paleocristiano. I resti delle sue tombe “alla cappuccina” sono ancora visibili sotto il pavimento della chiesa attuale.
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The Women’s Working Group in Florence
By Anna Balzani
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n March 8, 1846, Italy celebrated its first-ever International Women’s Day, choosing mimosa flowers as its symbol, since they bloom at the beginning of March. But the significance of International Women’s Day stretches far beyond a pretty bouquet of flowers. Rather, it is an occasion to raise awareness of the status of women’s rights and to remember one’s dignity against discrimination and violence, with the greater purpose of remembering the women who shaped history and how to best chart our future course. Ultimately, it is an opportunity to reflect together on the path yet to be taken. The city of Florence marked Women’s History Month with a month-long calendar of events in March, featuring art exhibitions, cultural initiatives, lectures on core psychological and social issues, and discussions about women’s rights. In this context, women were able to become part of a city-wide public conversation, both in telling their story and in finding inspiration. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people who got me involved in the several initiatives organised. Of the many events in which I participated over the course of the month, there was one whose story I would like to tell since it was not a public event. On March 13, the U.S. Consulate General hosted a monthly meeting for the Women’s Working Group. What I found there filled me with awe and pride for the women I had the chance to meet, and for the strong personalities and diverse talents I came into contact with. The Women’s Working Group (WWG) is a network of professional women from diverse disciplines who meet regularly for career advancement and leadership workshops, mentoring, and to identify opportunities for advancement and the empowerment of women in Italy. The WWG’s principal mission is to help women help each other to make the most of their talents at every stage of their careers, as well as find out what women outside their normal circles are doing and, when they find common "passions," support each other in various ways. The WWG is a “network of networks” as well as including women with no other formal affiliation. Although the WWG’s March 13 event was not a public meeting, the WWG does organize meetings that are open to the public and has held several town hall meetings and workshops at Palazzo Vecchio wich were co-sponsored by the City of Florence's Office of Equal Opportunity via WWG collaborator Assessore Cristina Giachi. U.S. Consul General Sarah Morrison helped co-found the Women’s Working Group when focus groups indicated that “there was no unified body bridging women’s groups with the goal to nurture skills that could unite them in working toward common goals. The need was expressed for an informal but reliable, nurturing network to support women in or aspiring to high-level positions in the community and business world, and women professionals in general.” Thus the WWG was born. “The WWG allows women from different sectors and groups the opportunity to network and come together on shared issues and projects,” said Morrison. When asked what inspired her, Consul General Morrison recalled Hillary Clinton’s 1995 address at the United Nations International Women’s Conference in Beijing: “Hillary Clinton was the wife of the president of the United States then, and led the U.S. delegation to that conference. In her address, she included the statements: ‘If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, it is that human rights are women's rights… And women's rights are human rights. Women must enjoy the right to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries if we want freedom and democracy to thrive and endure.’ At the time, those simple words caused a huge uproar. People actually thought that she was way out of place to declare that women were so important to the development and economic security of the world.” I find myself in profound agreement with those words and with the vision that inspired them. I, too, believe in the need to invest in women all over the world, because one woman’s story is every woman’s story. Italiano
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otto marzo 1946 è il giorno in cui per la prima volta l’Italia ha ricordato la Festa della Donna ed ha scelto un fiore, la mimosa, che fiorisce proprio nei primi giorni di marzo, come simbolo della ricorrenza. Ma il significato della Giornata Internazionale della Donnava molto oltre un grazioso omaggio floreale. Piuttosto, è un’occasione di coltivare la consapevolezza dei diritti delle donne e di ricordare la dignità della propria persona contro le discriminazioni e le violenze, col fine ultimo di ricordare le donne che hanno fatto la storia e di capire che forma dare al nostro futuro. Un momento di riflessione sul percorso ancora da compiere, insieme. La città di Firenze ha accompagnato il mese della storia delle donne con un calendario di manifestazioni artistiche, iniziative culturali, conferenze su tematiche psicologiche e sociali e discussioni sui diritti e sulle violenze sulle donne. In questo contesto ogni donna ha potuto divenire parte di una conversazione collettiva, sia per raccontare la sua storia che per lasciarsi ispirare da una eterogenea moltitudine di talenti femminili. Delle numerose interessanti circostanze a cui ho preso parte durante questo mese - e vorrei cogliere questa opportunità per ringraziare tutte coloro che mi hanno reso partecipe delle iniziative promosse - ce n’è una in particolare di cui desidero parlarvi dal momento che non era un evento pubblico. Il 13 marzo il Consolato Generale Americano a Firenze ha ospitato un incontro mesile per il Women’s Working Group. Quello che vi ho trovato mi ha molto sorpresa e resa orgogliosa per le donne che ho avuto l’opportunità di conoscere, per la loro personalità, e per la diversità di talenti con cui sono entrata in contatto. Il Women’s Working Group (WWG) è un gruppo di lavoro di professioniste provenienti da ambiti e discipline diverse che si incontrano regolarmente per partecipare a workshop sull’avanzamento di carriera e la leadership e una vera opportunità di mentoring ed empowerment delle donne in Italia. L’obiettivo principale dello WWG è di aiutare le donne ad aiutarsi a vicenda a utilizzare al meglio il proprio talento in ogni fase della propria carriera oltre che a tenersi aggiornate su quello che stanno facendo altre donne al di fuori delle loro cerchie e a collaborare in vario modo quando scoprono passioni comuni. Il WWG è una “rete delle reti” oltre ad includere donne senza altre affiliazioni. Nonostante quello del 13 marzo non fosse un incontro pubblico, il WWG organizza anche incontri aperti al pubblico e ha allestito vari meeting e workshop a Palazzo Vecchio, co-promossi dall’Ufficio per le Pari Opportunità della citta di Firenze attraverso l’Assessore Cristina Giachi, che collabora allo WWG. Il Console Generale Americano Sarah Morrison ha contribuito a fondare il WWG quando alcuni gruppi femminili hanno lamentato l’assenza di “un corpo unico che facesse da ponte fra i vari gruppi femminili e promuovesse quelle caratteristiche che potessero far lavorare le donne insieme su obiettivi comuni. Si sentiva il bisogno di una rete informale ma affidabile per sostenere le donne che aspiravano a posizioni più alte nella comunità e nel mondo del lavoro e le professioniste in generale. Era nato il WWG. “Il WWG dà a donne provenienti da diversi ambiti e gruppi di lavoro l’opportunità di fare rete e di confrontarsi su temi e progetti comuni” ha detto Morrison. Quando le è stato chiesto cosa l’avesse ispirata, il Console Generale Morrison ha ricordato il discorso del 1995 di Hillary Clinton alle Conferenza Internazionale sulla Donna promossa dalle Nazioni Unite a Pechino nel 1995. “Hillary Clinton era la moglie del Presidente degli Stati Uniti, e in quella occasione guidò la delegazione statunitense a quella conferenza. Nel suo discorso, ha dichiarato: “Se c’è un messaggio che echeggia con forza da questa conferenza è che i diritti umani sono i diritti delle donne… E i diritti delle donne sono i diritti umani. Le donne devono godere del diritto di partecipare pienamente alla vita sociale e politica dei loro paesi se vogliamo che prosperino la libertà e la democrazia”. In quel momento, queste semplici parole causarono un enorme scalpore. Le persone, in realtà, pensarono che fosse stata fuori luogo dichiarando che le donne erano così importanti per lo sviluppo e la sicurezza economica del mondo”. Anche io condivido profondamente quelle semplici parole e la visione che le ha ispirate, è credo che sia necessario investire nelle donne di tutto il mondo perché la storia di una donna è la storia di ogni donna.
April - May 2014
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Art on a Higher Level A new itinerary in Santa Croce
By Paola Vojnovic
Cimabue's Crucifix
Art historian at Opera di Santa Croce
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even hundred and twenty years ago, on May 3rd 1294, the first stone of the church of Santa Croce was placed in the presence of the Gonfaloniere, the Podestà and all the representatives of the Commune of Florence. Honoring this special date in 2014, a new itinerary of the Basilica will be inaugurated to the public. It is a result of a complex and innovative initiative of the Opera di Santa Croce, whose mission is to preserve and protect the important artistic heritage of the church and its monumental complex. The biggest threat for this patrimony has been the numerous floods of the Arno, an unavoidable problem, given the fact that the church was built on the lowest level of the city and in close proximity to the Arno. The initiative has been to move 15 masterpieces from the Museum of the Opera di Santa Croce to a new location in the church itself, thus raising the artworks to a location about 3 meters higher than the museum, which
was their home for the last century. The new location encompassing the Corridor of the Novices, the Medici Chapel and the Sacristy does not only give a new life to this area of the church, but also sheds new light on the artworks, now placed closer to their original intended location. Symbolically, the first masterpiece to be moved, in November 2013, was the Crucifix of Cimabue, which became internationally known symbol of the flood of 1966. Stefania Fuscagni, President of Opera di Santa Croce, reflects “the new location of the Crucifix not only responds to an aspect of safety measures, which was certainly the reason for its move, but we have achieved another equally important objective. Now the museum aspect can naturally be combined with the spiritual, and allow a reflection on the roots of the Western culture.” Check out www.santacroceopera.it for the details of the special 720th anniversary.
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April - May 2014
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Discovering Orvieto: the beautiful hilltop Umbrian town
By Kellie Malone
Student at the Gonzaga in Florence University
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s a student abroad, I have two options when weekend plans fall through: 1) Sit alone in my pensione with extra-dark chocolate crumbs scattered across my pajama top. 2) Maximize every moment of my limited time here in every way possible. Although a few weeks ago I was first inclined to choose the path of least resistance and go with number 1, I decided on option 2, and this is why I went on a two night solo trip to the beautiful hilltop Umbrian town, Orvieto. This ancient Etruscan town, although small, afforded me so many opportunities to get out of my comfort zone and explore as much as I could on my own time. Orvieto, if arriving by train, requires a funicular ride up the side of the hill. This gives visitors their first glimpse of the beautiful views of the rolling hills in the “green heart of Italy” that they can expect if they venture to the edges of town. The town itself is easy to navigate and well-marked with signs at every major intersection and piazza, pointing to all the major attractions in town, including the Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Peter’s Well), the underground caves scattered under the hill, the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo, the incredible Duomo and the nearby museums, and the trail circling the town’s
walls. After a brief look at the map in one of the piazzas, it is easy to orient yourself and find where you need to go. The Pozzo di San Patrizio sits just a few steps away from the exit of the funicular, and is perhaps one of the most unique experiences of the town, with two snaking spiral staircases leading visitors up and down the entire 62 meter depth. Just outside, there is a spectacular view of the countryside. The Duomo of Orvieto is a towering beauty boasting an intricate golden facade often attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, with pillars of green basalt and white travertine alternating similarly to the Siena cathedral. In the same piazza are several museums housing everything from Byzantine-style statues to modern exhibitions to Etruscan era artifacts. The
museums generally range around five euros for entry and usually offer a student discount. On my rainy-day visit, these were great opportunities to stay warm and still see a great deal of the town. This piazza also has the tourist office, where visitors can book tours for the fascinating Orvieto Underground. With over 1200 separate man-made caves, Orvieto has an extensive underground network that is used mainly as private cellars or condemned. With ceramic shops dotting every street and restaurants tempting pedestrians every few meters, there is no shortage of ways to fill a day in this quintessential Italian town. These are a few of the many discoveries I found while wandering the streets of Orvieto on my solo trip. Although trav-
eling alone presents new challenges even to the most savvy travelers, I found that people were very helpful if I asked for help sincerely and gave profuse thanks. Preparation can alleviate much of the stress and diminish the dangers that come with solo traveling, so having a hard copy of all tickets, hotel confirmations, important addresses/directions, and travel documents can save a lot of time and trouble if anything goes contrarily to your plan. Of course, traveling alone can be dangerous, but if the traveller keeps their eyes open, prepares adequately, and uses their common sense, it shouldn’t be more dangerous than group travel. Traveling alone opens the door to new possibilities of self-discovery and independence, all without wallowing in chocolate crumbs.
Segway has been in Florence since 2010 with four different locations. Two shops are located in the Center, one in via Guelfa and one near Piazza Pitti; two are located at the Cascine Park. In the shops you can rent bicycles and, at the Cascine, fun quadricycles are suitable for families. Every year the number of vehicles in circulation in Florence has increased. Segway have become very popular among tourists and tour guides who organize the same small tour on them. Segway is fun and environmentally friendly and can circulate the large Florentine pedestrian zone at a speed of 10km / h. Segway is “green”, all-electric, and works with a battery that allows you to travel up to 140km and has a duration of 7 hours. Each Segway also has a handy front storage pocket for your personal items. The shops are open 7 days a week from 10 am to 8.30 pm in summer and from 11 am to 7.00 pm in winter time. 75 euro for two hour tour with a professional guide. Official Point, Via Guelfa, 1h/r, 3h/r Ph. 055 285600 - Cell. 320 7944772
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Controvento: Sailing in Tuscany
By Pasquale Bevilacqua von Gunderrode Owner of Controvento
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y passion for the sea and sailing didn't arise by chance. I have to thank my parents for giving me the opportunity to spend part of my school summer holidays with my uncle in Sardinia aboard a Hallberg-Rassy 45. During this time I discovered bays of incredible beauty, sailing from Corsica to Tunisia. I fell in love with the seafaring way of life and the pleasures of sailing to such an extent that one day I decided to turn this passion into my livelihood. In 2009 I took over "Controvento", a sailing charter company which had been operating since 1995 in Punta Ala , one of the most beautiful harbours in Italy and a safe haven for boats. Over the years I have tried to convey this passion I have not only to those familiar with the boating world, but also to anyone who loves the sea and wishes to discover the pleasures of sailing. Sailing embodies emotion, fun, nature, adventure and a sense of wellbeing. For this reason we collaborate with schools and hotels in successfully providing our popular weekend and one-day sailing excursions at very competitive prices, so enabling more people to get to know and love the sea as we do. Your pleasure is our passion......come and sail with us. Italiano
Sailing in Tuscany … only 2 hours by train or car from Florence. We organize boat trips sailing around the spectacular archipelago Tuscan islands, theme weekends, introductory courses to sailing and the art of seamanship. Even for this spring season we have special weekend rates for groups of young people who want to both learn the fundamentals of sailing and also enjoy a little relaxation in the natural beauty of our Mediterranean coast. Our service offers sailing during the day, meals and overnight on board our boats. Constantly assisted by professional instructors. Daily excursion with lunch on board: 95 euro per person Week end sail and horses riding: 210 euro per person Week end sail and relax: 200 per person 1 week sailing in summer: 600 euro per person Sailing school in 1 week end: 190 euro per person www.controvento.it - staff@controvento.it Phone: +39 0566 846255 Fax: +39 055 461841 Cell: +39 347 2991570 Skype: Controvento_Sailing Faceb: Controvento Sailing Charter e-mail: staff@controvento.it web: www.controvento.it
By Ellen Miller Writer
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taly was right at the heart of the battle during World War II but is often forgotten in the histories, between the intense bombings of Japan and the horrifying re-
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Liberation day on April 25
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amore per il mare e per la barca non nasce mai casualmente. Devo ringraziare i miei genitori per avermi dato l’opportunità, quando ero ragazzino, di poter passare parte delle mie vacanze estive da mio zio in Sardegna a bordo di un Halbergrassy 45. Ho scoperto terre e baie di incredibile bellezza veleggiando dalla Corsica alla Tunisia. Mi sono innamorato della vera vita di mare e del piacere della navigazione a vela e ho deciso di trasformare questa passione nel mio lavoro. Dal 2009 ho rilevato Controvento, società di charter fin dal 1995 che opera a Punta Ala, uno dei luoghi più belli della Toscana e porto sicuro per gli amanti del mare. Negli anni ho cercato di trasmettere questa passione non solo a chi conosce il settore ma anche a tutte quelle persone che amano il mare e desiderano scoprire il piacere della navigazione. La barca a vela è emozione, divertimento, natura, avventura e benessere. Per questo motivo realizziamo con successo week end e giornate in barca a vela in collaborazione con strutture ricettive e scuole, garantendo ottimi prezzi per far sì che sempre più persone possano amare e conoscere il mare come noi. Your pleasure is our passion…come and sail with us.
April - May 2014
velations about Hitler's death camps. For many Italians, though, the story hits close to home as family members were directly impacted by the loss of the war and the subsequent reorganization of the Italian state and the establishment of a democracy. April 25 marks the day that Italy was liberated, and Italians around the country mark the day as an important day in Italian history. Further south in Rome, Italian president typically visits the Ardeatine Caves Mausoleum, where the Nazis massacred 335 Romans in 1944, to pay his respects. The city of Florence marks the day with a marching band and free concert held outside, weather permitting. The day is a national holiday, so if you will be in Italy keep in mind that some things may be closed. As Italy looks forward to the future with a new government just having been formed, they will also be looking behind to remember their fellow countrymen who were lost in World War II. In particular Italians will be celebrating the revolution of partigiani and anti-fascist groups that aided in the fall of Mussolini, helping to bring democracy to Italy.
