Without the Arno, Florence would be like Romolo - The Florentine
Without the Arno, Florence would be like Romolo - The Florentine
Without the Arno, Florence would be like Romolo - The Florentine
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Anno 3 numero 49 - Firenze Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Big Bro<strong>the</strong>r<br />
gets bigger<br />
20 additional anti-rape<br />
surveillance cameras<br />
around centre<br />
VOLVO XC70.<br />
DON’T STOP TO EXPLORE.<br />
Media empire<br />
thwarted<br />
Anti-monopoly bill<br />
angers Berlusconi<br />
Silver River sings <strong>the</strong> blues<br />
Below-average water levels threaten <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong><br />
<strong>Without</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong>, <strong>Florence</strong> <strong>would</strong> <strong>be</strong> <strong>like</strong> <strong>Romolo</strong> without Remo. Yet once again, <strong>the</strong><br />
dangerously low water levels in Tuscany’s most legendary waterway has caused some<br />
to <strong>be</strong>come increasingly concerned about <strong>the</strong> fate of <strong>the</strong> city’s most distinctive trademark.<br />
In fact, water levels are down in most of <strong>the</strong> region’s fresh-water basins, with both <strong>the</strong><br />
parched Mugnone and Lake Bilancino recording considerable decreases in water levels compared<br />
to last year’s records.<br />
While most environmental experts have <strong>be</strong>en pointing <strong>the</strong>ir fingers at <strong>the</strong> milder and drierthan-usual<br />
temperatures experienced this winter, <strong>the</strong>y do caution against declaring a water<br />
shortage a ‘state of emergency’. In fact, <strong>the</strong> majority of experts are waiting until <strong>the</strong> summer<br />
in order to reassess <strong>the</strong> bleak situation, while remaining hopeful that a rainy spring will bring<br />
water levels back up to average. O<strong>the</strong>rs instead seem to blame <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong>’s excessive aridness<br />
on <strong>the</strong> ‘crazed river’ itself. According to environmental councilor, Claudio Del Lungo, history has<br />
shown that <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong> is capable of just about anything: ‘one day in 1985, <strong>the</strong> recorded water levels<br />
were frighteningly low, while just 20 years prior <strong>Florence</strong> was almost completely drowned<br />
by <strong>the</strong> flood’. <strong>The</strong> river is prone to go from torrents to trickles, and back again, it seems. While<br />
experts have unanimously refuted to declare a state of emergency, <strong>the</strong> rest of us are left reminiscing<br />
of <strong>Florence</strong>’s <strong>be</strong>loved silver river.<br />
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<strong>The</strong> legacy of<br />
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Making<br />
connections<br />
through <strong>the</strong>ater<br />
Day of memory takes<br />
center stage at FITC event<br />
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by Mary Ann Pinto<br />
by P.M. Louis<br />
see pg.4 see pg. 6<br />
see pg. 18 see pg. 21<br />
MOBILE<br />
MISBEHAVIOUR<br />
Cell phone abuse rampant<br />
in local schools<br />
Armed with cellular phones,<br />
teenage bullies have <strong>be</strong>come<br />
as terrifying as a pack of hungry<br />
lions hunting for prey. In wake of<br />
<strong>the</strong> recent string of indecent, violent<br />
episodes involving teens and<br />
mobile phone use, many have<br />
<strong>be</strong>en questioning <strong>the</strong> degree to<br />
which teens should <strong>be</strong> punished<br />
for committing such harmful acts.<br />
Questions abound. Are <strong>the</strong>y too<br />
young to <strong>be</strong> able to appreciate <strong>the</strong><br />
consequences of <strong>the</strong>ir actions?<br />
Where do we draw <strong>the</strong> line regarding<br />
cell phone use and ‘abuse’?<br />
Should juvenile laws <strong>be</strong> amended<br />
in order to address such mis<strong>be</strong>haviour<br />
by way of mobiles?<br />
see pg. 2
2<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Want to know where to pick up your free copy?<br />
Visit our website to fi nd out specifi c addresses.<br />
Bookstores<br />
