FILM/Still Walking
August 27, 8.45pm
Museo Novecento, piazza Santa Maria Novella 10, Florence
Still from Hirokazu Kore-Eda’s film “Still Walking”
The Museo Novecento continues summer screenings in its CiakNovecento! cinema series, held in collaboration with cultural association Rive Gauche – Arte e Cinema. Next in the lineup is the 2008 Japanese film Still Walking from director Hirokazu Kore-Eda. The film traces 24 hours of the fictional Yokoyama family’s annual reunion, with all the tension and humor that tend to come with the territory. An added twist: the Yokoyamas have gathered to commemorate the death of the eldest son, Jumpei, who died saving a drowning friend. Entrance to the screening is free, but does not allow museum admission. For more information, call 328.7133951 or see the Rive Gauche – Arte e Cinema Facebook page.
POETRY/Voci Lontane, Voci Sorelle: Opening event
August 30, 6.30pm
St. Mark’s English Church, via Maggio 18, Florence
International poetry festival Voci Lontane, Voci Sorelle brings acclaimed artists and poets to the land of Dante and Petrarch. Kicking off the festival is an English language evening hosted by the Florence Writers group at St. Mark’s English Church, featuring American poet Alicia Suskin in conversation with Florentine poet Elisa Biagini. The dialogue will be followed by readings from each of the women’s latest works: Waiting for the Light (Suskin) and The Planet of Dreaming(Biagini). Entrance is free and the festival continues through October. See the official Facebook page for further information.
CONTEMPORARY/Ytalia
Until October 1
Forte Belvedere and various venues, Florence
Ph. Agostino Osio | © Studio Alto Piano
Take a summer saunter up to Forte Belvedere to take in one of the year’s most buzzed-about exhibitions (not to mention one of Florence’s most incredible views). Inaugurated in June, “Ytalia: Energy Thought Beauty. Everything is Connected“ spotlights 20th century and contemporary Italian artists. The exhibition also touches down in eight other prestigious venues—Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery, the Palatine and Modern Art Galleries at Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli Gardens, Santa Croce, the Marino Marini Museum and Museo Novecento. Artists in the lineup include Giovanni Anselmo, Jannis Kounellis and Luciano Fabro, among others. For additional information, see the exhibition website.
DESIGN/Helidon Xhixha
Until October 29
Boboli Gardens, Palazzo Pitti, Florence
Scorching temperatures and Helidon Xhixha’s In Scattered Order installations make this summer a prime time to visit the Boboli Gardens. Teaming up with art critic Diego Giolitti, Uffizi Gallery director Eike Schmidt has brought contemporary works by the Albanian artist to Florence’s “backyard”. Xhixha, winner of the Public Medal at the 2016 London Design Biennale, uses monumental sculpture to explore the concepts of chaos versus order, commenting on how the ideas have been interpreted in philosophy, art and the natural world. (More than a few of the sculptures have been mistaken for fun house mirrors by Boboli visitors, though we can’t say for sure whether that was the artist’s original intention). More information here.