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Scoppio del Carro
Festival del gelato
in Piazza Santa Maria Novella
April 20 in Piazza del Duomo
By E. M.
Cristiano Imperiali di Francavilla photographer
any Florentines beat a path out of town over the Easter holiday weekend since it is a long weekend, but those that do are missing out on one of the city's best time-honored traditions. When Easter Sunday dawns late this April, those in the know will head to Piazza del Duomo to get a good spot for viewing the Scoppio del carro, a unique tradition that translates roughly to "Explosion of the Cart" in English. The tradition dates back to the first crusade, when Europeans besieged the holy city of Jerusalem, determined to take Palestine for Christianity. In 1097, Pazzino de' Pazzi, a Florentine, scaled the walls of the city, becoming the first to do so. In reward he was given three flints which he brought back with him to Tuscany. It became a tradition on Easter to light a fire with the flints. The tradition today looks much different, and dates to the 15th century. On Easter Sunday an ancient cart, used for over 500 years, is brought to Piazza del Duomo for the ceremony. The cart is loaded with fire-
works and set alight with a fire that has been lit with the historic flints. The archbishop himself will be in Florence for the day to strike the flint and light the Easter candle, which will light a bundle of coal and thus create the fire used for the main ceremony. The fire will light a dove shaped rocket inside the church which will then fly down a wire to the cart outside the church, setting off the spectacle. The fireworks show that follows lasts about 20 minutes, and is truly a unique celebration of the day. For those sticking around for the holiday, be sure to grab a spot for watching early, despite the number of people out of town, the spectacle is sure to draw a crowd. The procession starts at 10 AM with the wagon, which was built in 1622 and is adorned with garlands is pulled by a pair of oxen and accompanied to the main square by a procession of drummers, flag throwers, people dressed in historic costumes and of course important civic figures. The explosion occurs an hour later at 11.
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By Ellen Miller
Writer and student at Santa Reparata International School of Art (SRISA) of Florence
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f you have a sweet tooth you might have been sad when the chocolate festival dissembled its tents in Santa Maria Novella. This April, though, something even better is coming: the annual gelato festival. Though the festival's official website has yet to be updated, last year's edition occurred in May so details should be forthcoming shortly. Florence is an appropriate place for a gelato festival, being that gelato creator Bernardo Buontalenti was born here in 1536. Buontalenti modified the original frozen treat into the gelato we know today and served it to the Medici family, who passed it on to France where the treat began to grow in popularity. To this day many Florentine gelato shops serve a flavor called Buontalenti, which is a simple custard. Gelato began to grow in general popularity and commonality with the creation of a gelato cart which sold
the tasty treat to Italians on the street. Gelato is different from the American ice cream in two major ways. First, it has about half the fat content of American ice cream. Second, and perhaps more important, is that gelato is churned differently from ice cream and therefore has less air added to it. It is also not frozen as hard as ice cream and even when placed in the freezer does not reach as hard a consistency. Either is delicious, but in Italy it is gelato that reigns supreme. The gelato festival consists of both vendors and events, and last year ran for a week. Want to check out multiple flavors or vendors? You are in luck! The festival sells a tasting card that allows you five tastes throughout the festival grounds, making it the perfect time to try out that unique (and slightly weird) flavor you have been wondering about! For those who are lovers of gelato, this week is one not to be missed.
A few words with Vincenzo, owner of Bistrot Damiano
Vincenzo Damiano and Chef Filippo
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here are already many cafes in this area. What makes this cafe different from all the others? First of all, clients are treated as individuals, as if they were in their own home, eating their own dishes. The food we offer is all made here, as it is at home. We have made the decision to offer dishes that are rooted in traditional flavors of Italy. Also, we only have 22 seats so we can give individual attention to each customer. What is your favorite dish that you make here? My best dishes are those that come from Lucania, where I am from. There, we make a lot of homemade pasta like Ferraioli/Frizule ca a’ mellica and orecchiette with turnip greens. How important is local food for you? Do you try and use local products and ingredients? We pick all our ingredients with attention. It is important that the produce and products are regional and if possible, directly from the farms and producers because it secures freshness and the best quality possible. We specifically look to cook with seasonal vege-
tables. In fact, right now, there is pasta with broccoli on the menu. In the summer, you will find pasta with tomato and mozzarella, but you won’t find what you are eating now because we do not use frozen foods or out of season produce. I see here that you have many different types of wine. Are these wines different from what you would find in another restaurant? Yes, by creating our own menu and with collaborations, we are able to offer a selection of wines from various regions. When we prepare a traditional dinner with dishes from a specific region such as Lucca, Puglia or Calabria, we also try to choose wines that will pair well with that type of food. In Italy, the wine possibilities are endless but the characteristics of a Sicilian wine are different from that of the Veneto region. If you take a wine from Calabria and pair it with a plate of pasta and tomato sauce, it will not pair well and thus, not taste right.
Via del Parione, 46/r, Firenze from 7.30 am to 10.00 pm Tel. 055 5320342 - 349 589 5389
Restaurant and Pizzeria
A journey of flavours through the Mediterranean......
Gelateria and Pasticceria
Spring dates for the tastes of sicily...... Feata del Cannolo 30 Marzo Piazza Santa Croce 12 Firenze, Italia. +39 0552638675 info@finisterraefirenze.com
Festa del Gelato 6 Aprile
Festa della Colomba 13 Aprile
festa del gelato
finisterraefirenze
Quando il sole primaverile
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finisterrae
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Contemporary Art
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Quando Franco Ionda decapitò le stelle A symbolic take on human drama
By Fabio Cavallucci
Art critic and Director of the Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato
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he day Bishop Simoni from Prato mentioned holiness while talking about one of his paintings, Franco Ionda hurried to clarify his being atheist. However, his work feeds on a pronounced spiritual tension, and gives his own rendition of human dra-
ma absorbing echoes of that religion which - as Benedetto Croce used to say - we can’t not-relate to. The starting point of Franco Ionda works is often an event in the news report. It is the account as it is described and reproduced in the newspaper, from which the artist cuts the most dramatic pictures: Kosovo refugees, the cry of a war wounded soldier, a demonstrator screaming in protest. He then enlarges them in the most aseptic and impersonal way - by photocopying them - letting the typographic grain show. He then adheres the picture to board or canvas and pours a generous amount of linen oil on it. By doing so, the paper dissolves and disappears and the monochromatic texture appears as printed on the underlying support. It is a “painting without painting” - the artist says - aiming to retrieve some semblance of handicraft through a mechanical technique. In other cases the same effect is obtained through a slow felt-tip pen work, which Ionda uses to simulate typographic halftoning. If the process can recall Lichtenstein’s or Polke’s working method, the result is completely different: if in American Pop an ironic and lightweight athmosphere and in the German’s work a grotesque and sneering verve emerge, in Ionda we find a sense of sublimate tragedy. Such reproductions echo the most prevailing symbols of our cultural heritage:
“Con gli occhi chiusi … si risorge” 2006 Tecnica mista su tavola cm. 78 x 93
Amorino, 2014, L'opera al nudo
the Passion, the Mercy, the Last Supper. Moreover, Ionda adds to this some synthetic forms, which act as symbols too: nails, heads, beheaded stars. The last in particular are inspired by the Majakovskij verse “again they’ve beheaded the stars, and the sky is bloody with carnage” which alludes to the cosmic tragedy, the end of poetry. The stars overlap, accumulate, flood the canvas surface and become metal fragments set in the canvas or autonomous melted aluminium volumes which cover lawns, walls and gardens suggesting a possibility of redemption. Italiano
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l giorno in cui il vescovo Simoni di Prato, riferendosi ad un suo dipinto, parlò di santità, Franco Ionda si affrettò a precisare di essere ateo. Eppure il suo lavoro si alimenta di una fortissima tensione spirituale, che rilegge i drammi della realtà alla luce degli echi di una religione di cui, come diceva Benedetto Croce, non possiamo non dirci partecipi. Il punto di partenza dei lavori di Franco Ionda (Firenze, 1946) è spesso una vicenda di cronaca. La cronaca descritta e riprodotta nei giornali, da cui l’artista ritaglia le immagini più drammatiche: i rifugiati del Kosovo, l’urlo di un ferito di guerra, il grido di protesta di un manifestante. Le ingrandisce col metodo più asettico e impersonale, la fotocopia, facen-
Zona Franca, 1992, Installazione permanente, Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato
done affiorare la grana tipografica. Applica poi l’immagine su tavola o tela e vi sparge sopra un’abbondante soluzione di olio di lino. La carta svanisce, scompare, e la grana monocromatica appare come stampata sul supporto sottostante. È un “dipingere senza dipingere”, dice l’artista, che mira a recuperare una parvenza di manualità attraverso una tecnica meccanica. In altri casi lo stesso effetto è prodotto invece da un lento lavoro di pennarello, con cui Ionda simula il retino tipografico. Ma se il procedimento può ricordare Lichtenstein o Polke, il risultato è molto diverso: nel pop americano emerge un’atmosfera ironica e leggera, nel tedesco una verve grottesca e irridente, in Ionda un senso di dramma sublimato. Quelle riproduzioni divengono echi dei simboli più diffusi della nostra eredità culturale: la passione, la pietà, l’ultima cena. In più, Ionda vi aggiunge spesso delle forme sintetiche, pure esse simboliche: i chiodi, le teste, le stelle decapitate. Queste ultime si ispirano a un verso di Majakovskij, “hanno di nuovo decapitato le stelle e insanguinato il cielo come un mattatoio”, che allude al dramma cosmico, alla fine della poesia. Le stelle si sovrappongono, si accavallano, dilagano sulla superficie delle tele, diventano frammenti di metallo incastonati nella tavola, oppure volumi autonomi, fusi in alluminio, che vanno a ricoprire prati, muri, giardini, e a suggerire una possibilità di riscatto.
“Monte di stelle decapitate”, 1991, Installazione Castel dell’Ovo - Napoli - 2007
Contemporary Art
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Marilyn Monroe, American actress, New York, 1956, USA
Trish Morrissey. Hayley Coles Series 'Front' June 17th, 2006
L
yuné Hikosaka
Japanese painter and draftsman
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Icons 6 April - 31 August 2014
Portraits and experiences of family today 14 March - 20 July 2014
he CCC Strozzina exhibition inves- Italiano tigates the theme of family through a mostra della Strozzina investiga il tema photographs, videos and installations by della famiglia tramite le fotografie, i video eleven international contemporary artists who come together for a collective search e le installazioni di undici artisti contempointo those bonds, symbols and phenom- ranei che si uniscono in una ricerca collettiva ena that continue to define this concept su quei legami, simboli e fenomeni che ancotoday. The sho is devoted to two main ra definiscono questo termine. La riflessione fronts: on the one hand, the analysis of della mostra è dedicata a due fronti principali, the dynamics that characterise a family; da una parte l’analisi di quelle dinamiche che on the other, a survey of its image and caratterizzano una famiglia, dall’altra una riwhat hides behind it. The aim is not to un- cognizione sulla sua immagine e su ciò che si derstand “what is family”, but to consider nasconde dietro di essa. Obiettivo non è capi“what does the family do”, as it functions re “che cosa è la famiglia” ma interrogarsi su in the representation and deconstruction “cosa fa la famiglia”, come essa funziona nella of its mechanism, values and meanings, sua rappresentazione e nella decostruzione highlighting issue such as the conflict be- dei suoi meccanismi, dei suoi valori e dei suoi tween individualism and relational needs, significati, facendo emergere temi come il disthe parent-child relationship, the value sidio tra individualismo e necessità relazionaof memory, or the reflection on the roles li, il rapporto genitori-figli, il valore della meand behaviours the define relations and moria, la riflessione su ruoli e comportamenti che definiscono legami e relazioni. bonds. www.strozzina.org/exhibitions/questioni-di-famiglia
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et up in the Modern and Contemporary Art Gallery “Raffaele De Grada” in San Gimignano, the exhibition traces the career and the artistic sensibility of great American artist Elliott Erwitt, who personally chose 42 shoots to best represent his artistic production. Moreover, the exhibition will include an exclusive series of nine self portraits which constitute “an event in the event”. Magnum Photographer hired directly by Robert Capa in 1953, Elliott Erwitt signed images destined to become some of the most iconic of his century. In San Gimignano some of the most famous: the two lovers framed in the side-view mirror of their car, a stunning Grace Kelly at her engagement ball, a devastated Jacqueline Kennedy at her husband’s funeral and the portraits of Che Guevara and Marilyn Monroe. Italiano
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ealizzata presso la Galleria di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea “Raffaele De Grada” di San Gimignano, la mostra ripercorre la carriera e i temi principali della poetica del grande fotografo e artista americano attraverso 42 scatti da lui stesso selezionati come i più rappresentativi della sua produzione artistica. Sarà esposta inoltre una serie di 9 autoritratti, esclusivi di questa mostra, che costituiscono un “evento nell’evento”. Grande autore Magnum, reclutato nel 1953 all’interno della celebre agenzia direttamente da Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt ha firmato immagini diventate icone del Novecento. In mostra a San Gimignano alcune delle più celebri: il bacio dei due innamorati nello specchietto retrovisore di un’automobile, una splendida Grace Kelly al ballo del suo fidanzamento, un’affranta Jacqueline Kennedy al funerale del marito, i ritratti di Che Guevara e Marilyn Monroe.
Lea Monetti
me draw) because I love them, and I feel very familiar with them. Italiano
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By Yuné Hikosaka
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ince I was children I had been fascinated by the whole animale, especially by dinosaurs and imaginary animals. They are the symbols of the great past that still extinguish it's splendor. And for me, moreover, they are like the "neighbors" and they constitute the quotidian life. This particular sensitivity is certainly brought up being influenced also by the ancient japanese culture, not that recent. Our culture is originally based on animistic religion (today, however, many people confuses with Shintoism), and it tell that for us the gods could be found everywhere and they were first of all the symbols of the nature in which we lived together. At any rate, I draw them (or probably they have
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Elliott Erwitt
Family Matters
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April - May 2014
in da bambino sono affascinato fortemente dai tutti gli animali, soprattutto dai dinosauri e dagli animali fantastici. Sono i simboli del grande passato che non ha ancora perso il suo splendore. E per me, inoltre, sono come "vicini di casa" e fanno una parte della vita quotidiana. Questa sensibilità particolare è sicuramente cresciuta influenzata anche dalla cultura giapponese, non quella recente ma antica. La nostra cultura si basa originariamente sulla religione animistica (oggi tuttavia molti la confondono con lo scintoismo), e questo vuol dire che per noi gli dei (o gli spiriti) possono essere trovati dappertutto e sono innanzitutto i simboli della natura in cui viviamo insieme. Dunque io li disegno (o probabilmente loro mi inducono a farlo) perché mi piacciono e mi sento loro molto vicino. http://bottegagryphorca.muse.weblife.me yune.e.hikosaka@gmail.com
Studio di Scultura via del Parioncino, 5/R 50123 Firenze tel. 340 3402503 Info: www.leamonetti.it
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Art
April - May 2014
www.florenceisyou.com
Michelangelo
Jackson Pollock
Celebrating the great Master 450th anniversary of the death
"La figura della furia" 15 April - 27 July 2014
Composition with Black Pouring, 1947, olio e smalto su tela, montata su masonite, The Olnick Spanu Collection
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or the first time Florence pays homage to Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), one of the top artists of 20th century worldwide Art and the one who demolished western Figurative Art rules and dissolved the last strongholds of Renaissance perspective. The chosen way to celebrate the American artist is to juxtapose his works to those of giant artist and Renaissance genius Michelangelo Buonarroti (14751564) - this year recurring the 450th anniversary of his death, occurred on 18th February 1564. Promoted by Comune di Firenze with the patronage of Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, the exhibition is curated by Sergio Risaliti and Francesca Campana Comparini. Pollock’s “shapeless’” will be mirrored by Michelangelo’s “unfinished’, both in Palazzo Vecchio and in the past San Firenze Court spaces. For the first time in Italy, six works have been extraordinarily lent by the New York Metropolitan Museum, together with a few paintings and engravings coming from International Museums and Private Collections. Italiano
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Senza titolo, 1937-1939, matite colorate e grafite su carta , The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
info@florenceisyou.com
Renato Sansaini, Michelangelo, La Pietà (detail), Basilica di S. Pietro, Rome, 1940 c. Gelatin silver print, Ferruccio Malandrini Collection, Florence
er la prima volta Firenze rende omaggio a Jackson Pollock (1912 -1956), uno dei grandi protagonisti dell’arte mondiale del XX secolo, colui che ha scardinato le regole dell’arte figurativa occidentale dissolvendo gli ultimi baluardi della prospettiva rinascimentale, e lo fa accostando idealmente l’opera dell’artefice americano a quella di un titano dell’arte universale, e genio del Rinascimento Michelangelo Buonarroti (14751564) di cui proprio quest’anno si celebra il 450° anniversario della morte avvenuta il18 febbraio 1564. La mostra, promossa dal Comune di Firenze con il patrocinio del Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo, è ideata e curata da Sergio Risaliti e Francesca Campana Comparini. L’informe di Pollock sarà così allo specchio con il non-finito di Michelangelo, negli spazi di Palazzo Vecchio e l'ex tribunale di San Firenze. Sei opere eccezionalmente prestate dal Metropolitan Museum di New York e per la prima volta esposte in Italia, alcuni dipinti e incisioni di Pollock concessi da musei internazionali e collezioni private.