BM Bookshop, British Library, Edison, Feltrinelli International, Libreria del<br />
Porcellino, Mandragora Book and Art Stores, McRae Bookstore, Newsagent<br />
Piazza della Repubblica, Newsagent Via Pellicceria, Paperback Exchange<br />
Bars, cafes and restaurants<br />
Art Bar, Hemingway, Caff etteria Piansa, Colle Bereto, Danny Rock, Darvish<br />
Café, Eby’s, Eccoci!, La Sosta del Rossellino, Finnegan Irish Pub, Frescobaldi<br />
restaurant and winebar, Galanti delicatessen, I Visacci art café, Il Santo<br />
Bevitore, J.J.Hill Pub. ,J.J.Ca<strong>the</strong>dral, Maioli Bar, Moyo, Old Stove Irish Pub, Ora<br />
d’Aria, Prince Food Point, Sei Divino! Winebar, Snack Bar Anna, Tabaccheria<br />
Ricchi, Teatro del Sale, <strong>The</strong> Lion’s Fountain Pub, Tijuana, Vestri, Zoe<br />
Shops<br />
Baroni Cheese Shop, Ceri Vintage, Conti’s Vegetable Stand, Ethic, Jimmy’s<br />
Bakery, La Bottega D’Arte Lastrucci. Maison Dumitru, Monastica, Oil Shoppe,<br />
Tamarino Stampe d’Arte<br />
Salons, health and sport clubs<br />
Fonbliù, Hair Force, Klab Wellness Gym, Vivarium Gym, International Hair<br />
Studio, Circolo del Golf dell’Ugolino, Società Canottieri Firenze<br />
Travel & tourist<br />
Tourist Information Offi ces: Via Manzoni - Via Cavour - <strong>Florence</strong> airport -<br />
Firenze SMN – Piazza Stazione - Borgo S.Croce - Fiesole<br />
Hotels<br />
B&B Il Salotto di Firenze, Classic Hotel, Gallery Art Hotel, Grand Hotel, Grand<br />
Hotel Mediterraneo, Hotel Aprile - Palazzo dal Borgo, Hotel Brunelleschi,<br />
Hotel Cestelli, Hotel Continental, Hotel Cosimo de’ Medici, Hotel David, Hotel<br />
Lungarno, Hotel JK Place, Residence Hilda, Savoy Hotel, Serristori Palace,<br />
Sofi tel, Westin Excelsior<br />
Schools<br />
ABC School, API Italy - Academic Program International, Accademia Europea,<br />
Accademia Italiana, Accent, Angel Academy of Art, Art Studio FUJI, <strong>The</strong><br />
British Institute of <strong>Florence</strong>, California State University. CAPA Study Center<br />
Abroad, CEA Cultural Experience Abroad, Centro Fiorenza, CET Academic<br />
Programs, CLIDA Centro Linguistico Dante Alighieri, Eurocentre, Europass<br />
Studi Europei, European University, Fashion Design Lab, Farfi eld University<br />
<strong>Florence</strong> Campus, <strong>Florence</strong> Dance Studio, GE <strong>Florence</strong> Learning Center,<br />
<strong>Florence</strong> University of <strong>the</strong> Arts, Georgetown University, GIA Gemological<br />
Institute of America, Gonzaga University, Harding University In <strong>Florence</strong>,<br />
Institute of Fine & Li<strong>be</strong>ral Arts, Institute of Italian Studies – Drake University,<br />
International School - Upper & Lower, Istituto Americano, Istituto Europeo,<br />
Istituto Michelangelo, Istituto per l’arte e il restauro “Palazzo Spinelli”, ITC Istituto<br />
Tecnico “A. Volta”, Live Institute, James Madison University, Jennifer Williams<br />
- Scuola Biblica, Kent State University, Koiné Center, Scuola del Cuoio<br />
– Lea<strong>the</strong>r School, Lorenzo de’ Medici, Italian Language Center “Machiavelli”,<br />
New York University - Villa La Pietra, New York University- Villa Ulivi, Perseo<br />
Scuola per l’Arte della Gioielleria, Polimoda, Richmond University, SACI Studio<br />
Art Centers International, Sarah Lawrence College, Scuola Art.e, International<br />
School of Graphic Arts “Il Bisonte”, Leonardo da Vinci School, Scuola<br />
Superiore per Mediatori Linguistici “Carlo Bo”, Scuola Toscana, SRISA Santa<br />
Reparata International School of Art, Stanford University, Syracuse University,<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Florence</strong> Academy of Art, <strong>The</strong> International School of <strong>Florence</strong>, <strong>The</strong><br />
Learning Center of Tuscany, Tuscany Painting Studio<br />
O<strong>the</strong>rs<br />
Agile Logica, Alma edizioni, British Consulate, Comune di Bagno a Ripoli,<br />
Dott. Nicola Paoleschi, Dr. Stephen Kerr, <strong>Florence</strong> for Fun, International<br />
Medical Service, Internet Service, Lory Copy Store, Nuovo Pignone, Odeon<br />
<strong>The</strong>atre Cinehall, Regione Toscana Giunta Regionale, Regione Toscana URP,<br />
St. James Church, St. Marks English Church, <strong>The</strong> Wedding Planner in Tuscany,<br />
Unicef, United States of America Consulate, Walking Tours of <strong>Florence</strong><br />
