Best events in Florence, October 20–26

Best events in Florence, October 20–26

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Thu 20 Oct 2016 9:53 AM

RESTORATION/The Woman Who Paints
October 20, 6pm
Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, Borgo Pinti 58, Florence

Ph. Francesco Cacchiani

Ph. Francesco Cacchiani

A portraitist for Grand Tour travelers in 18th century Florence, Violante Siries Cerroti secured coveted commissions from the powerful Medici and Gondi dynasties. Her masterwork was damaged by the Arno flood of 1966, and was recently restored by the Advancing Women Artists Foundation. This celebratory evening will provide a glimpse into the artist’s life and the recovery of her work, and will include a presentation of the book and short documentary The Woman Who Paints: Violante Siries Cerroti. Admission is free. (Event in Italian). For more information, write to linda@advancingwomenartists.org.


MUSIC/PJ Harvey
October 24, 9pm
Obihall, via Fabrizio de’ Andre (lungarno Aldo Moro), Florence


Pj Harvey_Photo_Hope Six _300CMYK_foto di Maria Mochnacz_1 (3)
Ph. Maria Mochnacz

Genre-defying, eccentric English musician and singer-songwriter PJ Harvey brings her sound to the Obihall on the heels of her ninth studio album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, released on Island Records in spring 2016. Harvey’s style varies dramatically from album to album, with Pitchfork calling her latest effort a departure from “siren-like catchiness” and a return to “the swamp-tarnished filth of her classic first three records.” For more information and to purchase tickets, see the Obihall website.

STAGE/Cirque du Soleil
October 26–30
Nelson Mandela Forum, piazza Enrico Berlinguer, Florence

varekai-cirque-du-soleil

Global phenomenon Cirque du Soleil, the world’s largest theatrical production company, lands in Florence for five nights of Varekai, a new show now on its first Italian tour. Set on a volcano peak in a hidden, magical forest “where all things are possible,” Varekai tells the tale of one man encountering mystical creatures and exploring beyond the confines of reality. Known for its elaborate, finely costumed, character-driven productions, Cirque du Soleil is sure to be a sellout. Watch the Varekai trailer and book your tickets on the Mandela Forum website.


BODY/Sonic Somatic
Until October 22
Various venues in Florence

mercato-sant-ambrogio

 

Florence is body conscious this week with the launch of Sonic Somatic, a contemporary sound and arts festival inspired by the human body. For its second edition, the event will focus on acoustic signals and their relationship to the body and to urban space. Through performances, sound installations and workshops, SonicSomatic will explore how the “white noise” of our everyday realities – ringtones, ambulance sirens, loudspeaker announcements – has become an almost architectural element of modern life, and a part of our own psychological makeup. Every day until the end of the festival, the Sant’Ambrogio market will host a site-specific installation by South African artist James Webb, who has created a collection of service alerts in different languages to be broadcast over the market’s sound system. Festival-goers also have the unique chance to step inside the Sant’Orsola complex for an event on Friday at midnight: the evening will include a sound show from Matteo Marangoni and a production called “Quasi-a-Dance-II” performed by German artist Bettina Wenzel, in dialogue with the architecture. (Booking is required via sonicsomatic@gmail.com). Entry is free to all events. For the full program, see the website.

ART/Gaetano Pesce in Florence
Opening October 21 at noon; exhibition on until February 8, 2017
Piazza Santa Maria Novella & Museo Novecento, Florence

Courtesy Gaetano Pesce

Courtesy Gaetano Pesce

 

Famed Italian artist and designer Gaetano Pesce, based in New York until the 1980s, is sure to push some buttons in Florence with his new three-part exhibition Maestà Tradita (Majesty Betrayed). The ambitious show is a feminist statement aimed at shedding light on the limitations imposed on women. Pesce’s work has explored and critiqued this territory since his 1969 work Up 5 Chair & Up 6 Ottoman. The new exhibition continues in this vein with two gallery installations at the Museo Novecento and a large-scale sculpture in front of the church of Santa Maria Novella. The latter depicts a standing, abstracted female form with a long shawl, recalling the Virgin Mary’s cloak, and a foot chained to a rusted ball; she is imagined as a “contemporary echo of the Rucellai Madonna” painted by Duccio di BuoninsegnaThe official inauguration will take place at noon on Friday, October 21. For additional information, see the Museo Novecento website.
 
*Editorial correction, Thursday, October 20, 5pm: Due to health problems, Gaetano Pesce will not be present at the inauguration of Maestà Tradita as previously reported.
 

 

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