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This is an idea where technology can be used to communicate beliefs and opinions and to make the citizens understand exactly what is happening. Lets use the recent example of the expansion of the airport. It has been a long battle. This is not something that we advise on but rather, we look to understand how destructive or positive it is for Florence. Technology permits us, in my opinion, to have a clearer idea of what is going on; it allows us to see the whole picture. This is the most critical point that we work on continually to try to make people understand fully what is going on and thus, they can learn how best to move forward. Also, to understand the type of position the citizens take to these changes. I think it is very important for the opinions of the Florentine citizens to be taken into consideration. Do you have any examples of specific projects to give us an idea of how you work to connect the Consiglio and the city? There are two branches of this. The first is to ‘rendere manifesto’ (to inform people), that which is decided and that which is actually achieved by the Consiglio. Using the network, we make available a whole list of everything that is going on and thus, anyone who wants can follow. We have also made it possible to take part in the events going on here through the web in a very easy way. If you have something else to do and can’t participate in an event, you can search for exactly what you would like to see by theme and this new system will steam that specific part of the event. This makes everything clearer and simpler. This is the first level. The second is that of interaction. A while back, we started a blog about the health care plan that is important for many reasons, to hear the opinions of the citizens. In this way, voices were heard and some problems came out and were solved. Now we are working on the open data, which is a huge initiative that allows citizens to see infor-
mation about government projects such as healthcare projects or urbanization projects without mediation, which allows for collaboration.
f you ask anyone to name one artist from Italy, the majority will name Michelangelo. February 18, 2014 marked the 450th anniversary of the death of the great artist. The great master will be celebrated all over Italy in both new publications as well as special exhibits and conferences arranged to mark the occasion. If you are currently visiting Italy, be sure to stop by one of these special events to pay your respect to the great painter and sculptor. If you are in Florence, we remember you that from February 18 to May 18 an exhibition entitled Getting reacquainted with Michelangelo. Sculpture by Buonarroti in photographs and paintings from the 19th century to the present, or Getting to know Michelangelo again, will be featured at the Accademia, where Michelangelo's most famous sculpture, the David, already resides. From February 18 to April 18, the Florence State Archive will display documents from the last 450 years concerning Michelangelo including some works by Galileo. Italiano
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e chiedete a qualcuno di nominare un artista italiano tra quelli che conosce, state pur certi che la maggioranza vi risponderà: Michelangelo. Il 18 febbraio 2014 è ricorso il 450° anniversario della morte del grande artista. Il grande maestro sarà celebrato in tutta Italia attraverso preziose pubblicazioni, mostre speciali, convegni ed eventi organizzati per in suo onore. Se in questo periodo state visitando l’Italia, cercate di prendere parte ad uno degli eventi speciali in programma così da manifestare il vostro rispetto per il grande pittore e scultore . Se siete a Firenze, vi ricordiamo che alla Galleria dell’Accademia, dal 18 febbraio al 18 maggio 2014 si terrà una mostra dal titolo Ri-Conoscere Michelangelo. La scultura del Buonarroti nella fotografia e nella pittura dall'Ottocento a oggi, dove si trova la più famosa e celebrata scultura di Michelangelo, il David. Dal 18 febbraio-18 aprile, l'Archivio di Stato di Firenze permetterà di vedere i documenti riguardanti Michelangelo relativi agli ultimi 450 anni, tra cui anche alcune opere di Galileo.
A few words with Carlo Cammelli: a borderline manager
Carlo Cammelli Responsabile Settore Tecnologie e supporto ai processi ICT at Consiglio Regionale della Toscana
By Fabrizio Ulivieri
Istituto Europeo Translated by Louisa Loring
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ou are a bit of a ‘borderline’ man because on one side you work for the Consiglio della Regione Toscana and so you have to meet that demand. On the other side, you are faced with the city of Florence. How can you facilitate the demands of both the Consiglio della Regione Toscana and all the technological aspects and the relationship with the city? Today, this is one of the most important questions that you could have asked me because the idea of the presence of this institution, which is public and represents the whole Tuscan society, is very significant.
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ottor Cammelli lei è un manager, per così dire, borderline perché da una parte lavora per il Consiglio della Regione Toscana e quindi deve fronteggiare tutte le necessità che ciò implica, dall’altra deve affrontare le esigenze che la città di Firenze comporta. Come si possono facilitare le richieste del Consiglio della Regione Toscana e di tutti gli aspetti tecnologici e il rapporto con la città, e la sua informazione? Questa è senz’altro una domanda di grande significatività perché il Consiglio Regionale della Toscana, che è un’istituzione pubblica nella città di Firenze, rappresenta comunque tutta la società toscana. La tecnologia è fondamentale, può essere utilizzata per comunicare credenze politiche e opinioni e per rendere i cittadini consapevoli esattamente di quello che avviene nel Consiglio e stimolare la loro partecipazione. L’esempio recente è quello dell’ampliamento dell'aeroporto. È stata una lunga battaglia. Non è un esempio da consigliare, ma cerchiamo comunque di capire quanto distruttivo o positivo possa essere per Firenze. La tecnologia ci permette, a mio parere, di avere un’idea più chiara di quello che sta succedendo, e soprattutto ci aiuta ad avere un quadro completo, cioè anche quello dalla parte dei cittadini che senza la tecnologia potrebbe non essere incluso. Questo è il punto più critico su cui lavoriamo continuamente per cercare di far capire appieno cosa sta succedendo e, quindi, imparare il modo migliore per farlo cercando di capire il tipo di posizione che i cittadini prendono rispetto a questi cambiamenti. Penso che sia molto importante prendere in
considerazione anche i pareri dei cittadini fiorentini. Dottor Cammelli potrebbe fornirci degli esempi di progetti specifici per darci un’idea di come si lavora per collegare il Consiglio e la città? Ci sono due livelli. Il primo consiste nel rendere manifesto ciò che è deciso e ciò che è effettivamente realizzato dal Consiglio utilizzando la rete; in questo modo mettiamo a disposizione un intero elenco di tutto ciò che si attua e, quindi, chi vuole può seguirlo collegandosi al sito http://www.consiglio.regione. toscana.it nel quale rendiamo accessibili attraverso il web tutti gli eventi in corso al Consiglio in modo molto semplice. Se qualcuno è impegnato e non può seguire l’intervento in diretta potrà fare una ricerca per tema ed il nostro nuovo sistema genererà la parte specifica della manifestazione cercata. Questo primo livello rende tutto più chiaro e più semplice. Il secondo livello è quello dell’interazione. Qualche tempo fa, abbiamo iniziato un blog sul Piano Sanitario che è importante per molte ragioni, come registrare i pareri dei cittadini per esempio. In questo modo, le voci sono prese in considerazione e analizzate tanto che alcuni problemi venuti fuori tramite questo secondo livello sono stati presi in considerazione e risolti. Ora stiamo lavorando sugli open data, che è una grande iniziativa che consente ai cittadini di vedere le informazioni sui progetti governativi come progetti sanitari o progetti di urbanizzazione, senza mediazione e che consente collaborazione in tempo reale.
Design
www.florenceisyou.com
Federica Maglione A Lady of Italian Design
April - May 2014
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info@florenceisyou.com
Florence Design Week
returns from April 22 to May 1
By Ellen Miller
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Federica Maglione, Interior designer
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ederica Maglione is an interior designer. The post degree master attended first in Florence then in London, her collaboratiations with important firms in Naples have improved her competence in architecture. Her houses originate from an accurate analysis of her client’ tastes, passions and bias. In such a way she is successful in being in tune with them. Her works deal with private houses, showrooms, bars, farmhouses and antique palaces in different towns like Capri, Roma, Milano. Her work for Strenesse showroom in Naples has been included among the most beautiful shops in the word selected by Vogue Magazine.
Email: federicamaglione@gmail.com
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ederica Maglione svolge attività di interior designer. I master post laurea frequentati prima a Firenze e poi a Londra, le collaborazioni presso importanti studi di architettura di Napoli hanno affinato le sue competenze in ambito architettonico. Le sue case nascono da un’analisi attenta dei gusti, delle passioni e delle inclinazioni della sua committenza, con la quale riesce ad entrare in perfetta sintonia. I suoi progetti comprendono residenze private, showroom, bar, casali e palazzi d’epoca in città diverse come Capri, Roma, Cortina, Milano. Nella guida di Vogue sui negozi più belli al mondo è stato selezionato ed inserito il suo lavoro per il negozio Strenesse a Napoli.
his April 22 to May 1, Florence Design Week returns to the city for an in-depth look at lifestyle and design from an international perspective. This year marks the fifth anniversary of the city's focus on design and the theme of the week will center around making design a significant aspect of life, not just a profession. The city is a perfect setting for design, as Florence is full of ancient architecture and monuments, art and antiques. The official title for the week is “Beyond Design,” the goal of the week being to foster a discussion about the future of design and its influence in other spheres of life. Previous editions have included “fdw says hello,” “Design for,” “Connecting time,” and “Crossing People.” The events during the week will take place in significant buildings across the city, such as libraries, historical palaces, villas and grand hotels. Specific venues for the 2014 edition include the National Library, the Archivio di Stato, Opera del Duomo museum, Borghese palace and the Hotel Minerva. Thirty-five events, conferences, seminars and workshops will occur during the week to achieve the goal of creating a design dialogue. Representatives from Moscow Design Week, St. Petersburg Design Week, London Design Week, Melbourne Design Week and countries including Brazil, Romania, Spain, Poland and Mexico, among others, have been invited to ensure that worldwide views are represented. Six primary categories are represented dur-
Takako Irifune Jewelry designer is bonding and identifies us. Jofewelry It takes thousands and thousands years for a stone to form.
Every single stone has its own story from a long time ago, even before we were born. Every stone has a different design that brings it to life. My work begins with taking good care of stones that are delicately raised by our Great Mother Earth. My decision to be become a designer is strongly influenced by memories of my mother. Since I was a little girl, she gave me pearls and other jewelry as a gift for my birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions. Therefore everytime I wear jewelry it makes me think of her smile and the
words that she used to say to me. Yes, jewelry truly bonds us to one another. As I said earlier, every single stone is in need of its own different design. I often use big stones for my jewelry. One of the reasons is that I would like to make the most of its uniqueness and character. Even the rings I make have a unique design in which a part of the ring is movable because I want its owner to be able to communicate with the jewelry all the time. The jewelry that only you can share anytime, the jewelry is you. Jewelry is identity.
www.takako-jewelry.com
www.magneticsnails.com info@magneticsnails.com
ing Florence Design week, which include visual design, industrial design, interior design, architecture, fashion and food and music design, though the categories may be a little broader given the year's theme. International companies, schools and other groups are welcome to take part in Florence Design Week. For the average spectator, there will be no shortage of events to attend, including design-focused apertivos and lectures. Some designers will also have their work on display around the city, making it a great opportunity to see what is trending in the design world. Given the week's wide theme, this year's edition of Florence Design Week promises to interest any passerby into taking another glimpse into how design impacts their own life.
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Culture
April - May 2014
www.florenceisyou.com
Florence Capital of Italy 150th anniversary
“Posters” at Palazzo Viviani
the right to a proper funerary monument, and two centuries later he was still susceptible to contemptuous attacks by the Church.
for having first unified the Italian language in his Divina Commedia. With past splendours in mind, next year upcoming celebrations shall be an occasion not only to remember Florence being a capital for the six years between 1865 and 1871, but also to think about the present and the future of our city, with the objective of supporting the people and enterprises that still make Florence an international reference for culture, fashion and quality craft.
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Italiano
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Florence Communal Council President
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s the 150th anniversary of Florence becoming temporary Capital of Italy approaches, awareness and interest are raising among its residents for the upcoming celebrations that will follow. Beginning on 15th September of this year, we will be recalling the first time an official document stated that the capital should be relocated from Turin to Florence, as in the Treaty of Paris between France and Italy. On 3rd February 2015, we will be recalling King Vittorio Emanuele II’s coming to Florence as the King of Italy and on the following 14th May we will be re-enacting the official moving ceremony of the Italian capital to the side of river Arno. Coming from the most important cities of a nation estabilished only four years before, a spectacular procession of communal Banners of Arms gathered on that occasion in the presence of the King and of government authorities in Piazza Santa Croce, to greet the new statue of Dante Alighieri sculpted by Ravenna artist Enrico Pazzi. As the President of the Communal Council, I was called upon to lead the Celebration Commitee, which already includes more than a hundred associations and institutions and has planned over 60 events for 2015. For a happy coincidence, these will be intertwining with the 750th birth anniversary of poet Dante Alighieri, who seems the most suitable Florentine to represent Italian Unification
a ricorrenza dei 150 anni di Firenze Capitale d’Italia, sta crescendo nella sensibilità della città di Firenze, anche perché si stanno approssimando le date che ne fanno da riferimento. Il 15 di settembre di questo anno ricorderemo come 150 anni fa, con il trattato di Parigi tra Italia e Francia fu per la prima volta, in un atto ufficiale, stabilito che la capitale si sarebbe trasferita da Torino alla più centrale Firenze. Il 3 febbraio del 2015 ricorderemo come 150 anni prima per la prima volta il re Vittorio Emanuele II arrivava a Firenze come Re d’Italia, mentre il 14 maggio successivo la cerimonia ufficiale del trasferimento della Capitale in riva d’Arno avveniva con lo scoprimento della nuova statua di Dante Alighieri in santa Croce realizzata dallo scultore di Ravenna Enrico Pazzi, alla presenza del Re, delle autorità di governi di un’imponente sfilata di gonfaloni comunali provenienti dalle più importanti città d’Italia costituitasi come nazione da solo 4 anni. Quale Presidente del Consiglio Comunale sono stato chiamato a coordinare il comitato per i festeggiamenti e già più di 100 tra istituzioni e associazioni hanno aderito a tale comitato predisponendo il progetto per più di 60 iniziative che avranno il loro culmine nell’anno 2015, peraltro intrecciando l’anniversario con i 750 anni dalla nascita del fiorentino simbolicamente più importante per ricordare l’Unità Nazionale, quel Dante Alighieri che con la sua Divina commedia segnò l’Unità linguistica in Italia. Sarà l’occasione non solo per ricordare la storia di 6 anni con Firenze Capitale (1865-1871) ma anche per pensare alla Firenze del Presente e del futuro, valorizzando i profili che la vedono ancora riferimento di avanguardia, sul piano della cultura, della moda, dell’artigianato di qualità, a livello Nazionale e Internazionale.
4390, The Taxi 2.0
comfort of the cars, safety, speed of service. It’s a challenge but we grasp with open arms, because the alternative would be to lose market share.
info@florenceisyou.com
By Niccolò Rinaldi
Member of the European Parliament (Gruppo ALDE), Florentine and author of Firenze Insolita e Segreta - Jonglez
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his curiosity is ideal if you have half an hour to spare before your train leaves: just a short walk from the station of Santa Maria Novella, the narrow and bustling Via Sant’Antonio near the San Lorenzo market, contains Palazzo Viviani, which is known as Palazzo dei Cartelloni because of its rather strange façade that represents a unique feature in Florence. Viviani was a famous seventeenth-century mathematician and he had the front of the building covered with three inscribed “posters” (cartelloni): one to either side and a smaller one in the middle. The Latin texts are by Viviani himself and describe and celebrate the astronomical discoveries and inventions of Galileo: the telescope, the “Medici planets” (actually moons of Jupiter), Sun spots, the resistance of solids, projectile trajectory, a proposed solution to the problem of calculating longitude at sea. These are all depicted in the bas-reliefs that surmount the main doorway, together with a bust of the great astronomer by the sculptor Giovan Battista Foggini. But Viviani did not use the cartelloni simply to praise Galileo’s scientific achievements; he was also concerned to stress his faith and moral probity. Hence, these inscriptions have something of the air of a political manifesto. Having died while still suspected of heresy, Galileo had not even had
ridosso del mercato di San Lorenzo, a due passi dalla stazione di Santa Maria Novella, nella stretta e popolare via di Sant’Antonino ci s’imbatte a un tratto nella bizzarra facciata del cosiddetto Palazzo dei Cartelloni, che altro non sarebbe che il Palazzo Viviani sul quale il celebre matematico seicentesco collocò questi cosiddetti “cartelloni”, ovvero tre grandi epigrafi, due laterali e una, più ridotta, centrale. Le iscrizioni latine, dettate dallo stesso Viviani, descrivono e glorificano le invenzioni e le scoperte soprattutto astronomiche di Galileo, cannocchiale, pianeti medicei, macchie solari, resistenza dei solidi, traiettoria dei proiettili, calcolo della longitudine in mare, per altro raffigurate anche nei bassorilievi che, insieme al busto dello scienziato, sovrastano il portone d’ingresso, opera dello scultore Giovan Battisti Foggini. Non solo: con questi cartelloni Vincenzo Viviani desiderò soprattutto tracciare pubblicamente un ritratto morale, ricordando la sua fede e onestà del maestro Galileo. In questo senso sono epigrafi che costituiscono anche un manifesto politico, perché all’epoca a Galileo, morto in odore di eresia, non era stato dedicato nemmeno un monumento funebre e parte della sua personalità era ancora soggetta a sprezzanti critiche da parte ecclesiale. A prima vista i cartelloni appaiono davvero imponenti, quasi un’ossessione propagandistica, anche perché collocati nel settore centrale del palazzo, il quale, separato da spigoli rinforzati nella facciata, dà l’idea di un edificio separato dalle sue ali e dunque più piccolo di quanto in realtà non sia. L’effetto risolutivo dei cartelloni è per lo meno singolare, e rendono il palazzo, oggi sede di una scuola d’arte americana, come tappezzato da tazebao barocchi. Eppure i cartelloni costituiscono tutt’altro che una stravaganza di maniera, ma rappresentano un tassello tanto di devozione di un allievo per l’insuperabile maestro, quanto un tassello pubblico della cultura scientifica e astronomica fiorentina. Altra curiosità: pare che il Palazzo Viviani, o dei Cartelloni, sia stato edificato al posto delle case dei Del Giocondo, i committenti della Monna Lisa di Leonardo, appunto la “Gioconda”.