News & Views<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
PICK-UP POINTS <strong>Florence</strong> NEWS<br />
MOBILE MISBEHAVIOUR<br />
Cell phone abuse rampant in local schools<br />
Meanwhile, photos and video clips<br />
of <strong>be</strong>atings and violence toward<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r classmates, sexually explicit<br />
shots and even videos of sex in <strong>the</strong><br />
classroom continue to send shock<br />
waves throughout Italian schools.<br />
Last week, a middle school in <strong>the</strong><br />
province of <strong>Florence</strong> was added<br />
to <strong>the</strong> long list of sites of incidents<br />
involving teenagers and mobile<br />
phone misuse.<br />
A middle school in Calenzano is<br />
still reeling after a photo of a girl’s<br />
backside was shot by bullying boys<br />
on a cell phone and <strong>the</strong>n passed<br />
around from one schoolmate to<br />
ano<strong>the</strong>r until <strong>the</strong> entire school got<br />
wind of <strong>the</strong> photo. It all happened<br />
while in religion class, when a boy<br />
pulled down <strong>the</strong> 13-year-old girl’s<br />
trousers in order to get a snapshot of<br />
her bare bottom. He and his friends<br />
<strong>the</strong>n mocked her into silence and <strong>the</strong><br />
photo <strong>be</strong>gan circulating on cellular<br />
phones throughout <strong>the</strong> school for<br />
several days until <strong>the</strong> intimidated girl<br />
fi nally told her parents about what<br />
happened. Needless to say, her<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>r was outraged and appalled.<br />
After failing in several attempts to<br />
speak with <strong>the</strong> school principal,<br />
<strong>the</strong> woman went to <strong>the</strong> police and<br />
reported <strong>the</strong> crime to local Carabinieri.<br />
After days of humiliation and<br />
embarrassment, <strong>the</strong> girl’s mo<strong>the</strong>r<br />
decided to pull her from <strong>the</strong> school<br />
continued from pg. 1<br />
and enroll her in a private school in<br />
order to save her daughter from <strong>the</strong><br />
pain of <strong>be</strong>ing incessantly heckled in<br />
<strong>the</strong> school corridor.<br />
A verbal battle consequently<br />
ensued <strong>be</strong>tween <strong>the</strong> girl’s mo<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
who accused <strong>the</strong> principal of not<br />
punishing <strong>the</strong> boys enough for <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
act; <strong>the</strong> school principal, who issued<br />
a memo advising all girls attending<br />
<strong>the</strong> school that <strong>the</strong>y were not to come<br />
to school wearing low-rise pants; and<br />
<strong>the</strong> mo<strong>the</strong>r of <strong>the</strong> accused, who contends<br />
that even though her son made<br />
a mistake, ‘he didn’t even touch <strong>the</strong><br />
girl’. According to <strong>the</strong> boy’s mo<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
<strong>the</strong> three-day suspension from school,<br />
which he did received from <strong>the</strong> principal,<br />
was punishment enough. Instead,<br />
<strong>the</strong> school principal remains strong in<br />
her conviction that she ‘did <strong>the</strong> right<br />
thing’ in punishing <strong>the</strong> boy and issuing<br />
<strong>the</strong> memo banning low-rise pants.<br />
Meanwhile <strong>the</strong> victim of <strong>the</strong> crime has<br />
<strong>be</strong>en forced to change schools in<br />
order to overcome <strong>the</strong> trauma caused<br />
by such an experience.<br />
Reversing <strong>the</strong> brain drain<br />
U.S. initiative aimed at encouraging Italian entrepreneurs<br />
Five of Italy’s <strong>be</strong>st engineering<br />
and science students have<br />
kicked off <strong>the</strong> fi rst edition of<br />
a novel work-study exchange program,<br />
called <strong>the</strong> Fulbright-BEST<br />
(Business Exchange and Student<br />
Training) Silicon Valley Exchange<br />
Program, launched by <strong>the</strong> U.S.<br />
Embassy in Italy. <strong>The</strong> six-month<br />
pilot program will allow <strong>the</strong>se students<br />
to gain valuable knowledge<br />
and experience in California’s own<br />
Silicon Valley, where <strong>the</strong>y will<br />
