Special
Events/Festa della donna
March 8,
all over Italy
Italy
celebrates International Women’s Day, which was officially born of
late-nineteenth-century strikes in New York and later ones in Russia, so get
those yellow mimosas for the ladies in your life. After all, where would you be
without them?
Special
Events/ Aperitivo @
Tepidarium con le farfalle
The
butterflies are back! Florence’s grand greenhouse, the Tepidarium at the
horticultural gardens, will host its butterfly exhibit, which invites visitors
to interact with nature as they socialize in this spectacular venue. Enjoy a aperitivo, listen to live music and watch butterflies flutter by as you relax in
this truly breathtaking (and heated!) structure. Wednesday is tango night,
Thursdays chill back to lounge music, dance to live DJ sets on Fridays, improve
your mood with ‘happy music’ on Saturdays and get ready for the work week on
Sundays with ‘relax music.’ The 10-euro entrance includes one drink and the aperitivo buffet. What more could you want?
Open
Wednesday through Sunday, starting at 7pm; closed Monday and Tuesday.
For
more information, call 338/7507562 or 328/8865138; check out the event on
Facebook.
Out
of town/ Fosfeni: Voyage in new electronic music
February
25, March 4, 11 and 18, Cascina (Pisa)
The
seventh annual innovative music festival, featuring the latest in entirely
electronic sounds and image accompaniment by international artists including
Australian Ben Frost, a long-time collaborator with Björk, Danish man Oval,
Tuscans Gianluca Becuzzi and Fabio Orsi, who artfully weave together
discombobulating ‘sound landscapes,’ and many more.
For
more information, see www.musicuscontentus.com or call 055/287347. For tickets, call 055/210804 (www.boxol.it).
Sport/World
Roller Skating Grand Prix
February
26 and 27, Nelson Mandela Forum, Florence
For
the first time in seven years, Florence hosts this global gala of artistic
roller-skating at the Nelson Mandela Forum. You’ve never seen moves like these!
The competition will take place over two evenings, the first of which will see
skaters executing a specific competition program, and the second focused on the
creative, spectacular aspect of competitive skating. Tickets will go fast, so
reserve now at www.boxol.it or www.ticketone.it (you can even reserve a table and buffet!)
For
more information, see www.mandelaforum.it or call 055/678841.
Concerts/Forever
7eventy carnival party
March 8,
Saschall, Florence
From
ABBA to Gloria Gaynor, Earth Wind and Fire to the Blues Brothers, a performance
for all ages, but especially for those who want to boogie to the live sounds of
over 20 on-stage artists grooving under a massive disco ball. Move it, move it
. . .This annual show has been a wild success.
For
more information, see www.saschall.it or call 055/6504112.
Out
of town /Four concurrent personal exhibits
Until May 1, Galleria Continua, San
Gimignano
This
world-class contemporary art gallery in a medieval town is hosting four
exhibits, all at the same time. Moat Nasr’s On the Other Side of the Mirror features intriguing installations and sculptures in mixed media (video
installation of people taken from the other side of the mirror into which they
peer, a 3-D work done entirely in match sticks and much more impressive work).
In Giovanni Ozzola’s Settecento, haunting mixed media takes on nature and her ‘tempers.’ Luca
Pancrazzi’s Blow Flow Raw explores
interesting uses of red books, including a wall-sized one open to an
unidentified page. Michelangelo
Pistoletto, whose mirrored cube recently graced the Strozzi’s courtyard,
explores the concept of the black hole in Buco Nero, offering mind-bending uses of altered black and silver mirrors as well
as two sculptures.
For
more information, see www.galleriacontinua.com
Exhibitions/Suspended
Sculptures
International
group exhibition on the theme of suspension. Until
May 8, EX3 Center for Contemporary Art, Florence
If
you haven’t yet explored the spaces of Florence’s EX3, now is the time. The
center’s current exhibition features 16 international artists exploring the
theme of ‘suspension’ or ‘suspense.’ These dramatic installations challenge the
very nature of sculpture: most don’t even touch the ground, giving way to the
light, the mobile and the (seeming) mass-less.
For
more information, call 055/0114971 or visit www.ex3.it.
Exhibitions/Renato Ranaldi: Fuoriasse
fuoriquadro
Until April 15, Galleria il Ponte, Florence
An
innovative exhibition focused on the off-canvas, off-axis work of Renato
Renaldi, comprising 15 paintings representing the artist’s recent work and an
installation, Axis. Renaldi, whose work is perhaps best
described as ‘sculpted painting,’ maintains that what defines a painting is not
what can be found on its surface; he therefore explores the limits of his
workspace with various media, using his canvases’ borders and corners. Bound to
prompt reflection, the works are beautiful in their emptiness, bold colors and
materials. As one of the city’s hidden contemporary gems, Galleria il Ponte is
also worth a stop.
For
more information, see www.galleriailponte.com.