Call 199.20.18.16 Okay Casa!
A “service to the city” for domestic sudden failures Un numero di telefono per le riparazioni domestiche
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By Claudio Giudici
Chairman of Taxi 4390 Thanks to 055 4390 Taxi Firenze is arrived the time of taxi 2.0. The 43.90 is in fact since much time attentive to modern technology. In addition to allowing customers to be reached by the most modern sistems call: text message, Skype or app - has also created an ad hoc portal www.florenceintaxi.it to be able to buy the taxi voucher direclty online. This, in addition to allowing you to know first how you spend for a particular trip, will also part of preventive guarantee of the regularity price list. In addition: 1. then the possibility that customers have to be able to pay by sms (activating the special service) or electronics cards; 2. the possibility to travel trough informed tablet installed on board the taxi 4390, so the may know what doing the stock exchange, the horoscope and the news of the day, listening an audio-book and know the recipe of the moment; 3. connect with your device at free cost wifi on taxi. But 43.90 is also the most beloved Italian taxi according to the number of “likes”that has its own Facebook page than any other Italian company. This is definitely a source of pride for us, but also a great responsibility! Social networking forces you to outperform the market in every aspect:
razie allo 055 4390 Taxi Firenze è arrivato il tempo del taxi 2.0. Il 43.90 è infatti da tempo attento alle moderne tecnologie. Oltre a consentire ai clienti di essere raggiunti tramite i più moderni sistemi di chiamata - sms, skype o app - ha creato anche un portale ad hoc www.florenceintaxi.it per poter acquistare il voucher taxi direttamente online. Questo, oltre a consentire di sapere prima quanto il cliente spenderà per un dato percorso, sarà anche elemento di preventiva garanzia circa la regolarità tariffaria. A ciò si aggiungano poi: 1. la possibilità che i clienti hanno di poter pagare con sms (attivando l’apposito servizio) o con carte elettroniche; 2. la possibilità di viaggiare informati grazie al tablet montato a bordo del taxi 4390, così potendo conoscere cosa stia facendo la borsa, l’oroscopo e le notizie del giorno, ascoltare un video-libro, o conoscere la ricetta del momento; 3. connettersi col proprio device a costo zero grazie alla connessione wifi presente sul taxi. Ma il 43.90 è anche il taxi più amato d’Italia stando al numero dei “mi piace” che ha la sua pagina Facebook rispetto a quella di ogni altra compagnia italiana. Questo è sicuramente un vanto per noi, ma anche una grande responsabilità! Il social networking ti obbliga a sovra-performare il mercato in ogni aspetto: comodità delle vetture, sicurezza, velocità del servizio. È una sfida che però noi cogliamo a braccia aperte, anche perché l’alternativa sarebbe quella di perdere quote di mercato.
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“service to the city” for domestic sudden failure, at the moment limited to the Municipality of Florence. 199.20.18.16 is the new number that you can call for urgent repairs in the areas of electrical, plumbing and building works. The Florence Chamber of Commerce, to ensure transparency and fairness in relations between enterprises and their customers , organized a 24-hour on-call service in Florence for the provision of services for urgent repair. So you can easily avoid unpleasant surprises and invoices pricey that some unscrupulous operator, taking advantage of the emergency in which the customer is, often holds in these cases. The service Okay Casa is regulated by a switchboard with automatic call manage the turn of availability of each company. The maximum hourly rates are determined by reference to the Price list of the building and plant works edited by the Florence Chamber of Commerce. No call-out charges. The interventions are carried out by operators with a badge. Italiano
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n “servizio alla città” per i guasti domestici improvvisi, per ora limitato al territorio del Comune di Firenze. 199.20.18.16 è il numero da chiamare per utilizzare il nuovo servizio di riparazioni urgenti nei settori impianti elettrici, idraulici e opere
edili. La Camera di Commercio di Firenze, per garantire trasparenza e correttezza nei rapporti tra le imprese dei settori edile e impiantistico e i loro clienti, ha organizzato un servizio di reperibilità 24 ore su 24 nel comune di Firenze per l’erogazione di servizi di riparazione urgente. Così si possono agevolmente evitare sgradite sorprese e fatture salate, che qualche operatore spregiudicato, approfittando dell’emergenza in cui si trova il cliente, spesso riserva in questi casi. Il servizio è regolato da un centralino di chiamata automatica col quale è gestito il turno di reperibilità di ciascuna impresa, in base alla competenza settoriale e in riferimento alla dislocazione della sede operativa (di regola, la più vicina al chiamante). Le tariffe orarie massime sono stabilite facendo riferimento al Prezzario delle opere edili ed impiantistiche curato dalla Camera di Commercio. Non è dovuto il diritto di chiamata. Gli interventi sono effettuati da operatori muniti di tesserino di riconoscimento. Per informazioni sul servizio: tel. 055 2981212 oppure 055 2750392 Camera di Commercio di Firenze Centralino 055 29810 Fax 055 2981157 E-mail info@fi.camcom.it Posta elettronica certificata: cciaa.firenze@fi.legalmail.camcom.it
Your Newspaper in English and Italian
Museums Accademia Gallery Via Ricasoli, 58-60 www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi Piazza Strozzi www.palazzostrozzi.org Museum of Opera del Duomo Piazza del Duomo Hours: Mon-Sat 9 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Tickets: Full Price: 6 euros www.operaduomo.firenze.it
Libraries Harold Acton Library of the British Institute Lungarno Guicciardini, 9 50123 Firenze Tel. 055. 2677 8270 www.britishinstitute.it Laurentian Library Piazza di San Lorenzo, 9 Tel. 055. 21 07 60 Mon - Sat: 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. www.sbn.it Marucelliana Library Via Cavour, 43-45 Tel. 055. 27 22 200 Mon - Fri: 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sat: 8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. www.maru.firenze.sbn.it
Bargello National Museum Via del Proconsolo, 4 www.polomuseale.firenze.it Museum of Medici Chapels Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6 www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Museum Galileo The Museum is open every day including Sundays and holidays except for 1 January and 25 December www.museogalileo.it
National Central Library Piazza Cavalleggeri, 1/a Tel. 055. 24 91 91 Mon - Fri: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sat: 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. www.bncf.firenze.sbn.it
The Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens, Piazza Pitti, 1 www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Information Tourist Information Comune di Firenze Piazza Stazione, 4 Mon - Sat: 8:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sun: 8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Tel. 055. 21 22 45 / 27 28 208 www.comune.fi.it turismo3@comune.fi.it Tourist Point in The Bigallo Museum Comune di Firenze Piazza San Giovanni, 1 (Ground Floor) Mon - Sat: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sun: 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Tel. 055. 28 84 96 bigallo@comune.fi.it Firenze Turismo Ufficio Informazioni Provincia di Firenze Via Cavour, 1/R Mon - Sat: 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. Tel. 055. 29 08 32 / 29 08 33 www.firenzeturismo.It info@firenzeturismo.it Florence Airport Comune di Firenze Airport A. Vespucci Via del Termine, 1 Mon - Sat: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sun: 9a.m. - 2 p.m. Tel. 055. 31 58 74 infoaeroporto@aeroporto.firenze.it
Transport
Palazzo Davanzati Via Porta Rossa, 13 www.polomuseale.firenze.it Uffizi Gallery Loggiato degli Uffizi, 6 www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Museum of Santa Croce Piazza Santa Croce, 16, Monday - Saturday 9:30 am - 5:30 pm (last admission is at 5:00 pm: the ticket office closes half an hour before closing time) www.santacroceopera.it
Oblate Library Via dell’Oriuolo, 26 Tel. 055. 26 16 512 Mon: 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. Wed - Sat: 9a.m. - 12p.m. www.bibliotecadelleoblate.it Riccardiana Library Palazzo Medici Riccardi Via Ginori, 10 Tel. 055. 21 25 86/ 05529 33 85 Mon, Thu: 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Tue, Fri: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. www.riccardiana.firenze.sbn.it Spadolini Library Via Pian dei Giullari, 139 055. 233 6071 nuovaantologia@cosimoceccuti.191.it Vieusseux Library Piazza e Palazzo Strozzi Tel. 055. 288342 int. 1 biblioteca@vieusseux.it
Museum of Casa Buonarroti Via Ghibellina, 70 Hours: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Closed: Tue Tickets Full Price: 6.50 euros www.casabuonarroti.it
Opificio delle Pietre Dure Via degli Alfani, 78 Hours: 8:15 a.m. - 2 p.m. Closed: Sun.&Holidays Tickets: Full Price 4 euros www.opificiodellepietredure.it Palazzo Vecchio Museum Piazza della Signoria Hours: Oct. - Mar. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. www.museicivicifiorentini.it
City Public Transportation ATAF & LI-NEA: 800. 42 45 00 FROM MOBILE: 199. 10 42 45 www.ataf.net Bus Linea Lazzi Tel. 055. 15 155 - 055. 35 10 61 Serves Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra & Mugello www.lazzi.it
Public Security Carabinieri Police
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Fire Department
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Hospital Careggi Hospital viale Pieraccini, 17 055. 79 41 11 S. Giovanni di Dio Hospital via Torregalli, 3 055. 69321 S. Maria Nuova Hospital Piazza Santa Maria Nuova, 1 055. 69381
Medical Service Emergency Call
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Restaurant and Pizzeria
A journey of flavours through the Mediterranean......
Gelateria and Pasticceria
Spring dates for the tastes of sicily...... Feata del Cannolo 30 Marzo
Festa del Gelato 6 Aprile
piazza frescobaldi
(ponte s. trinità)
in collaborazione con
Festa della Colomba 13 Aprile
Gelateria festa anddelPasticceria gelato
Via della Condotta, 25/r Firenze phone 055. 2657410 email firenze@gallinasmilza.it
Spring dates for the tastes of sicily......
Piazza Santa Croce 12 Firenze, Italia. +39 0552638675 info@finisterraefirenze.com
finisterraefirenze
Quando il sole primaverile scalda le nostre giornate, Feata del Cannolo Festa deldiGelato un bel gelato.Festa della Colomba 10 30 Marzo niente è meglio6 Aprile 13 Aprile Venite a trovarci il 13 e 14 Aprile Quando il sole Piazza Santa Crocee primaverile 12, Firenze scalda le nostre giornate, niente è meglio di un bel gelato. Venite a trovarci il 13 e 14 Aprile finisterrae
www.finisterraefirenze.com
@finisterrae_fi
festa del gelato
finisterraefirenze
Piazza Santa Croce 12 Firenze, Italia. +39 0552638675 info@finisterraefirenze.com
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firenze
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Caran d’Ache Maison de Haute Ècriture
12RISTORANTE PIZZERIA
“S.Croce”
finisterrae
www.finisterraefirenze.com
@finisterrae_fi
Piazza Santa Crocee 12, Firenze
Under the eyes of Dante Alighieri, traditional and Tuscan dishes, a sensational Pizza, comfortably seated in the most beautiful square in Florence
Via del Campanile, 2 50122 Firenze 055. 216158
Sotto lo sguardo di Dante, tradizionali sapori toscani e una pizza strepitosa, comodamente seduti nella piazza più bella di Firenze. Venite a trovarci! Piazza Santa Croce, 12/r - tel. 055. 2466027 www.pizzeriasantacroce.com info@pizzeriasantacroce.com
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This map was hand drawn for Florence is You! by japanese painter and draftsman Yunè Hikosaka. Reproduction without prior written permission is forbidden. Questa mappa è stata disegnata a mano per Florence is You! da Yunè Hikosaka, pittore e grafico giapponese. Ne è proibita la riproduzione senza esplicita autorizzazione scritta.
Be friendly: been there after seeing it here? Tell them! Sostienici: ci andrai? Digli che arrivi da questa mappa!
Piazza Repubblica, 13/14r
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Sede sociale via del Ronco 4, Firenze Showroom via Maffia 18r, Firenze Tel. 055. 2335299 cell. 338. 6055808 Email manugvp@gmail.com
Via del Parione 28/r, Firenze
Find us in Florence
Piazza del Mercato Nuovo, 2/R
Borgo dei Greci, 10/R
Piazza San Giovanni, 7/8R
Via dei Calzaiuoli, 37R
Via dei Calzaiuoli, 42/R
Via Por Santa Maria 3/R
Stazione di Firenze Santa Maria Novella
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Schools
April - May 2014
www.florenceisyou.com
info@florenceisyou.com
Schools and Universities in Florence ABC Centro di lingua e cultura italiana Via Rustici, 7 Tel. 055.212001 Accademia Delle Arti Del Disegno Via Orsanmichele, 4 - 50123 Firenze Tel. 055 288164 Accademia Italiana Arte Moda & Design Piazza Pitti, 15 - 50125 Firenze Tel. 055 211619 fax: 055 284486 American International School of Florence Villa Le Tavernule , Via del Carota, 23/25 Bagno a Ripoli Tel. 055.640033 California State University Via G. Leopardi 12 - 50121 Firenze Tel. 055 2345700 Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri Lingua e Cultura Italiana Via dei Bardi, 12 Tel. 055.2342984 Piazza della Repubblica, 5 Tel. 055.210808 Centro Ponte Vecchio P.zza del Mercato Nuovo, 1 (Logge del Porcellino) Tel. 055.294511 Conservatorio Statale Di Musica L. Cherubini Piazza Delle Belle Arti, 2 - 50122 Firenze Tel. 055. 292180 Drake University c/o Centro Lorenzo de’ Medici, Via Ricasoli, 9 Tel. 055.283142
Eurocentres P.zza S. Spirito, 9 Tel. 055.213030 Fairfield University Via del Giglio, 15 Tel. 055.210058 Florida State University Scuola Borgo Degli Albizi, 15 50122 Firenze, Tel. 055. 234060417 Fua Florence University of the arts Corso Tintori, 21 Firenze Italia 50122 Tel. 055. 2340604 Georgetown University Villa Le Balze, Via Vecchia Fiesolana, 26 Fiesole Tel. 055.59208 Gonzaga-in-Florence Via Giorgio La pira, 16 Tel. 055.215053 Harvard University Villa I Tatti, Via di Vincigliata, 26 Tel. 055.607467 Harding University Via di Triozzi, 57, Scandicci Firenze Tel. 055. 768977 IED Istituto Europeo di Design Via Maurizio Bufalini, 6-red 50122 Firenze - Tel. 055. 29821 International Studies Institute Inc. Via Della Vigna Nuova, 18 50123 Firenze Tel. 055.2645910 Liceo Artistico Statale Leon Battista Alberti Via San Gallo, 68, Tel. 055. 484927
James Madison University Piazza Degli Strozzi, 2 - 50123 Firenze Tel. 055. 2657661 Kent State University Palazzo dei Cerchi, Vicolo dei Cerchi 1 Tel. 055.265836 L’Arca Srl Via Dei Rustici, 7 - Tel. 055. 2654017 Lorenzo de’ Medici Via Faenza, 43 Tel. 055.283142 New York University Villa La Pietra Via Bolognese, 120 Tel. 055.50071 Fax 055.472725 Parola S.R.L. Corso Dei Tintori,8 - Tel. 055. 242182 Pepperdine University Viale Milton, 41 Tel. 055.488657 Polimoda Via Pisana, 77 - 5043 Firenze Tel. 055.739961 fax: 055.700287 Richmond College Universita’ Americana Via Maggio, 11 - 50125 Firenze Tel. 055.215956 SACI Studio Art Centers International Via Sant'Antonino, 11 50123 Firenze Tel. 055.289948 Santa Reparata International School of Art (SRISA) Via San Gallo, 53-red, 50129 Firenze 055.462 7374
Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci Via Bufalini Maurizio, 3 - Tel. 055.294820 Stanford-in-Italy Piazza S. M. Sopr’Arno, 1 Tel. 055.2480951 Syracuse University Piazza Savonarola, 15 Tel. 055.570386 The British Institute of Florence Piazza Strozzi, 2 Tel. 055.267781 University of Michigan & University of Wisconsin Via Gramsci, 460 - Sesto Fiorentino Tel. 055.444300
Intern With Us Florence is You! is currently seeking outgoing and motivated candidates for its internship program. Interns will be exposed to all facets of weekly production, including news writing, photography, layout, advertising, public relations, circulation and graphic arts. info@florenceisyou.com
Caran d'Ache and Lory A love story with colour
piazza frescobaldi
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will be distributing free samples for customers to experience the quality of Caran d’Ache collaborazione conand fresh printed postcards with the supplies artists’ works to be used as 15% off vouchers on all Caran d’Ache products until 30th June 2014.