attend business classes at <strong>the</strong> Santa<br />
Clara University of California and<br />
work as interns in one of Silicon<br />
Valley’s fastest-growing companies.<br />
U.S. Ambassador to Italy, Ronald<br />
Spogli, has stated that ‘<strong>the</strong> BEST<br />
Program is designed to encourage<br />
entrepreneurship in Italy by allowing<br />
students, young managers and<br />
regional and municipal offi cials<br />
to learn fi rst-hand how entrepreneurship<br />
in <strong>the</strong> U.S. works.’ <strong>The</strong><br />
Fulbright BEST program is part<br />
of a larger initiative set up by <strong>the</strong><br />
U.S. Embassy called ‘Partnership<br />
for Growth’, aimed at enhancing<br />
economic dynamism in Italy and<br />
stimulating economic competition<br />
through new and innovative business<br />
ventures.<br />
For more information see<br />
http://italy.usembassy.gov
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
quindicinale/every o<strong>the</strong>r week<br />
redazione<br />
via Santa Maria 32r - 50125 Firenze<br />
tel/fax +39 055 2306616<br />
info@<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
direttore responsabile Silvia Bini<br />
editor in chief Nita Tucker<br />
managing editor Linda Falcone<br />
news editor Brenda Dionisi<br />
cultural editor Jane Fortune<br />
events Marco Badiani<br />
this issue’s contributors<br />
James Douglas, Sabine Eiche, Mary Ann<br />
Pinto, Deirdre Pirro, Samuel Jay Keyser,<br />
Richard Keenan, P.M. Louis and Ellen Wert<br />
pubblicità/sales Giacomo Badiani<br />
pubblicita@<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
classifi ed & subscription Giovanni Giusti<br />
annunci@<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
subscription@<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
graphic design Leo Cardini - agilelogica.it<br />
layout Cathy Gale<br />
web Antonio Lo Iacono - agilelogica.it<br />
printer La Marina, Calenzano (Fi)<br />
editore B’Gruppo s.r.l.<br />
via Valentini 10 - 59100 Prato<br />
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Registrazione Trib. di Prato n.4 del 12/09/06<br />
<strong>The</strong> much-anticipated three-year<br />
event schedule prepared by <strong>the</strong><br />
Fondazione Strozzi was presented<br />
last week, marking <strong>the</strong> debut<br />
of <strong>Florence</strong>’s newest cultural alliance.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Fondazione Strozzi unites<br />
<strong>the</strong> city’s public and private sectors,<br />
<strong>be</strong>coming <strong>the</strong> leading authority on<br />
cultural events in <strong>the</strong> city. It is a<br />
bona fi de cultural think tank alla<br />
fi orentina, aimed at promoting ‘creativity<br />
and innovation’ and <strong>the</strong>reby<br />
ensuring <strong>the</strong> city’s centuries-long<br />
dedication to maintaining its artistic<br />
and cultural heritage. <strong>The</strong> threeyear<br />
schedule is an ambitious one,<br />
offering not only seven world-class<br />
art exhibits, but also a wide array of<br />
concerts, seminars, encounters and<br />
multimedia events to <strong>be</strong> held in a<br />
transformed Palazzo Strozzi. <strong>The</strong><br />
renovated palazzo will boast a bar,<br />
bookshop and restaurant in hopes of<br />
welcoming over hundreds of thousands<br />
of visitors at a time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2007–2009 program is, in<br />
part, dedicated to <strong>the</strong> contemporary<br />
art and culture world, an area which<br />
has recently <strong>be</strong>come a battleground<br />
for debate due to <strong>the</strong> general lack<br />
of interest by public offi cials in this<br />
specifi c realm of artistic expression.<br />
Aside from <strong>the</strong> events scheduled,<br />
which celebrate modern and contemporary<br />
art, general director of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Fondazione, James Bradburne,<br />
announced that <strong>the</strong> 1,500-squaremetre<br />
Strozzina will <strong>be</strong>come <strong>the</strong> offi -<br />
cial home of contemporary art in <strong>the</strong><br />
city and will showcase photography,<br />
design and architecture and video<br />
and digital art exhibitions celebrating<br />
<strong>the</strong> work of <strong>the</strong> world’s most<br />
highly acclaimed contemporary artists,<br />
