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March is traditionally devoted to women centred on the eighth of the month with International Women’s Day. For far too many years, the inaccurate Italian label for this day was Festa della Donna, suggesting a celebration of yellow mimosa flowers and cakes rather than a much-needed reflection on gender equality, reproductive rights, and the continued violence and abuse against women. In Italy, in the last 12 months, 31 women were killed by their partners and 12.5 percent of women reported domestic violence in the last five years (source: ISTAT).
On February 8, in the Tuscan town of Rufina, half an hour from Florence, 34-year-old Eleonora Guidi was stabbed to death by her partner, who then attempted to commit suicide. Their 18-month-old son was in the house at the time. While we might never know what happened that winter morning, what matters now is what we do next as a society. After the initial intense outpouring of grief, the University of Florence has introduced a study grant for graduands whose dissertations focus on preventing and combatting gender violence. “The tragedy of Eleonora painfully calls upon us to take up the collective responsibility of combatting every form of violence against women,” remarks Alessandra Petrucci, president of the University of Florence. “Universities must be on the front line of fostering a culture of respect and gender equality. With this grant, our aim is to remember Eleonora while also giving a practical message to our students of all genders, so that knowledge and research become tools for social change.” Education is not the only field in which Eleonora Guidi is being remembered. At Polisportiva Curiel sports club in Pontassieve, five minutes from Rufina, March 8 will be a day of fundraising for Eleonora’s family through sport and community outreach with the involvement of local institutions, associations and gender equality experts. (For details + donations, WA +39 331 7439702.) Other initiatives will surely follow.
The continued hope is that schools start to introduce educational curricula directed at changing societal norms and attitudes for boys and girls as well as an overhaul of the legal, social and healthcare systems to support women before and when they report gender-based violence.
With women’s issues firmly in mind, this month’s cover concentrates on expert female hands lovingly restoring an 18th-century painting by woman artist Violante Beatrice Siries, which will be returned to Florence’s former charterhouse and seat of learning, La Certosa, this June. Turn to page 5 to learn more about the discoveries deriving from the restoration supported by the Advancing Women Artist Legacy Fund and organized by the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno and Syracuse University. In other art news, celebrated British contemporary artist Tracey Emin opens her first major Italian show at Palazzo Strozzi on March 16. Ahead of the opening, art collector Christian Levett generously walked me through his Florentine home to gaze at three diverse works by Emin, whose art has long reflected the sexual abuse she experienced in her youth. Find out more on page 15. Meanwhile, Museo Novecento (page 8) offers an all-woman artist lineup for Messaggere on March 8, followed by an exhibition of textile art by Romanian artist Marion Baruch starting on March 15. That’s not all. The March edition includes interviews with Livia Frescobaldi and renowned antiques dealer Bec Astley Clarke as well as a profile of Julie Clary Bonaparte, former Queen of Spain and Florence resident.
