A far cry from the usual Florence tours, Stazione Utopia have put together a series of visits and urban walks that take participants through everything from the remnants of Florence’s colonial past to Arabs and Africans in Santa Maria Novella for the third edition of the Uncomfortable Tours Dissenting Itineraries and Narratives series, as part of the Amir Project, reintroducing forgotten stories and promoting diverse perspectives on Florence’s history.
At 11am on September 1, a tour of the city centre starting from Palazzo Medici Riccardi brings visitors to discover the Blackheads (merchants’ association) from Lisbon and Stories of Enslaved People in the Renaissance. Lesser-told narratives around the slave trade are revealed while exploring spaces like the Magi and Feroni Chapels.
Meeting in piazza di Santa Maria a Peretola at 5pm on September 6, Barsene and the Story of the Peretola Straw-Workers Revolt is a tour to uncover the story behind one of Italy’s major labour strikes and the struggles during the one-month occupation by straw-hat workers, who demanded better living and working conditions.
Alongside the University of Florence’s museums, Stories of Plants and People on the Move: Ethnobotanical Walks with Multiple Voices dives into the city’s rich botanical heritage. The tour reveals the cultural and botanical significance of plants collected from the Far East, Africa and South America during the 16th century and their introduction into Florence’s gardens and greenhouses. Explore the original names and traditional uses that went unknown after the plants were renamed according to Enlightenment classification, with sessions running at 4.30pm on September 12 and 19.
We may be familiar with the streets in the Renaissance centre, but many are not aware of their colonial past. The Colonial Florence tour starting at 5pm from piazza Adua on September 13 transports you to those times by visiting the streets, monuments and plaques that bear the mark of nearly forgotten histories.
In partnership with the Islamic Community, the A New Mosque in Florence tour takes people from piazza dei Ciompi to the mosque in the Sant’Ambrogio district. Setting off at 6pm on September 17, the visit demonstrates how the mosque has become a cornerstone of the Islamic community in Florence by fostering interfaith dialogue.
Meeting beneath the statue of Dante in piazza Santa Croce at 5pm on September 18 and 27, Queering Florence sets out to examine the construction of sexual identity over time, concentrating on medieval and Renaissance periods when societal purification often targeted women and “sodomites”. Learn about how the city’s authorities sought to “safeguard social purity”.
Presented in collaboration with the Alinari Photography Foundation and the Marubi National Photography Museum, the Photographic Archives, Objects and Colonial Memories seminar, moderated by Agnese Ghezzi, photography historian from the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, takes place at 6pm on September 20 at Villa Fabbricotti, delving into the archives that preserve the traces of Italian colonialism in Africa and Albania.
Uncomfortable Tours has joined forces with the Archivi in Rete project to present the Colonial Photography and Decolonial Gazes workshop. At 6pm on September 23, attendees get to know photographic materials from the Italian colonial occupation of Ethiopia and Eritrea (1935-36). The session encourages reflection on the power of images and the shaping of historical narratives.
In partnership with Musei di Tutti, On the Margin, Arabs and Africans at Santa Maria Novella highlights the often-overlooked figures of Arabs and Africans in frescoes by Andrea Bonaiuti, Domenico Ghirlandaio and Filippino Lippi. Focusing on these marginalized figures, the tour, taking place at 11am on September 28, will be guided by insights from Professor Jonathan Nelson and details interreligious and intercultural relations in Florence’s past.
Reserve your spot for the free tours (in Italian) at www.stazioneutopia.com.