such as Bill Viola, James Turrell,<br />
Damien Hirst and Candida Hofer.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Strozzina will also <strong>be</strong> an impor-<br />
News<br />
Close encounters<br />
for culture<br />
Fondazione Strozzi presents<br />
far-reaching calendar<br />
tant springboard for Tuscany’s young<br />
and up-and-coming contemporary<br />
artists. Bradbourne also added that<br />
Fort Belvedere ‘will probably host<br />
modern and contemporary sculpture<br />
exhibitions as of 2008’, though<br />
things are still up in <strong>the</strong> air regarding<br />
this possible venue, while Palazzo<br />
Strozzi’s main fl oor will host <strong>the</strong><br />
classic ‘internationally recognized’<br />
art exhibits, which will attract visitors<br />
from around <strong>the</strong> glo<strong>be</strong>.<br />
Fondazione Strozzi’s fi rst event<br />
is <strong>the</strong> much-anticipated Cézanne<br />
a Firenze exhibition, running from<br />
March 1st to July 29th, which will<br />
showcase <strong>the</strong> private art collections<br />
of Egisto Paolo Fabbri and Charles<br />
Alexander Loeser alongside several<br />
of Cézanne’s impressionist masterpieces.<br />
Next up is an exhibit celebrating<br />
female fashions from <strong>the</strong><br />
1980s and 1990s, with pieces by<br />
Issey Miyake, Vivian Westwood and<br />
Thierry Mugler on display, running<br />
from Octo<strong>be</strong>r 2007 to January 2008<br />
and in collaboration with Pitti Discovery.<br />
In 2008, three mega-events<br />
are in store, starting in spring with<br />
an exposition on ancient Chinese<br />
art, Celeste Impero, after which it<br />
will travel to Rome. From July to<br />
Decem<strong>be</strong>r, Palazzo Strozzi will host<br />
Dipingere a luce which will showcase<br />
circa 60 Impressionist masterpieces.<br />
Later in autumn, an event<br />
called Donne al potere will <strong>be</strong> held<br />
in celebration of two queens hailing<br />
from <strong>the</strong> infamous Medici family.<br />
<strong>The</strong> largest and most important<br />
event of 2009 will <strong>be</strong> an interactive<br />
event dedicated to Galileo Galilei,<br />
called Macrocosmo, <strong>be</strong>ginning<br />
in spring. It will <strong>be</strong> followed in<br />
autumn by exhibit which will journey<br />
through illusion and reality in<br />
art, Dolci inganni.<br />
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3<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
<strong>Florence</strong> NEWS<br />
Table of CONTENTS<br />
<strong>Florence</strong> News<br />
Silver River sings <strong>the</strong> blues<br />
Big Bro<strong>the</strong>r gets bigger<br />
Memory train<br />
remem<strong>be</strong>rs Holocaust<br />
National News<br />
Media empire thwarted<br />
Promises in progress<br />
Sport News<br />
Time to draw <strong>the</strong> line<br />
Rossi pens new Yamaha deal<br />
Movies Reviews<br />
<strong>The</strong> Holiday<br />
An Inconvenient Truth<br />
Stranger Than Fiction<br />
Breaking and Entering<br />
EVENTS<br />
1- 5<br />
6<br />
7<br />
8<br />
9 - 13<br />
What’s happening in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
Up Close &<br />
Personal<br />
An Interview with<br />
Antonina Bargellini<br />
Mosaics<br />
Italian Voices<br />
‘Mah’<br />
14-15<br />
<strong>The</strong> past in wax at ‘La Specola’<br />
Jane’s GEMS<br />
Culture & Customs<br />
To whom we owe it all<br />
Culture & Customs<br />
<strong>The</strong> night <strong>the</strong> bridges came<br />
falling down<br />
Travel & Leisure<br />
Seeing in <strong>the</strong> rain<br />
<strong>The</strong> Arts<br />
Making connections<br />
through <strong>the</strong>ater<br />
<strong>The</strong> Arts<br />
Stark contrasts<br />
Classifi ed<br />
16<br />
17<br />
18<br />
19<br />
20<br />
21<br />
22<br />
23
4<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007 News<br />
<strong>Florence</strong> NEWS<br />
News in BRIEF<br />
News in BRIEF<br />
‘Giovanni’ from <strong>the</strong> block<br />
Want to <strong>be</strong> on a fi rst name<br />
basis ■ with <strong>the</strong> city of <strong>Florence</strong>?<br />
Call Nine out lives <strong>the</strong> for name two-wheelers ‘Andrea’ and<br />
3,201 <strong>The</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong> men and boys municipal will answer. police<br />