Caran d’Ache Italiano Maisona Maison de Caran Haute d’Ache e Lory, il prestigioL so rivenditore di Firenze, in piazza Frescobaldi n. 4-9/r, offrono la gamma completa dei Ècriture prodotti Fine Arts, tutta 100% Swiss Made, un
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Giuseppe Linardi, Decodificazione, 2011, private collection
✔ Eventi e mostre d’arte ✔ Events and ✔ Pubblicazioni a exhibitions Realizzazione eventi ✔ e Publications mostre d’arte carattere divulgativo Realizzazione di pubblicazioni✔aPress carattere divulgativo ✔ Ufficio Stampa Office Ufficio Stampa ✔ Siti web ✔ Web sites ✔ Social media ✔ Social media Events and exhibitions ✔ Graphic design ✔ Graphic design Publications ✔ Grafica Editorialeeventi ✔ graphics Realizzazione e Editorial mostre d’arte Press Office
Realizzazione di pubblicazioni a carattere divulgativo www.acontemporaryart.org Ufficio Stampa info@acontemporaryart.org Events and exhibitions
restigious Florence stationary retailer Lory, together with Maison Caran d’Ache, offers the complete 100% Swiss Made Fine Arts product range, a custom service and a world of surprises for customers who take the time to discover the Maison’s exclusive creations and to experience the same atmosphere of Geneva ateliers. A world apart, that Caran d’Ache serves Art with passion since its origins, developing signature top quality products and promoting innovation. Happily situated in a splendid historic building, Lory Stationery Store offers several services to both Florentines and foreign visitors. Artists, Students and Fine Arts lovers choose Lory to find both the support that Caran d’Ache offers for drawing and painting and an opportunity to understand paints and supplies before creating their first palette and going wild with creativity. Professional Graphics and Photographers choose Lory as their Digital Fine Art Print Center. Offering services that extend from Digital Photo Duplication to custom Wallpaper Printing, we provide our customers with a top quality, full range assistance. Moreover, Lory and Caran d’Ache organize their first “Art Paint Live”. Using different Caran d’Ache supplies, four artists with different styles will be showing their expertise in a live painting event from 11.00 to 18.30 of 16th and 17th May 2014. On this occasion we
servizio speciale e un mondo di sorprese….. riservate a quelli che si prendono il tempo per scoprire le creazioni esclusive della Maison e rivivere la stessa atmosfera degli atelier di Ginevra. Un mondo a parte, legato sin dalle origini all’arte che Caran d’Ache ha sempre servito con passione e innovazione, firmando prodotti d’eccellenza. Cartoleria Lory situata in un bel palazzo d’epoca offre svariati servizi, per i fiorentini e per i visitatori della città, italiani e stranieri. Lory è scelto dall’artista, dallo studente e dall’amante delle Belle Arti per trovare tutto ciò che Caran d’Ache offre per il disegno e per il colore, una meravigliosa opportunità di capire i colori e i materiali di supporto prima di creare la propria tavolozza e dare libero sfogo all’immaginazione e alla creatività. Lory è centro stampa digitale scelto da grafici e fotografi, orientato al Digital Fine Arts, che opera dalla classica duplicazione fino alla personalizzazione della carta da parati per wall paper. È offerto un servizio alla grafica completo e di qualità. Caran d’Ache e Lory, organizzano il 1° art paint live, 4 artisti con stili diversi e grazie a differenti materiali Caran d’Ache, si esibiranno dal vivo mostrando le loro abilità dalle 11.00 alle 18.30 nei giorni 16 e 17 maggio 2014. Durante la manifestazione sarà possibile avere gratuitamente del materiale per provare la qualità Caran d’Ache e cartoline con le opere degli artisti con cui ottenere lo sconto del 15% sui prodotti Caran d’Ache fino al 30.06.2014.
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Contemporary Art
www.florenceisyou.com
April - May 2014
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Xu Hongfei’s sculpture exhibition in Italy
Xu Hongfei, sculptor
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u Hongfei, born in Yangjiang City, Guangdong Province in 1963, graduated from Sculpture Department in Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 1990. He is now Dean of Guangzhou Sculpture Academy and national first-grade artist. His “Chubby Women” sculptures are quite unique in the China sculpture field. Xu Hongfei is good at applying various materials to create his humorous “Chubby Women” from different perspectives. They are bold, exaggerated but reasonable; they are the “Laurel and Hardy’’ in the sculpture comedy, carrying the praise and compliment to those chubby people. Looking back the last two hugely successful exhibitions in Sydney and Melbourne, we know that this celebrated sculptor’s conf ìdent, humorous and happy “Chubby Women” Xu Hongfei's sculpture exhibition in Sydney
are quite popular among the local people because such an extraordinary fresh experience is right presented on Australia soil. And his work Foreshore Frolics was even collected by Sydney government. Ever since “Chubby Women” came into being, they have been widely appreciated by people. Now “Chubby Women” sculptures have been displayed in many cities and become collections of numerous art institutions and private at home and abroad. Chubby as they are, they are happy, cute, simple and cultured, they have their own realms. Traveling along with Xu Hongfei, “Chubby Woman” fly through France, Australia, Swiss and Thailand and arrive at its third exibition stop, Italy. It is believed that the coming exhibition will definitely be an unexpected visual feast.
Xu Hongfei's sculpture exhibition in Montepulciano (Siena) Hongfei's sculpture exhibition in Sydney
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April - May 2014
www.florenceisyou.com Il Calzolaio prodigioso. Fiabe e leggende su scarpe e calzolai The Amazing shoemaker. Fairy tales about shoes and shoemakers dal 19 giugno 2013 al 18 maggio 2014 from June 19 2013 to May 18 2014 Museo Ferragamo, Palazzo Spini Feroni Ferragamo Museum, Palazzo Spini Feroni Info:+39 055 3360456+39 055 3562417 www.museoferragamo.com
Cortona. L'alba dei principi etruschi Cortona. The dawn of the Etruscan Princes dal 15 ottobre 2013 al 31 luglio 2014 from October 15 2013 to July 31 2014 Museo Archeologico National Archaeological Museum Info:+39 055 2357720+39 055 2357717 Il cappello tra arte e stravaganza Hats between art and extravaganza dal 03 dicembre 2013 al 18 maggio 2014 from December 3 2013 to May 18 2014 Palazzo Pitti, Galleria del Costume Pitti Palace, The Costume Gallery Info:+39 055 294883+39 055 2388801 www.cappelloinmostra.it
Events in Florence Le Stanze delle Muse. Dipinti Barocchi dalla collezione di Francesco Molinari Pradelli The Rooms of the Muses.Baroque Paintings from the Francesco Molinari Pradelli collection dal 11 febbraio 2014 al 11 maggio 2014 from February 11 2014 to May 11 2014 Galleria degli Uffizi Uffizi Gallery Info:+39 055 294883 www.unannoadarte.it
Ri-conoscere Michelangelo. La scultura del Buonarroti nella fotografia e nella pittura dall'Ottocento a oggi Getting reacquainted with Michelangelo. Sculpture by Buonarroti in photographs and paintings from the 19th century to the present dal 18 febbraio 2014 al 18 maggio 2014 from February 18 2014 to May 18 2014 Galleria dell'Accademia Accademia Gallery Info:+39 055 290832 www.unannoadarte.it
Aldo Fallai. Da Giorgio Armani al Rinascimento. Fotografie dal 1978 al 2013 Aldo Fallai. From Giorgio Armani to the Renaissance. Photographs 1978-2013 dal 10 gennaio 2014 al 10 aprile 2014 from January 10 2014 to April 10 2014 Villa Bardini e Museo Stefano Bardini Villa Bardini and Stefano Bardini Museum Info:+39 055 20066206+39 055 2388616 www.bardinipeyron.it
Una volta nella vita. Tesori dagli archivi e dalle biblioteche di Firenze Once in a Lifetime. Treasures from the Archives and Libraries of Florence dal 28 gennaio 2014 al 27 aprile 2014 from January 28 2014 to April 27 2014 Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina Pitti Palace, Palatine Gallery Info:+39 055 2388616+39 055 294883 www.unannoadarte.it
Questioni di famiglia. Vivere e rappresentare la famiglia di oggi Family Matters. Portraits and experiences of family today dal 14 marzo 2014 al 20 luglio 2014 from March 14 2014 to July 20 2014 Strozzina presso Palazzo Strozzi Strozzina at Palazzo Strozzi Info:+39 055 2645155+39 055 39 17 11 www.strozzina.org
Giorgio Di Stefano Stati di Luce Giorgio Di Stefano States of Light dal 14 marzo 2014 al 11 maggio 2014 from March 14 2014 to May 11 2014 Palazzo Strozzi, Agora/Z Design and Bookshop Strozzi Palace, Agora/Z Design and Bookshop Info:+39 055 2654384+39 055 2776461 www.mandragora.it Late One Morning: Luca Trevisani e Diane Lund Late One Morning: Luca Trevisani and Diane Lund dal 24 marzo 2014 al 10 maggio 2014 from March 24 2014 to May 10 2014 Museo Marino Marini Marino Marini Museum Info:+39 055 219432 www.museomarinomarini.it Zeffirelli Filistrucchi Memorie di un sodalizio artistico Zeffirelli Filistrucchi Memories of an artistic partnership dal 28 marzo 2014 al 16 aprile 2014 from March 28 2014 to April 16 2014 Teatro della Pergola Info:+39 055 0763333 www.fondazioneteatrodellapergola.it
Femminilità radicale. Lee Lozano, Alina Szapocznicow, Evelyne Axell nella Collezione Pinault Radical womanhood. Lee Lozan, Alina Szapocznicow, Evelyne Axell in the Pinault Collection dal 20 febbraio 2014 al 07 settembre 2014 from February 20 2014 to September 7 2014, Museo Gucci Gucci Museum Info:+39 055 75923302 www.guccimuseo.com
info@florenceisyou.com
Arte e Politica. Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Elettrice Palatina: l'ultima stagione della committenza medicea Art and Politics. Anna Maria Luisa de 'Medici, Elettrice Palatina : The last season of the patronage of the Medici dal 08 aprile 2014 al 02 novembre 2014 from April 8 2014 to November 2 2014 Cappelle Medicee Medici Chapels Info:+39 055 2388602+39 055 294883 www.polomuseale.firenze.it
Animalia. Gli uomini e la cura degli animali nei manoscritti della Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana Animalia. Men and the care for the animals in the manuscripts of the Laurentian Library dal 14 aprile 2014 al 14 giugno 2014 from April 14 2014 to June 14 2014 Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana Laurentian Library Info:+39 055 210760 www.bmlonline.it Giovanni Colacicchi. Figure di ritmo e di luce nella Firenze del ‘900 Giovanni Colacicchi. Figures of rhythm and light in twentieth century Florence dal 16 aprile 2014 al 19 ottobre 2014 from April 16 2014 to October 19 2014 Villa Bardini Info:+39 055 20066206+39 055 2388616 www.bardinipeyron.it Apertura al pubblico del Giardino dell'Iris Opening of the Iris Garden dal 25 aprile 2014 al 20 maggio 2014 from April 25 2014 to May 20 2014 Giardino dell'Iris, Piazzale Michelangelo - Balcone Est Iris Garden, Piazzale Michelangelo East side Info:+39 055 483112 www.irisfirenze.it Gioielli d’artista: la tradizione nella modernità Art Jewelry: the tradition in modernity dal 30 aprile 2014 al 15 ottobre 2014 from April 30 2014 to October 15 2014 Spazio Mostre - Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze e Museo Horne Exhibition Hall - Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze and Horne Museum Info:+39 055 5384001 www.entecarifirenze.it
Marcello Reboani Ladies for Human Rights dal 04 marzo 2014 al 06 aprile 2014 from March 4 2014 to April 6 2014 RFK Center Europe, nel complesso delle ex-Murate RFK Center Europe, in the premises of the former prison "Le Murate" Info:+39 055 5389250 www.rfkennedyeurope.org Pontormo e Rosso. Divergenti vie della 'maniera' Pontormo and Rosso. Diverging paths of Mannerism dal 08 marzo 2014 al 20 luglio 2014 from March 8 2014 to July 20 2014 Palazzo Strozzi Info:+39 055 2645155+39 055 2469600 www.palazzostrozzi.org
Visita guidata al Teatro della Pergola Guided visit to the Pergola Theatre 09 aprile 2014 April 9 2014 Teatro della Pergola Info:+39 055 2264364museo@ teatrodellapergola.com www.teatrodellapergola.com Baccio Bandinelli. Scultore e Maestro (1493-1560) Baccio Bandinelli. Sculptor and Maestro (1493-1560) dal 09 aprile 2014 al 13 luglio 2014 from April 9 2014 to July 13 2014 Museo Nazionale del Bargello Bargello National Museum Info:+39 055 294883 www.unannoadarte.it
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Events in Florence
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30 APRILE 2014
By E. M.
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f you are a night owl, then stop right now and mark April 30 on your calendar. The night is unique to Florence and is not to be missed, even if you typically opt for an earlier bedtime. On this night in Florence the museums and much of the city stays open late for the “notte bianca.” A rarity in Florence, the streets become packed with Italians and foreigners out late to both explore and see what all the fuss is about. For safety, there are several bus lines that will operate the entire night, so even those who don't live in the city center can partake in the festivities. Many museums remain open until midnight and the list of live performances to choose from is dizzying. In addition, the night is a great opportunity to view some of the museums of Florence for free! Past participants have included the Uffizi Gallery, the Palazzo Vecchio, the Museo Casa di Dante and the Alinari photography museum. Notte bianca is a concept created in France about 30 years ago as the “nuit blanche” but has quickly become a favorite of Florentines who use the occasion as an excuse to party and dance in the streets until late
April - May 2014
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Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino Diverging Paths of Mannerism 8 March - 20 July 2014
Evgeny Osipov photographer
into the night. This year will mark the epic fifth edition, meaning that the city is likely to celebrate even more intensely than usual. Leading up to the festivities on the 30th the city will distrubute the schedule of events around town at cafes, museums and libraries as well as posting on their website for those looking to get a head start at picking out what they are looking forward to seeing. Previous editions have included not only special art installations, but also everything from the ordinary, such as choral performances, to the outrageous, including tightrope walkers and dancers suspended from ribbons in the sky, a la Cirque de Soleil. For those that make it the whole night (the official hours last year were from 6 PM to 6 AM), there is sometimes a breakfast served to the public, so be sure to check for details as by that time you might be in need of a coffee! The entire event is free to the public, so don't miss it. Plan ahead a bit since the night is a Wednesday knowing in advance that you want to stay out late will help you to plan ahead to ensure that you do not have any major assignments due the next day and truly enjoy the evening!
Rosso Fiorentino (Giovan Battista di Jacopo) (Firenze 1494 - Fontainebleau 1540) Morte di Cleopatra 1525-1527 , olio su tavola
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alazzo Strozzi is hosting a truly unique exhibition devoted to the most original and unconventional adepts of the new way of interpreting art in that season of the Italian Cinquecento that Giorgio Vasari christened the “modern manner”, Pontormo e Rosso Fiorentino. Divergenti vie della "maniera", curated by Antonio Natali, the Director of the Uffizi Gallery, and by Carlo falciani, a lecturer in art history. Pontormo e Rosso Fiorentino, both born in 1494, they trained under Andrea del Sarto, while maintaining a strongly indipendent approach and enornous freedom of expression: if Pontormo, always a favourite with the Medici, was a painter open to stylistic variety and to a renewal of the tradition, the other, Rosso, was more tightly bound to tradition, yet at the same time he was fully capable of flights of originality and innovation. He was inflenced by Cabalistic litersture and esoteric works. This once-in-a-lifetime event has brought together the two artists’ absolute masterpiecesfrom Italy and abroad for the very first time, with many of the works being specially restored for the occasion, offering a new interpretation and a critical illustration of the culturale complexity and variety of expression of a movement inflexibly labelled “Mannerism”.
