REMEMBER/US Memorial Day
May 29, 11am
Via Cassia S.N., Tavarnuzze, Impruneta
Ever stepped on United States soil in Italy? Florence’s American Cemetery will host its annual Memorial Day Ceremony on May 29, an apt occasion for first-time visitors to experience the burial grounds. The 70 acre site holds the headstones of 4,401 military dead—most fell in the battles that ensued after the June 1944 capture of Rome. Participation in the ceremony is free and open to the public. For more information and directions, head here.
LITERARY/Baret Magarian presents The Fabrications
May 31, 6pm
Paperback Exchange, via delle Oche 4r, Florence
Hear one of our local literary talents present his latest book at the Paperback Exchange. The Fabrications is the newest novel from Baret Magarian, Anglo-Armenian author and head of the Writing Center at Syracuse University in Florence. With touches of satire and the surreal, the story focuses on a popular English novelist whose fictional flights about his friend Oscar start to come true. Acclaimed author Jonathan Coe (The House of Sleep, Number Eleven) had this to say about it: “The tone is wonderfully deadpan, the comedy beautifully underplayed… The novel is also at times reminiscent of the films of Federico Fellini: in the grand set-pieces, the exuberant party scenes, and the picaresque sense of an amoral hero adrift in a large city…Ultimately, Magarian uses his fiction to pose some of the biggest, most complex questions about life.” For additional information, see the Facebook event.
APERITIVO/”You”-NICEF: Solidarity Aperitivo
May 25, 7pm-midnight
Quelo Bar, Borgo La Croce 15r, Florence
With a weekly onslaught of tragic headlines, it’s easy to feel helpless. Take a small step and support UNICEF’s “Bambini in Pericolo” (Endangered Children) campaign at a solidarity apericena. For just 10 euro, enjoy a drink and buffet with proceeds going to one of UNICEF’s key international and Italian operations. Through myriad projects, emergency response systems and development programs, “Bambini in Pericolo” aims to keep children around the world safe from war, malnutrition, sicknesses, natural disasters and child labor. For more information, see the Facebook event.
DANCE/De Rerum Natura (Study)
May 27, 9pm
Palazzina Ex Fabbri, piazzale delle Cascine, Florence
Young dancer and choreographer Nicola Galli is behind this phenomena-centred performance, inspired by the philosophy of Lucretius – the title comes from the Roman poet’s didactic poem of the same name. Through Galli’s heavily conceptual choreography, drawn from his years of bodily and anatomical research, the show explores temporal development, questions of space, intellect and natural regeneration. Heady. Reservations are recommended. For more information, see Fabbrica Europa’s website.
MEATY/Food ReLovution
May 25, 9pm
Odeon Cinema, piazza Strozzi, Florence
Roman documentary director Thomas Torelli is in town to present his film Food ReLovution. With the tagline “Everything we eat has a consequence,” the film takes aim at the meat industry, exploring the interconnected nature of its effects on the environment, human health, world hunger and animal well-being. Through highlighting the approaches of various doctors, nutritionists, philosophers and activists, from Franco Berrino to Peter Singer to James Wildman, the film aims to show that bettering the situation starts with how we shop and knowing what we buy. Tickets are 7 euro; for more information, see the Odeon website.
An early sign of summer…
Ongoing from last week’s list…
Preziosa: Florence Jewellery Week
Tempo Reale 30 (website in Italian)