According will <strong>be</strong> sending to a recent 96 abandoned city-wide<br />
name and unreclaimed search, ‘Andrea’ bikes takes to fi <strong>the</strong> rst<br />
place underprivileged as <strong>the</strong> most people common of Okolo fi rst<br />
name in <strong>the</strong> African throughout Congo, <strong>the</strong> as Munici- part of<br />
pality a project of <strong>Florence</strong>. called Una Marco bici slides per il<br />
into Congo. second Upon place city councilor with more Gra-<br />
than ziano 3,000. Cioni’s Third motion place to donate goes<br />
to <strong>the</strong>se Alessandro two-wheeled at 2,700. wonders And for to<br />
women? one of Africa’s Try Francesca—at most poverty- least<br />
2,012 stricken <strong>Florentine</strong> areas, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong> girls go city by<br />
that administration name. <strong>The</strong>re has are once also 1,794 again<br />
donne confi rmed who its answer dedication to ‘Laura’ and<br />
and long-standing 1,542 called commitment ‘Silvia.’ to aiding<br />
<strong>the</strong> disadvantaged in Africa.<br />
Tales from <strong>the</strong> nose<br />
that ■ grows<br />
A Vandal centuries-old slashes giant oak featured<br />
Tournabuoni’s in Carlo treasure Collodi’s <strong>The</strong><br />
Adventures Last week, of owners Pinocchio of <strong>the</strong> is Floailing,rentine tree art experts gallery said Tournabuoni<br />
on Monday.<br />
Experts Arte, Ro<strong>be</strong>rto from all over Casamonti Tuscany and are<br />
<strong>be</strong>ing Anna called Ostellari, to protect were astonished <strong>the</strong> 600year-old<br />
to fi nd one oak of that <strong>the</strong>ir is most included valuable on<br />
UNESCO’s pieces on display World Heritage at Bologna’s List.<br />
It Arte inspired Fiera slashed Collodi, to who bits wrote by an<br />
a unknown fi nal episode vandal. <strong>The</strong> in work which of <strong>the</strong> art,<br />
wooden entitled Psico-foil puppet was by <strong>the</strong> suspended 83-year-<br />
from old Sicilian <strong>the</strong> giant artist oak Carla and Accardi, left to<br />
die. was Collodi valued at originally over 300 wrote thousand Pinocchio<br />
euro. Casamonti in a serialised and form Ostellari for a<br />
weekly are baffl children’s ed by <strong>the</strong> magazine. vandalous <strong>The</strong> act,<br />
grisly stating ending ‘we horrifi can’t ed <strong>be</strong>lieve <strong>the</strong> story’s why<br />
young someone readers <strong>would</strong> and want <strong>the</strong> protests to com-<br />
prompted mit such an <strong>the</strong> act author when to <strong>the</strong>re resume were<br />
writing. o<strong>the</strong>r more Collodi valuable penned pieces a fur<strong>the</strong>r left in<br />
19 our episodes, kiosk, including wrapping a few up pieces with<br />
a by classic Fontana fairy-tale and a happy Picasso’. ending <strong>The</strong><br />
in police which are <strong>the</strong> currently wooden investigating Pinocchio<br />
fi this nally peculiar <strong>be</strong>comes act a of real vandalism. boy.<br />
■<br />
Hop to <strong>the</strong> rescue<br />
For over a month now, <strong>the</strong> World<br />
Wildlife Fund of <strong>Florence</strong> has<br />
<strong>be</strong>en fresh on <strong>the</strong> heels of frogs<br />
and <strong>the</strong>ir o<strong>the</strong>r long-legged family<br />
mem<strong>be</strong>rs in an effort to rescue<br />
<strong>the</strong>m from <strong>be</strong>ing unknowingly fl attened<br />
by passing cars. <strong>The</strong> WWF<br />
has <strong>be</strong>en recruiting several volunteers<br />
as part of an initiative called<br />
Operazione Salvarospi which is<br />
aimed at curbing <strong>the</strong> bloodshed<br />
of frogs, toads and o<strong>the</strong>r amphibians<br />
living in and around <strong>the</strong><br />
WWF Focognano Oasis on <strong>the</strong><br />
outskirts of <strong>Florence</strong>. Director of<br />
<strong>the</strong> oasis, Carlo Scoccianti, has<br />
stated that amphibians in <strong>the</strong> area<br />
are most at risk at this time of year<br />
<strong>be</strong>cause <strong>the</strong>y are waking from<br />
hi<strong>be</strong>rnation and are in search of<br />
wet and humid environments. As<br />
a result, WWF volunteers will <strong>be</strong><br />
patrolling <strong>the</strong> high-risk streets surrounding<br />