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alazzo Strozzi ospita una mostra straordinaria dedicata ai pittori più anticonformisti e spregiudicati fra i protagonisti del nuovo modo di intendere l’arte in quella stagione del Cinquecento italiano che Giorgio Vasari chiama ‘maniera moderna’, Pontormo e Rosso Fiorentino. Divergenti vie della "maniera", curata da Antonio Natali, Direttore della galleria degli Uffizi e da Carlo Falciani, docente di storia dell’arte. Pontormo e Rosso Fiorentino nacquero entrambi nel 1494 e si formano con Andrea del Sarto pur mantenendo entrambi una forte indipendenza e una grande libertà espressiva: se Pontormo fu pittore sempre preferito dai Medici e aperto alla varietà linguistica e al rinnovamento degli schemi compositivi della tradizione, l’altro, il Rosso, fu invece legatissimo alla tradizione pur con aneliti di spregiudicatezza e di originalità, influenzato anche dalla letteratura cabalistica e dall’esoterismo. Un evento irripetibile, unico, che vede riuniti per la prima volta i capolavori dei due artisti, provenienti dall’Italia e dall’estero, molti dei quali restaurati per l’occasione, che offre una lettura capace di illustrare criticamente la complessità culturale e la varietà espressiva di una stagione racchiusa nell’etichetta rigida del manierismo. Info: www.palazzostrozzi.org
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April - May 2014
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Events in Italy
Vassily Kandinsky at the Palazzo Reale in Milan
By Ellen Miller
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hanks to a renovation currently occurring at the Centre Pompidou, a major modern art museum in Paris, Milan is currently hosting a major exhibition of Vassily Kandinsky works at the Palazzo Reale. The exhibition occurs on the heels of a major exhibition of Andy Warhol works in Pisa, pointing to Italy's recent focus on modern art and major international exhibitions. The Kandinsky works will remain on display in Milan through April 27 and can be viewed seven days a week, making it an excellent place to hit on days when Italy's main attractions are closed. The exhibition features over 80 Kandinsky works and is arranged chronologically, allowing visitors to truly understand the progression of the artist. Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and theorist, and he is often credited with painting the first truly abstract paintings. Like other famous abstract painters, such as Picasso, his early works tend to feature more realist subjects and his later works a complete focus on the abstract. Therefore, seeing them in the order in which they were painted truly gives the viewer an insight into the artist's pro-
Giallo, rosso e blu, olio su tela di 127×200 cm, 1925, Musée National d’Art moderne, Parigi
cess. When Kandinsky's paintings come up for auction they generally sell in the 1, 500, 000 euro range, making him not only historically significant but also still relevant in the international art market. Throughout his life Kandinsky lived in several different places, growing up in Europe, traveling throughout western Europe and eventually returning to Russia and the influence of both place and the people he encountered along the way is evident in his artwork. Among the works on display will be The Grey (1919), Yellow, Red and Blue (1925), Accent in Pink (1926) and Multicolored set (1938). For lovers of modern art or those simply hoping for a brief break from Italy's overwhelming Renaissance art collection, Kandinsky in Milan is a truly unique opportunity to view the works up close before they return to Paris. www.milanmuseumguide.com
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Gli Etruschi e il Mediterraneo in Rome
By E. M.
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eginning April 15 and running through mid-June, a new major exhibition in Rome celebrates the Etruscan history of Italy through many ancient artifacts that have been rarely seen on public display before, if ever. The exhibition is being held at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and was developed in coordination with the Musée du Louvre-Lens, the recent addition to the Louvre family of museums which was specifically designed and developed to display more of the Louvre's massive collection of art. Instead of focusing on the entire history of the Etruscans, the exhibition narrows in on a single Etruscan city: Cerveteri. Called Kaisraie by the Etruscans, the city was extremely significant in the Mediterranean region and is described as being emblematic of the Etruscan civilization. The ancient city was located only 50 kilometers from Rome, so the setting of the exhibition is appropriate. The exhibit covers ten centuries of Cerveteri's history, aiming to explain how the distinct community formed and how it became such a significant city during the time of the Etruscans. Archeological excavations
carried out in the nineteenth century revealed much of the city's past courtesy of its artifacts, and it is those items that will be on display to demonstrate the history of the city. The exhibit displays important artifacts from the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia and the Museo Nazionale di Cerveteri, but also incorporates a significant number of artifacts courtesy of the Louvre museum that shed additional light on the city. One significant item on display is the Sarcophagus of the Spouses, on display for the first time outside of Paris since it became part of the collection of the Louvre. This exhibition is not only an important look at a significant part of Italian history but also a telling demonstration of the future of art in Europe. Rarely does the Louvre loan out major portions of its collection, but recently the museum has refocused and has committed to displaying more of the art that it cannot possibly house within the walls of its original museum setting. For Italians, this plays out into an incredible opportunity to take a historical look at a city that to the Etruscans had the significance of Athens and Rome.
Frida Khalo: magnificent exhibition in Rome T
he Scuderie del Quirinale is to host a magnificent exhibition on the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (19071954), a symbol of the artistic avant-garde and of the exuberance of Mexican culture in the 20th century. Rome and Genoa are joining together to stage an integrated project comprising two major exhibitions focusing on the life and work of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, running from 20 March to 31 August 2014, explores the art of Frida Kahlo and her ties with the artistic movements of her time, from Mexican Modernism to international Surrealism, analysing their influence on her work. The exhibition at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, entitled Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and due to run from 20 September 2014 to 15 February 2015, carries on the story, taking an in-depth look at Frida's private life, a world of immense suffering at the hub of which we invariably find her husband Diego Rivera, in a relationship that was to have a huge impact on her art. The exhibition sets out to gather around a corpus of her work a selection of absolute masterpieces from major collections, key works belonging to other public and private collections in Mexico, the United States and Europe. The project is completed by a selection of photographs portraying the artist, including those take by Nickolas Murray in the 1940s, a crucial and intriguing complement to Frida Kahol's art in terms of her iconographic codification. Both the exhibition and the catalogue are designed and curated by Helga Prignitz-Poda, a distinguished expert in the life and career of Frida Kahlo and the co-author, together with Salomon Grimberg and Andrea Kettenmann, of the catalogue raisonné of the artist's work published in 1988.
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lle Scuderie del Quirinale una grande mostra sull'artista messicana Frida Kahlo (1907-1954), simbolo dell'avanguardia artistica e dell'esuberanza della cultura messicana del Novecento. Roma e Genova presentano con un progetto congiunto e integrato con due importanti mostre incentrate sull’opera dell’artista messicana Frida Kahlo. La mostra romana, alle Scuderie del Quirinale, dal 20 marzo al 31 agosto 2014, indaga Frida Kahlo e il suo rapporto con i movimenti artistici dell’epoca, dal Modernismo messicano al Surrealismo internazionale, analizzandone le influenze sulle sue opere. La mostra genovese, Frida Kahlo e Diego Rivera, a Palazzo Ducale, dal 20 settembre 2014 al 15 febbraio 2015, prosegue il racconto iniziato, analizzando l'universo privato di Frida, un universo di grande sofferenza, al centro del quale sarà sempre il marito Diego Rivera, delineando un rapporto che lascerà enormi tracce nella sua arte. La mostra intende riunire attorno ad un corpus capolavori assoluti provenienti dai principali nuclei collezionistici, opere chiave appartenenti ad altre raccolte pubbliche e private in Messico, Stati Uniti, Europa. Completa il progetto, una selezione dei ritratti fotografici dell'artista, tra cui quelli realizzati da Nickolas Muray negli anni quaranta, indispensabile quanto suggestivo complemento all'arte di Frida Kahlo sotto il profilo della codificazione iconografica del personaggio. La progettazione della mostra e del catalogo è affidata alla cura di Helga Prignitz-Poda, accreditata specialista dell'opera di Frida Kahlo, autrice con Salomon Grimberg e Andrea Kettenmann del catalogo ragionato dell'artista nel 1988. See more at: www.scuderiequirinale.it
Food & Wine
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April - May 2014
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Zucchini and dill soup with crispy ginger salmon In a tall pan, place the zucchini with water, garlic, herbs and butter. Season lightly with salt and pepper, cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Simmer briefly until the zucchini are just tender. Let it stand for a few hours - or best overnight. A few minutes before serving, heat the oil in a frying pan, season the salmon and lay it in the pan on the skin side for two minutes. Flip it once and cook it briefly for another two minutes. Blend the soup, heat it through and serve it with the flaked salmon topping.
sobbollire brevemente finché le zucchine non sono tenere. Far riposare per qualche ora - o meglio per una notte. Pochi minuti prima di servire, scaldare poco olio in una padella, condire il salmone e appoggiarlo nell’olio caldo dal lato della pelle. Cuocere per due minuti, girarlo una sola volta e finire di cuocere per circa altri due minuti. Frullare la vellutata, scaldarla e servirla con il salmone sfilacciato a mano.
Italiano
By Chiara Francioli
Food and lifestyle blogger at www.comeicavoliamerenda.com
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By C.F.
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eing garlic the secret of a tasty broth, spring is the perfect season to enjoy it fresh in a delicate, sweet soup. Here’s a super-easy one with some va-va-voom effect in the topping, that can be turned vegetarian by simply replacing the salmon with a spoonful of rich, soft cheese per serving. There is plenty of dill for a northern flavour and tangy ginger on caramelized salmon to pretend it’s already summer. WHAT YOU NEED (for three people) FOR THE SOUP zucchini - 6 roughly chopped water - 2 cups butter - one third stick new season garlic - 4 peeled cloves herbs de Provence - one pinch dill - one tablespoon salt and pepper as needed FOR THE TOPPING salmon - one large fillet lemon - zest of one ginger - one finger, grated from the root salt and pepper as needed olive oil - a glug
ellutata di zucchine all’aneto con salmone croccante allo zenzeroSe l’aglio è il segreto di molti brodi saporiti, la primavera è la stagione perfetta per gustarlo fresco in una zuppa dolce e delicata. Eccone una facilissima da fare ma con un topping scenografico, che può diventare vegetariana semplicemente sostituendo al salmone una cucchiaiata di formaggio cremoso e sapido. C’è un abbondante pizzico di aneto per un sapore nordico e la freschezza pungente dello zenzero sul salmone caramellato per far finta che l’estate sia già arrivata. SERVONO (per tre persone) PER LA ZUPPA zucchine - 6 tagliate grossolanamente acqua - 2 bicchieri burro - 40 grammi aglio fresco - 4 spicchi sbucciati erbe di Provenza - un pizzico aneto - un cucchiaio sale e pepe PER IL SALMONE salmone - un filetto grande limone - la buccia grattata zenzero fresco - un dito, grattato dalla radice sale e pepe, olio d’oliva In una pentola a bordi alti mettere le zucchine con l’acqua, le erbe, l’aglio e il burro, salare, pepare e portare a bollore coperto. Far
Food Hunt: Jam or facial?
Photo courtesy of Patry Jikia
Did you know a breakfast treat could double as a facial? Nor did we, until we stepped into top brand beauty treatment jams at Professione and Bellezza, find Franca on our map on page 16 Sapevate che ci sono marmellate che si spalmano sul viso? Nemmeno noi, finché non abbiamo trovato le marmellate-trattamento da Professione and Bellezza, trova Franca sulla nostra mappa a pagina 16
Peter’s Tea House: a cup of spring
By C.F.
Owner and soul at Peter’s Tea House Florence, Loredana Palombi oozes at least as much style as her shop, which is packed with precious treats and delicate pottery. For the spring season, here’s what she recommends: Lemongrass and Vanilla white tea Violet Petal white tea Rose Petal black tea Orange Blossom black tea Proprietaria e anima di Peter’s Tea House Firenze, Loredana Palombi emana almeno tanto stile quanto il suo negozio, pieno di dolcezze ricercate e delicate porcellane. Per questa primavera ecco cosa ci propone: Tè nero ai petali di Rosa Tè nero ai fiori di Zagara Tè bianco ai petali di Viola Tè bianco al Lemongrass e Vaniglia
Peter’s Tea House, via dei Fossi 57/r Firenze cell.338. 4549790 Darjeeling First Flush available from mid April
RISTORANTE PIZZERIA “S.Croce”
Under the eyes of Dante Alighieri, traditional and Tuscan dishes, a sensational Pizza, comfortably seated in the most beautiful square in Florence
Sotto lo sguardo di Dante, tradizionali sapori toscani e una pizza strepitosa, comodamente seduti nella piazza più bella di Firenze. Venite a trovarci!
Piazza Santa Croce, 12/r - tel. 055. 2466027 www.pizzeriasantacroce.com info@pizzeriasantacroce.com
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Movies
April - May 2014
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FULGOR
Via Maso Finiguerra (Borgo Ognissanti) Tel. 055 238 1881 www.staseraalcinema.it
Manuela Ranfagni
ODEON FIRENZE
Piazza Strozzi, Firenze Tel. 055 214 068 Office: 055 295 051 www.odeonfirenze.com
info@florenceisyou.com Director: Brian Percival Writers: Markus Zusak (novel), Michael Petroni (adaptation) Stars: Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson
Gigolò per caso (2013) "Fading Gigolo" (original title) Fioravante decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray acting as his "manager", the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money. Director: John Turturro Writer: John Turturro
Nut Job Operazione noccioline
Storia di una ladra di libri(2013) "The Book Thief" (original title)
While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being sheltered by her adoptive parents.
Nut Job - Operazione noccioline An incorrigibly self-serving exiled squirrel finds himself helping his former park brethren raid a nut store to survive, that is also the front for a human gang's bank robbery.
Director: Peter Lepeniotis Writers: Lorne Cameron (screenplay), Peter Lepeniotis, Stars: Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson
Marconi Viale Giannotti, 45 50100 Firenze, 055. 685199
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world and battles a new threat from old history: the Soviet agent known as the Winter Soldier. Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo Writers: Christopher Markus (screenplay), Stephen McFeely(screenplay) Stars: Chris Evans, Frank Grillo, Sebastian Stan
Pontormo Un amore eretico
Il lungometraggio racconta la vita del pittore fiorentino vissuto nel '500 e prende come motivo d'ispirazione i diari degli ultimi anni di vita del maestro, narrando la sua vita complessa alla corte dei signori ed esprimendo il suo modo di essere schivo, privo di concessioni se non a sé stesso. Director: Giovanni Fago Writers: Marilisa Calò, Massimo Felisatti Stars:Joe Mantegna, Galatea Ranzi, Toni Bertorelli
Yves Saint Laurent (2014) 106 min Biography, Drama 27 March 2014 (Italy) A look at the life of French designer Yves Saint Laurent from the beginning of his career in 1958 when he met his lover and business partner, Pierre Berge. Director: Jalil Lespert Writers: Laurence Benaïm (book), Jacques Fieschi(screenplay), Stars: Pierre Niney, Guillaume Gallienne, Charlotte Le Bon
The Oscar to Sorrentino: but is it true glory? By Alberto Bartolomeo
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he American Academy crowned “The Great Beauty” by Paolo Sorrentino for best foreign film. Italians rejoice, producers and distributors are rubbing their hands because an Oscar means more ‘appealing’ and greater possibility of placing the Italian cinema abroad. The film at home has divided critics and audiences. Who shouted masterpiece, who found him very bad. The truth probably lies in between. The film is an ambitious work but the result is mediocre. It is worth mentioning for the amazing photography by Luca Bigazzi and the recitation of a few good actors - Carlo Buccirosso, Roberto Herlitzka, Pamela Villoresi (although the latter has the air of somebody asking herself “what am I doing here?”) - certainly not for the Servillo’s acting here got lost in a caricaturist interpretation over the top that, quite frankly, tired. The few ideas are trivial and ends in themselves and in the film breathes an aura of artifice that makes everything look fake and pretentious. But Americans like to see us like this: scoundrels, noisy, slackers and inconclusive, and that’s why we were rewarded. So, hooray Sorrentino, and cheers to the Beauty, even though in his film is the sadness that is Great and wraps everything.
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Academy americana incorona “La grande bellezza” di Paolo Sorrentino come migliore film straniero. Gli italiani esultano, produttori e distributori si sfregano le mani perché un Oscar vuol dire più ‘appeal’ e maggiore possibilità di piazzare il cinema italiano all’estero. Il film in patria ha diviso critica e pubblico. Chi ha gridato al capolavoro, chi lo ha trovato pessimo. La verità, probabilmente, sta in mezzo. La pellicola è un’opera ambiziosa ma dal mediocre risultato ed è da menzionare per la strepitosa fotografia di Luca Bigazzi e la recitazione di qualche bravo attore - Carlo Buccirosso, Roberto Herlitzka, Pamela Villoresi (anche se quest’ultima ha l’aria di una che si sta chiedendo “che ci faccio qui?”) -, non certo per la prova di Toni Servillo che qui si perde in un’interpretazione macchiettistica sopra le righe che, francamente, ha stancato. Le poche idee sono banali e fini a se stesse e nel film spira un’aura di artifizio che fa sembrare tutto falso e pretestuoso. Ma agli americani piace vederci così: cialtroni, caciaroni, fannulloni e inconcludenti ed è per questo che ci hanno premiato. Allora, evviva Sorrentino, e evviva la Bellezza, anche se nel suo film è la tristezza che è Grande e avvolge ogni cosa.
