Here’s our round-up for September 22-29.
Art gets competitive with an art battle, while games of a different kind get going at Firenze Gioca. Exhibitions fill the city as Florence Art Week keeps up speed, and installations all over grab attention. Don’t miss the European Heritage Days on September 24 and 25, with 1-euro to many museums. Here’s your best events of the week line-up for September 22-29.
The multifaceted Icelandic-Danish artist positions visitors at the core of his reflections on the concept of shared experience. Venture into the artist’s unique engagement with the Renaissance palace, with the courtyard, piano nobile and Strozzina undercroft transformed by colour, water and light-focused works, interacting with the senses and creating lasting impressions.
Gathering games and playthings together is the fun-filled fest that features hundreds of different games and events, including workshops and competitions for the dedicated and curious. Bring your board-game skills and go head-to-head with gaming geniuses, scoring finds in the secondhand games bazaar.
A veritable “museum for sale” as secretary general of the Biennale Internazionale dell’Antiquariato Fabrizio Moretti defines it, comes to Palazzo Corsini with 75 international galleries displaying 4,500-plus works in a carefully curated display for passionate purchasers. The biennial is coupled with Florence Art Week, as many of the city’s galleries extend their opening hours with an array of events to fascinate art fans.
A free entry performance by Emiliano Maggi titled Water Spell takes place between Ponte alla Carraia and Ponte Vecchio at 18.45 on September 23, curated by Caroline Corbetta and with the artistic direction of Sergio Risaliti. Museo Novecento presents the project on the occasion of Florence Art Week, with the performance based on the reworking of the mythical figure, Triton, which the Roman artists transforms into a sort of hybrid between man and animal, male and female. Intertwining music, sculpture and choreography, the performance involves the Florentine Historical Parade and the Renaioli in this staging.
24 September 2022
Florentines hail the first bottles of new wine brought from Rufina to Palazzo Vecchio via the traditional oxen-led Carro Matto (crazy cart) on September 24. Dating back to the 14th century, the tradition takes place the fourth Saturday of September, with about 2,000 flasks brought from Rufina in the Chianti area to piazza Signoria, skillfully loaded in the shape of a pyramid, giving it the name ‘Crazy cart’.
Museo Novecento exhibits Transfer, displaying the artworks of Tony Cragg, a sculptural artist originally from Liverpool. Curated by Sergio Risaliti and Stefania Rispoli, the fascinating display opens on September 22 and will run until January 15, 2023. Covering both the first and second floors, the museum has also placed some larger sculptures on display within the cloister, creating dialogue between the art and the architecture of the building.
September 16-March 31 and September 22-October 3
The artistic display at Museo Novecento pays tribute to the well-known English artist 50 years after his memorable exhibition at Forte Belvedere in 1972, with historical images collected from personal archives. In conjunction, two of his monumental works, Family Group and Large Interior Form, will be exhibited in piazza della Signoria and the churchyard of San Miniato al Monte respectively.
Days to celebrate European heritage see 1-euro entry to many museums, including the Bargello National Museum, Museo di Casa Martelli, Museo di Palazzo Davanzati, the Accademia Gallery, the Orsanmichele Complex and more, with initiatives across Italy taking place to mark the occasion.
Salsiccia bus until September 30. Art show until March 18.
The sausage-shaped food truck in piazza Santa Maria Novella is the work of Austrian artist Erwin Wurm, a leading exponent of international contemporary art, who is displaying his oeuvre at Florence’s Galleria Poggiali starting on September 24. Erwin Wurm’s first complete show to be held in Italy comprises 22 works, mostly specially produced and selected to represent the polyhedric quality of the artist’s sculptures, along with a series of oils-on-canvas produced for the occasion.
Talks to celebrate Stefano Bardini take place at Villa Bardini through to December, to mark the centenary of the death of the “Prince of Antiquarians”. National and international scholars explore different aspects of his unique taste for art. The next event in the calendar takes place at 6.30pm on September 22, Lynn Catterson of Columbia University looks at ‘The Evolution of photography in the Bardini enterprise’, aiming to illustrate the gradual evolution of photographic tools as key elements of Stefano Bardini’s businesse. Events are free, with reservations required by emailing info@musefirenze.it or calling 055 27628224.
Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel host a spectacular serata that guides you through the art of mixology, from aperitivo to apericena, led by Tommaso Cecca, store manager and head bartender at Camparino (Milan). From 6pm, bask in the glorious gardens learning about the craft from an expert. Places are limited. For reservations, email concierge.vsm@belmond.com or call +39 055 5678200.
From 7-9pm on September 21, head to Sotto Al British for the vernissage of ‘Love not War’, an art exhibition to raise humanitarian funds for the Red Cross in Ukraine, with the artworks having been specially created by the artists ErikArt Hoenig, Tom J.Byrne, Jennifer Leo and Look – Ah. The works will subsequently be on display from September 22-28, from midday to 5pm.