<strong>the</strong> Focognano Oasis,<br />
as well as high-humidity areas<br />
in and around <strong>Florence</strong>, such as<br />
Osmannoro and Figline Valdarno.<br />
Those interested in giving a helping<br />
hand can call 055477876.<br />
Big Bro<strong>the</strong>r gets bigger<br />
20 additional anti-rape surveillance cameras around centre<br />
In addition to <strong>the</strong> 96 surveillance<br />
cameras in <strong>Florence</strong>,<br />
<strong>the</strong> city’s Safety Committee<br />
has announced that ano<strong>the</strong>r 20<br />
cameras will <strong>be</strong> installed throughout<br />
city streets in order to curb<br />
<strong>the</strong> ever-increasing incidences of<br />
sexual assaults in <strong>the</strong> central core.<br />
This decision was taken in light of<br />
recent statistics revealing that <strong>the</strong><br />
num<strong>be</strong>r of sexual assaults in <strong>the</strong><br />
city is up 10.9 percent from last<br />
year, and up 5.6 percent in <strong>the</strong> rest<br />
of <strong>the</strong> province. Several weeks ago,<br />
<strong>Florence</strong>’s Prefect, Andrea De Martino,<br />
released <strong>the</strong> city’s 2006 Public<br />
Safety Report, which reported<br />
a signifi cant rise in <strong>the</strong> num<strong>be</strong>r of<br />
Hard day’s night<br />
Report exposes shaky employment stats<br />
<strong>The</strong> employment rate in Tuscany<br />
rose in 2006 to almost<br />
65 percent, though statistics<br />
revealed that most workers were<br />
at an increased risk of fi nding<br />
contract, or precarious employment,<br />
thus following <strong>the</strong> general<br />
trend in <strong>the</strong> rest of Italy toward an<br />
increased use of unstable employment<br />
contracts offered by both <strong>the</strong><br />
public and private sectors. In fact,<br />
<strong>the</strong> regional newspaper La Nazione<br />
recently reported that as many as<br />
500 people at <strong>Florence</strong>’s city hall<br />
are contract, or precarious, workers.<br />
<strong>The</strong> 2006 Istat report, released<br />
a few weeks ago, reveals that <strong>the</strong>re<br />
is work to <strong>be</strong> found in <strong>the</strong> Tuscan<br />
region, but <strong>the</strong> pay stub still leaves<br />
much to <strong>be</strong> desired. In fact, <strong>the</strong><br />
report illustrated that an average<br />
sexual aggressions and violence<br />
toward women in 2006, as well as<br />
an increased num<strong>be</strong>r of rob<strong>be</strong>ries<br />
and <strong>the</strong>fts in <strong>the</strong> centre. De Martino<br />
asserted that <strong>the</strong> statistics revealing<br />
a higher incidence of sexual assaults<br />
are essentially due to ‘an increased<br />
num<strong>be</strong>r of rape victims who are<br />
now going to <strong>the</strong> police and reporting<br />
sex crimes’.<br />
Public Order offi cials have also<br />
cited that most victims of rape in <strong>the</strong><br />
past year tended to <strong>be</strong> younger foreign<br />
women who have come to <strong>Florence</strong><br />
on holiday or to study. Moreover,<br />
alcohol consumption seems to<br />
have played a considerable role in<br />
several sexual assaults reported in<br />
2006. O<strong>the</strong>r crime statistics released<br />
by <strong>the</strong> Prefect have shown a general<br />
increase in <strong>the</strong> num<strong>be</strong>r of commercial<br />
and residential <strong>the</strong>fts in <strong>the</strong> rest<br />
of <strong>the</strong> province, more so than in <strong>the</strong><br />
city. As well, drug-related crimes and<br />
homicides seem to have dropped<br />
slightly, while crimes related to<br />
prostitution and pornography have<br />
risen. Although <strong>the</strong> statistics show<br />
a general decrease in crime in <strong>the</strong><br />
central core, De Martino asserts ‘<strong>the</strong><br />
citizens of <strong>Florence</strong> feel less safe and<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir sense of safety has signifi cantly<br />
decreased in this past year’.<br />
salary in Tuscany in 2006 was just<br />
around 1,000 euro net—yes, that is<br />
right—making it just over <strong>the</strong> poverty<br />
line.<br />
This sorry state of affairs refl ects<br />
<strong>the</strong> dynamics of <strong>the</strong> new labour market<br />