Fashion
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Chiara Ferragni
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Do you know what is Pitti?
Galleria del Costume, Palazzo Pitti, Firenze
Chiara Ferragni
Student at the Gonzaga in Florence University hiara Ferragni is a 26 year old Italian fashion blogger who spreads her wisdom of fashion and the world’s latest trends on her blog and Instagram account. She started her fashion blog called The Blond Salad in October 2009, which now has 110,000 views daily. She posts a look every day and often times they coincide with the city she is exploring at the moment. In the past months, Ferragni has traveled around the United States in Los Angeles and New York City, but also has posts from Yucatán, Mexico and at her home in Milan, Italy. The name of the blog is supposed to describe her hair color and her eclectic mix of posts. On The Blonde Salad, Ferragni uploads a photo of her outfit that day and describes what she chose and often tells an anecdote about her day. Ferragni writes every post in both English and Italian, but the easiest way to get a daily dose of her fashion knowledge is to follow her Instagram account @chiaraferragni. Ferragni is a social media sensation because of her knowledge of fashion and quirky posts. She has 1.9 million followers on Instagram and one look at her profile
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Fashion lovers in Florence
Italian Fashion Blogger
By Jennifer Davis
April - May 2014
page can explain why. Her followers can keep track of where she is traveling, see personal photos of her and her adorable dog, and enjoy her “selfies”. Ferragni’s fan base identifies with her because she is an everyday Italian girl who has gained praise and acknowledgment in the fashion industry by sharing with the world the things she loves. Ferragni may be seen wearing expensive designer clothes, but the looks she creates can still inspire people with any budget to create poised and fun outfits. An iconic outfit of Ferragni’s, which is perfect for a day out in Florence, is to pair skinny jeans with a nice blouse and a leather jacket. She often adds a pop of color whether it is on her shoes, bag or jacket. As the weather starts to warm up in Florence, readers can adopt her classic spring or summer outfit—a dress. It is true that the right dress is the perfect way to instantly have a put together and attractive outfit. Ferragni’s simplicity, yet the bold statement her outfits make, is something to aspire to while in Italy. She is not often flashy, but her looks will catch the eyes of people who admire her style and it is easy to use Ferragni as an inspiration for everyday outfits.
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ashion lovers in Florence mark your calendars for next June! That’s when the Pitti Immagine event returns to the city, from the 17th to the 20th. Pitti Uomo is the world’s most important platform for launching men’s clothing and accessory collections and is a significant event for its uniqueness in its focus on men. Most major cities that hold fashion weeks focus primarily on women, even if men’s collections are displayed, so Pitti Uomo is a unique opportunity for men’s designers to shine. The next edition of Pitti Uomo will be a celebratory event, in fact the Centro di Firenze della Moda italiana, the oldest establishment of the textile clothing, celebrates the first 60 years from its foundation. “Florence Hometown of Fashion” is a special program of events carried out by the Centro di Firenze della Moda italiana and Pitti Immagine that will involve five maison Born in Florence, which are Salvatore Ferragamo, Emilio Pucci, Roberto Cavalli and Gucci Ermanno Scervino for pay homage to the city with individual events coordinated with each other to be implemented in the symbolic places.
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manti della moda a Firenze, segnate sul vosto calendario il prossimo giugno! Pitti Immagine torna in città, dal 17 al 20 di giugno. Pitti Uomo è la piattaforma più importante al mondo per il lancio di collezioni di abbigliamento e accessori maschili ed è un evento significativo per la sua unicità focalizzando la sua attenzione sulla moda maschile. La maggior parte delle grandi città che ospitano le settimane della moda si concentrano principalmente sulle donne, quindi Pitti Uomo è un’occasione unica, da non perdere. La prossima edizione di Pitti Uomo, inoltre, sarà un’edizione celebrativa infatti il Centro di Firenze della Moda italiana, la più antica istituzione del sistema tessile abbigliamento, celebra quest’anno i primi 60 anni dalla sua fondazione. “Firenze Hometown of Fashion” è un programma speciale di eventi realizzato dal Centro di Firenze della Moda Italiana insieme a Pitti Immagine che coinvolgerà le 5 maison Born in Florence, che sono Salvatore Ferragamo, Emilio Pucci, Roberto Cavalli, Ermanno Scervino e Gucci, per rendere omaggio alla città con singoli eventi coordinati tra loro da realizzarsi in luoghi simbolo.
Don Joe Lounge Bar & Restaurant D
on Joe Lounge Bar and Lorenzo de’ Medici Restaurant and Pizzeria are elegant places situated right in the heard of Florence, just a few steps away from the Medici Chapels, the Church of Santa Maria Novella and San Lorenzo Market, and no more than 200m from the Fortezza da basso. he Lorenzo de’ Medici Restaurant seats 350 people at time, has wheelchair access, five restrooms and two exits for the comfort of its clients. The Lorenzo de’ Medici Restaurant is the ideal place to try traditional Florentine dishes or Pizza clocked in the wood-fired oven. The perfect place for tourist groups, business dinner, meetings or private dining. very Wednesday night cocktail party, 5 € only for students, and every thursday night free champagne and 20% discount for ladies. Free buffet.
T E
via del Giglio 49/r tel. 055 212932 cell. 392 2474287 www.lorenzodemediciristorante.com
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the Amalfi Coast: an UNESCO world heritage site
By Ellen Miller
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ot too far away from Florence lie sweeping views and stunning history, a different kind of beauty than what lies within the heart of the city. Depending on whether you travel north or south along the coast, a variety of unique experiences can be had. Regardless of where you end up you are sure to experience beautiful views and a completely different side of Italy than the average tourist is able to experience. If you can, check out some of these classic destinations before the true summer rush hits; you won't regret it. Tried and true, the Amalfi Coast is one of the most popular destinations within Italy, and for good reason: the coastal view and stunning blue water is rivaled only by the Cinque Terre. The Amalfi Coast, however, offers a variety of options for tourists to explore the land by water or by sea. Ocean lovers can't miss the beautiful blue waters that allow for snorkeling and swimming unparalleled in Italy. An UNESCO World Heritage Site for its status as a cultural landscape, the Amalfi Coast stretches along the west coast of Italy and encompasses the popular town of Positano. Water lovers can partake in snorkeling, cliff jumping into the water and other unique activities, while those not keen on getting wet might favor a boat ride. A highlight of the trip is the Blue Grotto, which is a travel photographer's paradise with its intense blue water. Nearby is Sorrento, a small town in Campania. The entire Amalfi Coast is well known
for its lemons, but the town of Sorrento in particular is renowned for its limoncello, a lemon-flavored liqueur that is popular within Italy and a must-try experience for tourists, Italian or foreign. The town has notable processions to mark the days around Easter, so be sure to check it out if you will be in the area. Sorrento is home to Roman ruins at Punta del Capo, and is also along the coast so many water-related activities are available as well. A trip down the coast is not complete without a look back into history with a visit to Pompeii. Buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, the town is a major historical marker and experience in the area. The site was lost for about 1, 500 years after the eruption, but excavations have revealed the extent of the city that was essentially smothered along with all of its citizens. It is part of the Vesuvius National Park and in
1997 was named an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Excavations have ceased for the most part and only a third of the buildings open to the public in 1960 remain open for tourists today. Still, for history buffs, Pompeii is a must-see. Further inland, Naples beckons to tourists. A trip to the Amalfi Coast almost wouldn't be complete without a trip to the pizza capitol of Italy. While Italian and tourists alike would argue as to their favorite kind of pizza, Neopolitan pizza enjoys a rich history and is fiercely protected today; there is a process for foreign restaurants to become certified in the process and they must follow rigorous regulations to be considered true Neopolitan pizza creators. Naples is known around the world for its rich collection of museums, including many archeological museums with a wealth of ancient artifacts.
Photos by Discover Napoli Destinations
The Naples National Archeological Museum is a must-see; for art lovers the Museo di Capodimonte includes works by Raphale, Titian, Caravaggio and El Greco, among other artists of note. The real treasure of Naples is the pizza, though; don't leave without sampling a slice! For those looking for a great spring and early summer destination, the Amalfi Coast has it all. A quick train journey to Naples allows an easy start, with easy access to many other destinations with options for art lovers, outdoors lovers and history lovers alike. With a little bit of everything, this area of Italy is a must-see and the perfect compromise for any group not sure how to reconcile their different interests.
What is Discover Napoli Destinations?
It’s a new way of discovering Naples and the Campania region through the organization of bespoke itineraries. We will introduce you to the multi-faceted, unusual and surprising things to see and do in this fascinating region and which can’t be missed by the discerning traveler. Each personalized itinerary will be tailored only on our guests’ particular interests, so as to create a truly unique and unforgettable trip.
The great classics… with something more
Relax and enjoy
Around the city
A day spent shopping in the famous boutiques in the narrow alleys of Positano,a private concert on a terrace at sunset, overlooking the magnificent, unique view of the Faraglioni on the isle of Capri, the religious processions on the sea of Sorrento, tour Pompei or Herculaneum under the guidance of professors of archeology who will unveil all the hidden significance of a lost civilization…the unusual, the exclusive, the particular details of these world-famous sites.
What do you really like to do? Hit the fashionable night life spots, savor the world-celebrated local cuisine,get seats for an opera at themajestic S. Carlo theater, enjoy a wine tasting tour of the Campania wines, celebrated all the way back in Roman times? Or would you like to organize a fantastically unique romantic honeymoon?
We will guide you to discover the incredibly beautiful cities of Campania: Naples, of course, with its immense historical and artistic heritage, Caserta, home of the incredibly magnificent Royal Palace, Avellino and Benevento, where excellent wine is produced and beautiful artifacts are still made by hand following ancienttechniques and Salerno, with its amazing coast and history.
DND S.r.l. P. Iva 07237721217 tel. +39 081. 197.245.56 fax +39 081. 214.48.83 www.discovernapolidestinations.com info@discovernapolidestinations.com
Tuscany
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The Cathedral of Siena re-opens its Gate of Heaven 1 March 2014 - 6 january 2015 - Siena, the Cathedral
Mary Faley
Student at the Gonzaga in Florence University and photographer
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he Cathedral of Siena re-opens its gate of Heaven. Once again, from 1st March, visitors will be able to admire the very peak of the building. The visiting path, opened for the first time last spring, has allowed to admire venues ever open to the public and only used by the workmen directed by a succession of great architects who have followed one another during the centuries. The visit starts with the magnificent façade of the Duomo, flanked by two majestic towers ending in many spirelike forms that shoot upwards. In these towers, winding staircases, practically invisible to visitors, lead up to the ‘heavens’ of the Cathedral. Above the starry vault of the right aisle begins an itinerary reserved to small groups accompanied by expert guides, which reserves a succession of discoveries and emotions. Visitors will indeed walk ‘above’ the holy temple and admire fascinating views both ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ the Cathedral. The “gate of heaven” is opened to visitors as though they were climbing the ladder that appeared to Jacob in his dream, the top of which reached heaven, and the angels of God ascending and descending on it (Genesis 28: 10-22). In his dream,
God promises Jacob the earth on which he has slept and an immense lineage. When he rises, Jacob exclaims «This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven», a verse used by the liturgy of the mass in dedicating cathedrals. In the Litany of Loreto, though, the ‘gate of heaven’ is also the Virgin Mary, a definition that best expresses her power and goodness. As the Mother of Christ and of humanity, Mary contributes to our eternal salvation in Heaven where she is the ‘Queen assumed into Heaven’. The visiting itinerary “from above” will thus permit visitors to better understand the dedication of the Cathedral of Siena to the Assumption of the Madonna, and the strong connection the people of Siena have had with their ‘patron’ for centuries: Sena vetus civitas Virginis. Italiano
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l Duomo di Siena riapre la sua “Porta del Cielo”. Dal primo marzo è possibile ammirare nuovamente la sommità dell’imponente fabbrica. Il percorso, aperto per la prima volta la scorsa primavera, ha permesso di accedere ad una serie di locali mai aperti al pubblico ed utilizzati solo dalle maestranze dirette dai grandi architetti che si sono avvicendati nei secoli. Si accede al percorso attraverso la magnifica facciata del Duomo, la quale è fiancheggiata
da due imponenti torri terminanti con guglie di svariate forme che si proiettano verso l’alto. All’interno di queste torri si inseriscono scale a chiocciola, quasi segrete perché nascoste alla vista dei visitatori, che portano ai tetti del Duomo. Una volta giunti sopra le volte stellate della navata destra si inizia un itinerario riservato a piccoli gruppi, accompagnati da un’esperta guida, che riserva una serie di scoperte ed emozioni. Sarà infatti possibile camminare ‘sopra’ il sacro tempio e ammirare suggestive viste panoramiche ‘dentro’ e ‘fuori’ della cattedrale. La “porta del cielo” si apre dunque ai visitatori come salissero attraverso la scala apparsa in sogno a Giacobbe, la cui cima raggiungeva il cielo e gli angeli di Dio salivano e scendevano (Genesi 28,10-22). Nel sogno Dio promette a Giacobbe la terra sulla quale egli stava dormendo e un’immensa discendenza. Al suo risveglio Giacobbe esclama «Questa è proprio la casa di Dio, questa è la porta del cielo», verso utilizzato dalla liturgia nella messa della dedicazione delle cattedrali. Ma “porta del cielo”, secondo le litanie lauretane, è anche la Vergine, definizione che meglio esprime la potenza e la bontà di Maria, la quale come Madre di Cristo e dell'umanità, concorre alla nostra salvezza eterna in Cielo ove lei è ‘Regina assunta’. Il percorso “dall’alto” permetterà infatti di comprendere meglio la dedicazione del Du-
omo di Siena all’Assunzione della Madonna e il forte legame che i cittadini senesi hanno da secoli con la loro ‘patrona’: Sena vetus civitas Virginis. For more information, visit our website at: www.operaduomo.siena.it OPA SI PASS + ( Museums and Attic of the Duomo) € 30.00 Ticket price includes the guided tour to the Attic of the Duomo and to the Cathedral Information and Booking Tel. +39 0577. 286300 (Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm) Email: opasiena@operalaboratori.com
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Florence gardens that will improve your life
By Ludovica Ginanneschi Garden Design www.lggardendesign.com
O
ver the centuries, Florence lived many moments of compelling lure and charming enticement for those who were not living there. One of these moments was the period between the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s. Following the wave of the 18th century Grand Tour, the Anglo-American community in town grew so significantly that the Anglo-Americans became a subject on their own. Easily recognizable by their style and manners, they were adressed with a name loaded of the scornful irony for which Florentines stand out: the ‘anglo-beceri’, where ‘beceri’ means boorish, loud people. And they, who loved Florence although they could hardly stand its inhabitants, pretended not to pay attention to this rudeness and kept on living in the city and contributing to increasing its beauty. Almost unheard-of today, but extremely well-known in Florence at the beginning of the 20th century, a key man was Cecil Ross Pinsent, who designed the English colony’s estates and gardens for about thirty years. Cecil was a 23 years old English architect travelling around Italy with his friend Geoffrey Scott. During
his visit in Florence, he met Bernard Berenson, the famous American art historian specializing in the Renaissance, who had recently settled with his wife at the beautiful Villa I Tatti on the hills of Settignano. Berenson hired Geoffrey as a librarian and commissioned Cecil his first important assignment: to design the garden of the villa. It was an instant success. Pinsent created a brand new and modern garden in what we would call today a “vintage” style. Inspired by Renaissance Italian gardens, it constitutes of a sumptuous box parterre which extends on four terraced planes loping towards the bottom of the valley. When, almost with indifference, you will cross the conservatory of the villa to venture into the garden, you will certainly be surprised by this unexpected magnificence. Thanks to a contagious word of mouth, Pinsent became so popular among the Anglo-American circle that he spent the following three decades in Florence designing and building enchanting gardens, which seemed more “Italian” than the real Italian ones. He so became the grand master of the integration of buildings into the surrounding natural landscape. Other amazing creations of this talented but disregarded ‘anglo-becero’ are the gardens of Villa Le Balze, Villa Medici and Villa La Foce, which add significantly to the already rich history of gardens in Florence and Tuscany. Italiano
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irenze, nella sua lunghissima storia, ha vissuto momenti d’irresistibile fascinazione e richiamo magnetico per chi non vi era nato e non vi abitava. Uno di questi è stato certamente il periodo a cavallo tra l’Ottocento e il Novecento, quando, sull’onda lunga del Grand Tour settecentesco, la comunità d’inglesi e americani crebbe fino a diventare un soggetto a sé, facilmente identificabile dai fiorentini, i quali, con l’ironia sprezzante che li contraddistingue, coniarono un nome apposta per indicarli: gli anglo-beceri. E loro, che amavano Firenze ma mal sopportavano i suoi abitanti, fecero finta di non farci caso e continuarono ad abitarvi riuscendo perfino ad aumentarne la bellezza.
