CHARITY/ Run for Fondazione ANT
April 9
Run for charity
On April 9, the #run4ANT initiative raises funds for the charity that provides home care for palliative patients and those with long term cancer conditions. Run 4km, donate 4 euro at ant.it and post a story on social media, tagging 4 friends, and using the hashtags #run4ANT and #corri4dona4tagga4.
CONCERT/ Musica Divina
9pm, April 8
Contemporary and classical streamed to your home
Two centuries of music are contained in one concert with the world premiere of Daniela Terranova’s work ‘Light Cloud, Dark Cloud’, Copland’s ‘Clarinet Concerto’ and Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish Symphony’. Jader Bignamini will make his debut conducting with the Orchestra della Toscana, featuring solo clarinetist Marco Ortolani in the performance that will be streamed at 9pm on April 8 via the Orchestra’s YouTube and Facebook channels as part of the ‘Musica Divina’ series.
LITERARY/ Uffizi homage to Charles Baudelaire
April 9
Nude by Domenico Trentacoste
A video has been created by the Uffizi Galleries to pay tribute to the great symbolist poet and literary critic, Charles Baudelaire, on the 200th anniversary of his birth in Paris. His ‘Hymn to Beauty’, included in his best-known collection Les Fleurs du mal, will be read in the Facebook video with additional material to be included in their online magazine. The verses will be read in original language by the former French Culture Minister Aurélie Filippetti, now a member of the Uffizi Galleries board. The verses will accompany the clip of a sculpture from the Modern Art Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, the sensual Nude by the Sicilian sculptor, Domenico Trentacoste.
FLORA/ Fiori in Fiorenza competition
Floral therapy
The city takes on a purple hue as phaecelia, a bee-friendly flower, is installed in several piazzas and roundabouts in Florence. This, as well as a competition for flowered balconies run by Società Toscana di Orticoltura, are part of a package of biodiversity initiatives by Aboca and Farmacie Comunali Fiorentine with the support of the Città di Firenze. The Fiori a Fiorenza initiative sees the five districts of Florence compete for the most beautiful balcony award. The competition kicked off on March 26 and will close on June 21, so there’s still time to get things blooming. Send a photo of the flowered balcony, indicating the area and neighbourhood. More info can be found here.
ART/ SACI MFA Talks: Apprehensions of the Material World
April 14
Graduate students present their work
Graduate students in the Studio Art and Communication Design programmes discuss their work in public talks held for free on Zoom. The series titled ‘Apprehensions of the Material World’ takes place on April 14 with students in the Communication Design programme speaking from 5-5.30pm (Passcode 915826) and those studying Studio Art talking from 6-7.30pm (Passcode 016853). The in-depth discussions explore mediums such as bookmaking, painting and animation ahead of their final exhibition (info available shortly). The talks will be moderated by MFA in Communication Design Director, Camilla Torna and MFA in Studio Art Program Director, Kirsten Stromberg. Participating artists and designers include MFA in Communication Design candidate Bridget Hannah and MFA in Studio Art candidates Joe Cimino, Eric J. Frey, Arais Meteyard, Melissa Morris, and David Neal.
CULTURE/ Harlem Renaissance
April 11 and 18
As part of Festa della Toscana, three online episodes of a documentary produced by the Renny-Renaissance Aps association and with the support of Reon Studio, explore dance, music and culture as elements of African Americans emancipation in the United States in the early 1900s. Broadcast on the Renny Club Firenze Facebook page, the series seeks to rediscover the artistic and cultural movement that sprang from a ballroom in the Harlem neighbourhood of 1920s New York and went on to have serious sociological significance. Streamed at 5pm, the first installment took place on March 28, with others to follow on April 11 and 18.
