Here’s our round-up for April 20-27
Florence is in full bloom this week as Saturday, April 22 marks Earth day. Spend it out and about with a variety of events to enjoy. Musical concerts, crafts festivals, and environmental initiatives are just a few of the activities to explore.
An immersive journey between the two cities for a vision of peace. This video installation created by filmmaker Guglielmo Magagna takes visitors on a journey of interweaving histories, identities, and challenges shared between Florence and Jerusalem. Along with the installation are numerous events throughout the city.
Treedom is a platform that allows you to plant a tree from a distance and follow its growth online. Since 2010, Treedom has planted over three million trees in Africa, South America, and Italy. In collaboration with Plastic Free Onlus, they plant 1,000 trees and allow people the opportunity to purchase a limited edition tree that supports Plastic Free Onlus’ “Save the Sea Turtles” project. In part with this initiative, they host a community gathering on Earth Day to collect plastic and trash throughout the city as a symbolic gesture of the commitment to taking care of our planet.
University of Texas A&M hosts their Aggie Muster reunion for Alumni of the school. This tradition marks the anniversary of Texas’ independence from Mexico in the battle of San Jacinto. The evening will start with an aperitivo at L’Atlante Cocktail bar (via dei Conti) before moving to the dinner location at Ostera Cipolla.
April 25-May 1
Handicraft enthusiasts can get hyped about MIDA, the Florence International Crafts Fair, at the medieval walls of the Fortezza da Basso trade fair complex. Now in its 87th edition, the general public can return, post-pandemic, to admire some of the most impressive craft artefacts in Italy and from around the world. Sub-section Abita will focus on the home: from furniture, architecture and design to technologies and services.
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This conference brings together leaders, experts and aficionados in the arts and culture world to explore the link between beauty and creativity, questions about cultural heritage, and art’s unique capacity to elicit change under the title of Is culture a way out? Confirmed speakers include visual artist Ernesto Neto, filmmaker Amos Gitai, architects Christian and Elisabeth de Portzamparc, director of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Melissa Chiu, as well as the director general of Palazzo Strozzi, Arturo Galansino, and Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella. Panels will be moderated by four senior New York Times journalists. Delegates will have the opportunity to savour a welcome dinner at Palazzo Strozzi with a private tour of the Reaching for the Stars exhibition and tours of San Salvatore di Ognissanti church and the Antico Setificio Fiorentino silk workshop.
Full access tickets cost 1,500 euro.
Pennsylvania born and LA residing harpist Mary Lattimore come to Florence for a solo harp concert. Comfortable with both classical and contemporary sounds, she combines her harp with subtle calibrated electronics to create a unique and ethereal atmosphere. She will play a compilation of music from her already admired repertoire along with unreleased material. Entrance is free but reservations are required to attend.
Book your spot
British writer-performer Jan Noble performs a dramatic monologue called Shelley 200. The British Institute welcomes Jan to Florence as part of a tour of Italy presenting Shelley 200 – exactly 100 years after Shelley’s ashes were interred at the English Cemetery of Rome. The event will also feature a short introduction by Mark Roberts on Shelley in Tuscany.
In Noble’s words: “There is considerable mystery concerning his final days and with such questions in mind I began to compose a piece in the form of an address to the statue. It only felt appropriate to return on the anniversary of his death, last year, and declaim the finished work in the square before taking it on a journey across Italy, celebrating the ‘road-movie’ life of the itinerant poet. Shelley was cremated on the sands at Viareggio and yet his ashes found their final resting place in Rome a year later. This April marks the bicentenary of that occasion and it is an honour to bring this performance series to its conclusion in Tuscany at the British Institute in Florence.”
The registration fee for the event is 10 euro per person.
Register hereThe British Institute hosts a wine tour at the Colognole estate nestled in the hills above Rufina. The Conti Spalletti Trivelli family have developed this winery over several generations, and it remains a family-run business to this day. On this visit, participants will have a tour of the winery, led by Cesare Coda Nunziante. Then there will be a lunch designed to accompany the tasting of 4 or 5 of his best wines. The cost is 85 euro per person. To book, send an email to bif@britishinstitute.it.
Head to the Re-Fashion Festival at the FAF Contemporary Art Gallery for three days of talks, workshops and art performances concentrating on fashion and sustainability. Artists, designers, schools and foundations will come together to teach participants about how to incorporate more sustainable practices into their lives through fashion and art while also presenting workshops such as unlocking creativity, and more tangible practices like embroidery and screen printing. The series of events will conclude with an art performance/fashion show put on by local designers.
The works of 10 artists who have been selected for the Maria Luigia Guaita International Prize for Contemporary Art Printmaking will show their works at Murate Art District. Among the artists presenting their works is the winner, Giulia Sensi. The award is dedicated to Maria Luigia Guiaita who is a journalist, publisher, entrepreneur, and founder of the Il Bisonte Foundation for Art and Printmaking.
Until April 23
Shaken or stirred? Florence Cocktail Week is back with the promise of meetings, masterclasses and events for spirits professionals and enthusiasts. Following Tuscan Cocktail Week (April 10-16), Florence’s focus will stay in bars and other establishments within the Tuscan capital. Bartenders throughout the city present original twists on classic beverages, while introducing new innovations and flavors to the world of cocktails.
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Artist Nicoletta Gatti hosts her first solo exhibition in Florence curated by Carlo Pizzichini. Her use of strong monochromatic colors and obscure layering create potent works that require time from the viewer to sit and ponder each piece. Her use of red, white and black, and even some green are meant to tie in with the natural elements.
For one of the cutest ways to welcome in the spring, visit this pick-your-own-flower farm with 300,000 tulips from more than 100 different varieties to choose from. We can’t think of a better way to get outside and spruce up your living room with a fresh handpicked bouquet.
Manifattura Tabacchi expands their horizons with new spaces dedicated to restaurants, cafes, stores, offices, artisanal workshops, and even a roof top garden. What was once an old tobacco factory is already one of the most innovative spaces in the city, working as an event space, art residency, and university campus for several years now. This new expansion morphs the multifunctional space into a true creative factory and a hub for creative culture.
Kicking off the artistic side of things, Manifattura Tabacchi hosts the works of Katja Novitskova, an internationally renowned Estonian artist. This exhibition is in part with the Reaching for the Stars exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi and is on display until June 18. Among other artistic efforts is the new B11 workshop, which has been transformed to house initiatives such as the Toast Project Space for contemporary artists.
Cuba-Born artist Enrique Martínez Celaya opens his sculpture exhibition Watching and Waiting at the Museo Marino Marini. Celaya originally comes from a scientific background and has experimented with several other art mediums such as photography, videography, and writing. He resides in Los Angeles and this is his first show in Italy. He will feature his sculptural works from 2005-2023.
National Geographic returns to Pisa’s foremost exhibition space for a major photographic show that revolves around the exploration of Planet Earth. Starting with a set of images that National Geographic’s photographers captured to document the beauty of our ecosystems, the show zooms in on what we know (and don’t know) about the planet where we live, as well as the human impact on the environment over the millennia.
Exhibition info
More than 50 works connected to the Gallery of Mirrors and Biblioteca Riccardiana will make up this major exhibition at Palazzo Medici Riccardi on Baroque master Luca Giordano (1634-1705). Expect a series of sketches on loan from the National Gallery in London as well as other important artworks from private collections in Europe and the United States, the Uffizi and the Opera del Duomo Museum in Siena, among others.
Exhibition info