Un personaggio chiave, poco conosciuto ai più, ma che fu l’asso pigliatutto nella realizzazione dei giardini nelle proprietà della ‘colonia inglese’ per più di trent’anni, è Cecil Ross Pinsent. Cecil era un giovanissimo architetto inglese che a soli 23 anni, mentre viaggiava in Italia con l’amico Geoffrey Scott, ebbe la fortuna di entrare in contatto con Bernard Berenson, il grande storico dell’arte statunitense specializzato in arte rinascimentale, che dal 1900 si era stabilito con la moglie a Settignano, a villa I Tatti. Berenson assunse Geoffrey come bibliotecario e affidò a Cecil il suo primo grande incarico, quello di progettare il giardino della villa che stava ristrutturando. E fu subito un successo. Un giardino del tutto nuovo e moderno ma in stile ‘vintage’ come si direbbe oggi, che, traendo ispirazione dai classici giardini all’italiana del passato rinascimentale, è costituito da uno scenografico parterre, realizzato con siepi di bosso, che si allunga su quattro piani terrazzati leggermente digradanti verso il fondo della valle. Voi stessi, quando quasi con noncuranza
attraverserete la limonaia della villa per avventurarvi nel giardino, non potrete fare a meno di essere presi alla sprovvista da tale inaspettata magnificenza. Tramite un contagioso passaparola, Pinsent divenne un architetto molto popolare nella cerchia anglo-americana tanto che passò a Firenze i tre decenni successivi a disegnare e realizzare giardini di grande fascino che sembravano più all’italiana di quelli italiani, diventando il maestro assoluto dell’inserimento degli edifici e dei giardini nel paesaggio circostante. Villa Le Balze, Villa Medici e Villa La Foce sono le migliori realizzazioni di un talentuoso ma misconosciuto…’anglo-becero’ che tutt’oggi impreziosiscono la già ricca storia dei giardini fiorentini e toscani. Villa I Tatti - www.itatti.harvard.edu Villa Le Balze www.villalebalze.georgetown.edu Villa Medici - www.villamedicifiesole.it Villa La Foce - www.lafoce.com
Outdoor art installations in Florence and Tuscany
By Ellen Miller
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lorence has no small quantity of amazing art museums to choose from, and the choices can be dizzying, from the masterpieces at the Uffizi to the curated gardens at the Pitti Palace. For those with a car and a little bit of time, though, something unique can be found on the roads outside of Florence, in Tuscany. The popularity of modern art in Italy is rising, with a new nineteenth century art museum slated to open April 30, and the artists in Italy are responding in kind, continuing to produce a vast quantity of quality work that is just beginning to be recognized by the general public. If you are
looking for something in Tuscany to do that is truly off the beaten track, rent a car and take to the roads. Outdoor art installations in Tuscany are the modern rage, and visiting them gives one a surprising glimpse at the lives of modern-day artists in Tuscany who are often overshadowed by their centuries-old masters. Michelangelo, Donatello and Da Vinci were certainly talented, but there is a great number of up-and-coming talented artists in Italy today, just waiting for their big break. Hop quickly over to Pisa to get started, where American graffiti artist Keith Haring has a massive mural.
Continue near Siena, which is close to Florence, in two towns, Pievasciata and Chiusdino. Pievasciata is home to the Chianti Sculpture Park, which beginning in April is open to the public through the summer and houses a bevy of sculptures that stand guard along a circular path through the woods. Nearby in Chiusdino, the Selva di Sogno consists of sculptures of tiny civilizations created by Deva Manfredo out of stones. Finish up at the Tarot Garden of Niki de Saint Phalle, in the Tuscan hills, built by its namesake, a French sculptor, who was inspired by Gaudi's work in Barcelona. The big, bright, colorful statues and sculptures
are truly a step away from the traditional Italian artistic experience. If you are too intimidated to drive, you could always rent a driver for the day in order to experience the unique art options. For those on a stricter budget, there is always unique art to see in Florence for free— from the Renaissance sculptures that sit outdoors for free viewing year-round to the occasional contemporary art installations in the streets, like the installation of bikes along the side of a building along the Arno currently. For those looking for a step away from the traditional art experience, all that is left is to simply begin to look.
Art & Crafts
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Artigianato e Palazzo from 15th to 18th of May
By Ellen Miller
T Giorgiana Corsini and Neri Torrigiani
By Giorgiana Corsini, Neri Torrigiani
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rtigianato e Palazzo, realtà indipendente no-profit, è nata nel 1994 da una nostra comune idea e dalla passione per promuovere e preservare l'alto artigianato artistico ed i valori aggiunti del fatto a mano e della cura del dettaglio. Dal 15 al 18 maggio 2014 festeggeremo il ventennale di Artigianato e Palazzo. Scegliendo di scommettere sull'artigianato, realtà che ha contribuito a rendere grande nel mondo il nostro Made in Italy ma che negli ultimi tempi si trova ad affrontare sempre maggiori difficoltà, in questi anni Artigianato e Palazzo ha raggiunto traguardi inaspettati: oltre 700 i maestri artigiani invitati, oltre 140.000 i visitatori, 140 gli antichi mestieri rappresentati. Moltissime aziende italiane che hanno costruito il loro successo sui va-
lori dell'artigianalità, sono state protagoniste negli anni della Mostra Principe nella Limonaia Grande, tra cui Gucci, Bulgari, Roberto Capucci, Loretta Caponi, Vacheron Constantin, Il Bisonte, Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. Memorabili le trasferte all'estero ed i progetti speciali, tra cui le due grandi mostre organizzate a Tokyo e Osaka nel 2001 in occasione dell'iniziativa “Italia in Giappone”, la partecipazione ad “Artisans Passion” a Parigi nel 2002, la speciale edizione di “A&P Young” realizzata per Florens - Biennale dei Beni Culturali 2010. Infine la mostra Hats on film/Il cappello nel cinema ospitata dall'Istituto di Cultura Italiana di Los Angeles nella settimana degli Oscar 2013.
his May the Giardino Corsini, in English the Corsini Gardens, will mark the twentieth anniversary of the Artigianato e Palazzo nonprofit, established by the original villa's descendants in order to promote craftsmanship and to display to the public the secret behind handmade goods. All day long from the 15th of May through the 18th the gardens will mark the anniversary with the participation of 80 local and foreign artists. The crafts and palace show was established in 1994 to celebrate artisans and bring a modernity to the tradition. In ancient Florence, artisans were an important part of societies and had their own guild. Fine art was created under patronships, often for wealthy families or churches, leading to the focus on religious themes that is seen in much of Florence's Renaissance art. As society has modernized, so too has the way that fine arts and crafts and created and marketed. “Artigianato e Palazzo” in particular focuses on the actual demonstration of certain crafts, such as metalworking, to the public. In the past, more than 700 artisans have been invited to the festival, representing over 140 ancient crafts. The fair enjoys
the support of the President of the Italian Republic, the patronage of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and other significant entities. In the past the fair has been supported by such significant companies with craft backgrounds as Gucci, Roberto Capucci and Bvlgari. On the twentieth anniversary of the fair the Corsini Gardens are looking to invest in up and coming talent, allowing young people to experience the fair and artisanship behind the scenes. Ten young bloggers will be selected to attend the event free of charge and share about it on their own websites through their personal medium, be it writing, photography or video. Ten up and coming artisans will also be selected to attend the fair and network with professionals. For those looking to explore behind-thescenes into crafts such as goldsmithing, the Artigianato e Palazzo fair in May is the perfect opportunity. Be sure to head there towards the beginning, as several visiting artisans will be giving gifts to visitors while supplies last. As Italy continues to modernize, the Giardino Corsini ensures that its rich history of artisanship is not lost.
PIERO CISTERNINO Taylor
UN UOMO UNA STORIA UNA PASSIONE
Palazzo dei Cerchi, Via della Condotta 50 /R 50122 Firenze Tel. 055. 2776472 www.gentenfirenze.com
Sartoria Piero Cisternino Via del Purgatorio, 22 r 50123, Firenze (Italy)
email sartoriapierocisternino@virgilio.it phone 055.280118 mobile +39 333 9925482
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Food & Wine
Italians know the secret to “La Dolce Vita”
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Markets Antiques Piazza Dei Ciompi Open Every Day On 8.30 am - 7.30 pm Cascine Cascine Park Open Every Tuesday Morning: 7a.m. - 2p.m. Food, Clothing, Antiquities, Houseware,
By Carly Nelson Student at the Gonzaga in Florence University
Central Market Stalls Inside The San Lorenzo Via Dell’ariento Open Monday-Saturday: 7a.m. - 2p.m. Best Food Market In The City
“U
no o vive per mangiare o mangia per vivere”. In the United States we treat food as a fuel, something we need in order to live. During my short time in Italy, I have developed a new respect for food and the friendship that is created when people eat together. In Italy, sharing a meal creates a bond that ties people together. There is a magical connection between the cook and their dish. Italians take pride in their food and they cook only with ingredients that are fresh, local and in season. Cooks spend time planning the perfect way to plate their “masterpiece”. Eating is a delight to be enjoyed with friends and family, it is not a necessary inconvenience. My eating habits at home are typical of a normal American student. Eating is not an event; it is a necessity. My lunch is normally served in a brown paper bag and eaten in the car. I experienced my first Italian meal the day I arrived at my pensione in Florence. I was famished and I arrived just in time for lunch to be served. Lunch, I discovered is the main meal in Italy. I was seated at long table with the other students. First, we were served pesto pasta and I over ate because I thought it was the entire meal. Once our plates were cleared, I got
Have fun and use your discount!
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Artisan Ceramics Ceramica Fiorentina Via del Melarancio, 15 - 50123 Firenze 055 239 6979 www.ceramicaartisticafiorentina.com
up to leave; however I noticed no one else moved. Confused, I sat back down. Manola, the owner and cook of the pensione, returned with plates of chicken, mashed potatoes, salad and bread. Lunch was a feast and needless to say, I was overstuffed by the time it was over. I now understand that a meal should never be devoured it needs to be savored and enjoyed in the company of friends. An Italian meal is a production and the dishes are presented in a specific order. The diner is offered an “Antipasto”, which can be either a hot or cold appetizer such as bruschetta or, my favorite, Mozzarella in Carrozza. It is followed by “Il Primo”, normally pasta, rice or soup. Next they are presented with “Il Secondo”, which is the main entrée, typically beef, poultry or fish, served with a vegetable or salad. Last but not least “Il Dolce”; this includes
everything from Tiramisu, Zabaglione and Pastries to Gelato. Food is a major part of Italian culture and daily life. Now that I have been in Italy for over a month, I have a new admiration for food. I love the aroma of simmering ragu’ and the bouquet of a local wine. I appreciate and respect the need for family and community. Nothing is as relaxing as a wonderful meal with friends, followed by an after dinner stroll. Italians eat to live and eating is a pleasurable social event that brings friends, family and strangers together. Americans need to learn from the Italians, they need to stop and enjoy life. Communication flows when people enjoy a meal with family and friends. As for me personally, I will return to America with the knowledge that life is better if I stop and savor it. Let’s raise our glass to “La Dolce Vita”.
Porcellino Piazza Del Mercato Nuovo Open Daily (Except Sundays & Monday Mornings): 8a.m. - 9p.m. Articles In Florentine Straw, Hand Embroidery, Leather Goods, Objects In Wood, Flowers Sant’Ambrogio Piazza Ghiberti/Piazza Sant’Ambrogio (Indoor & Outdoor) Open Every Weekday (Except Sunday): 7a.m. - 2p.m. Fresh Fruits & Vegetables, Clothes, Flowers, Shoes & Houseware Stands San Lorenzo Piazza S. Lorenzo To Via Dell’ariento Closed Sundays & Mondays Articles In Leather, Souvenirs, Clothing Santo Spirito Piazza Santo Spirito Open Every Second Sunday of the month Specialist Organic Foods, Antiques and Individual Items
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Cuore di carta
Florentine is a state of mind . It is an innate sense of grace and measure". Italiano
Riccardo Zucconi
Fiorentino innamorato della sua città, è appassionato d’arte e di storia, di libri e di film. È presidente del Festival del Cinema Francese “France Odeon” e Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Ha scritto il romanzo Cuore di carta nel 1998 ed è stato il primo a sorprendersi del successo del libro, divenuto ormai un classico, molte volte ristampato, tradotto e diffuso anche in Sud America.
La Firenze del 2030 è un punto da cui osservare un mondo ormai cambiato: gli equilibri politici planetari sono stati stravolti, il diritto di voto è stato ristretto e va guadagnato con azioni socialmente utili, le persone sono controllate da microchip impiantati sotto la pelle. In questo scenario futuribile si inserisce la storia di Guelfo. Il suo amore per Francesca, quello tra i genitori di quest’ultima, Giovanni e Laura, il rapporto di grande condivisione intellettuale tra Giovanni e Guelfo, sono alcuni degli snodi da cui passa il più usuale e insondabile degli scenari: quello della vita (e dunque della morte) di ciascuno. Nel tentativo di riappropriarsi del senso delle cose, delle passioni e degli slanci più profondi, del proprio posto nel mondo. Ed anche dei propri luoghi, se “essere fiorentini è uno stato di spirito. È un senso innato della grazia e della misura”.
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n 2030 Florence is a vantage point from where one can observe a completely changed world: political balances have been altered, the right to vote has been restricted and must be earned through socially useful actions, people are controlled by microchips implanted under their skin. In this futuristic scenario the story of Guelfo takes place. His love for Francesca, the love between her parents, Giovanni and Laura, the relationship of intellectual affinity between Guelfo and Giovanni: these are some of the junctions of the most usual yet unfathomable path, that of the life (and therefore of the death) of everyone. Thus, we follow the characters in their pursuit of the meaning of things, of their deepest passions, of their place in the world. And even of their own identity, if "being
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Alessandro Sarti
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n questo libro d’esordio Alessandro Sarti ci consegna ricordi che ripercorrono, oltre alla vicende personali dell’autore, una sorta di microstoria dell’Italia, della Toscana in particolare, a cavallo tra gli anni 70 e 80. Tra tradizione e folklore un intreccio coinvolgente ci racconta di quando la medicina era davvero “alternativa”, e le mamme appendevano l’ “erba della paura” alle travi del soffitto per scacciare gli incubi dei più piccoli.
Intervista a Stefania Natalini: "Dai piedi alla testa"
By Anna Balzani
Stefania Natalini
Editor-in-chief
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tefania Natalini, fito-aromaterapeuta, esperta in agopuntura, bioenergetica, pranoterapia e terapie naturali, inizia fin da giovanissima a lavorare sulle emozioni. Si forma a Bologna negli anni ’80 grazie a docenti eccezionali che sono per lei motivo di profonda ispirazione. Appassionata e studiosa del corpo da più di trent’anni, conduce corsi “dai piedi alla testa” e approfondisce lo studio e la pratica di varie tipologie di massaggio. È autrice del libro “Dai piedi alla testa”. Come hai iniziato a lavorare sui chakra? Ho sempre avvertito l’esigenza di “lavorare” su me stessa anche per poter capire coloro che incontravo. Sono sempre stata a contatto con le persone e tendo ad approfondire ogni cosa che faccio, come a voler trovare sempre un filo conduttore tra le cose. In cosa consistono gli esercizi quotidiani? Ho creato un metodo in cui si fondono alcune posizioni tratte dallo yoga e le acquisizioni maturate da anni di studio sulla “persona”. Il mio auspicio è di essere di aiuto alle persone che incontro durante il cammino. Dici spesso che ci sono “dinamiche che tendono a ripetersi” nel corso della vita. Perché avviene e come possiamo invertire queste tendenze dannose? Dobbiamo capire da cosa derivano, se ci sono traumi irrisolti, paure inconsce che ci condizio-
nano, con la consapevolezza che la mente agisce sempre sul corpo cosi come il corpo agisce sulla mente. Come il tuo metodo può aiutarci a stare meglio con noi stessi e con l’ambiente intorno a noi? Tutti noi siamo condizionai dal contesto in cui viviamo, dal contesto familiare, sociale; dobbiamo “risvegliarci”, rimuovere i blocchi, stimolare il corpo affinché diventi malleabile dalla nostra coscienza. Organizzo dei seminari di lavoro sul corpo che possono svolgersi individualmente o in piccoli gruppi. Il rapporto con l’alimentazione è delicato. Ci puoi dare un consiglio per mangiare in modo più consapevole? Non parlo mai di diete, semmai di disintossicare il corpo e la pelle. È importante capire se vi sono dipendenze alimentari, ottenere e mantenere una buona relazione con se stessi e ripristinare l’equilibrio posturale. Alimentarsi è un momento sacro e la ricerca di equilibrio anche nell’alimentazione è una costante nella vita di ciascuno.
Stefania Natalini Via Buffalmacco, 2/D 50133, Firenze Email: stefy.natalini@libero.it Tel. 392. 9859693 - Tel. 055. 574452
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