in Tuscany, making <strong>the</strong> num<strong>be</strong>r<br />
of stable, regular employment work<br />
contracts a thing of <strong>the</strong> past. This<br />
tendency follows <strong>the</strong> same shift evidenced<br />
in <strong>the</strong> national labour market,<br />
al<strong>be</strong>it <strong>the</strong> skies seem clearer<br />
over <strong>the</strong> former Grand Duchy territory<br />
than in <strong>the</strong> rest of <strong>the</strong> country.<br />
More precisely, Istat reported a 4.7<br />
percent decrease in unemployment<br />
from 2006, and on a happier note,<br />
<strong>the</strong> num<strong>be</strong>r of female employees in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Tuscan workforce are almost<br />
equal in num<strong>be</strong>r to <strong>the</strong>ir male counterparts.<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
COAST<br />
IS CLEAR<br />
Expert calms fears<br />
about Tuscany’s<br />
disappearing coastline<br />
According to <strong>the</strong> University of<br />
<strong>Florence</strong>’s leading physical<br />
geography professor, Enzo Pranzini,<br />
<strong>the</strong>re is no need to fret about<br />
Tuscan’s disappearing coastline<br />
due to erosion, which in <strong>the</strong> last<br />
120 years has worn away hundreds<br />
of metres of <strong>be</strong>ach, nor to<br />
<strong>the</strong> threat of rising sea levels.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> wake of <strong>the</strong> alarming data<br />
and previsions that have continued<br />
to bombard <strong>the</strong> world regarding<br />
<strong>the</strong> acute climate change in<br />
course and <strong>the</strong> extent to which<br />
<strong>the</strong> greenhouse effect has, and<br />
will, negatively effect our environment,<br />
Pranzini contends that <strong>the</strong><br />
Tuscan Maremma is pretty much<br />
safe and sound, so to speak.<br />
Although he denies a looming<br />
environmental catastrophe<br />
on <strong>the</strong> horizon, he does not disallow<br />
<strong>the</strong> possibility that <strong>the</strong>re will<br />
probably <strong>be</strong> signifi cant changes<br />
to <strong>the</strong> already marshy land near<br />
<strong>the</strong> coast. In fact, he admits that<br />
<strong>the</strong> wettest areas, such as Lake<br />
Massaciuccoli, as well as <strong>the</strong> wet<br />
plains surrounding Pisa, San Rossore,<br />
Follonica and Castiglione,<br />
will eventually fl ood, <strong>be</strong>coming<br />
marshland.<br />
Apparently, <strong>the</strong> Tuscan coastline<br />
gets a good bill of health,<br />
<strong>be</strong>cause through human intervention<br />
it is still possible to save<br />
disappearing <strong>be</strong>aches, especially<br />
if one looks at <strong>the</strong> areas surrounding<br />
Marina di Massa and Ronchi,<br />
where sand and rock barriers<br />
were installed about 300 metres<br />
from <strong>the</strong> coastline in 2000 by<br />
<strong>the</strong> Tuscan Region. Since <strong>the</strong>n,<br />
<strong>the</strong> coastline in <strong>the</strong>se areas has<br />
ceased to erode. As a result, in<br />
2003 <strong>the</strong> Tuscan Region fi nanced<br />
similar interventions throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> region.
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
TIES THAT BIND<br />
Most Tuscans say yes to<br />
common-law unions<br />
As one of <strong>the</strong> most ancient<br />
cruxes of li<strong>be</strong>ralist thought<br />
in Europe, not many can deny<br />
<strong>the</strong> fact that Tuscany is perhaps<br />
<strong>the</strong> most progressive of Italian<br />
regions. Well, Tuscan citizens<br />
have once again confi rmed <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
commitment to <strong>the</strong> socialist<br />
cause in support of <strong>the</strong> very controversial<br />
Pacs legislation, which,<br />
if passed by parliament, will give<br />
legal status to civil unions on <strong>the</strong><br />
national, regional and provincial<br />
level. Recent debates have fl ared<br />
<strong>be</strong>hind closed parliamentary<br />
doors as of late about whe<strong>the</strong>r or<br />
not to follow <strong>the</strong> general European<br />
trend toward <strong>the</strong> legal recognition<br />
of common-law couples.<br />
And all while, <strong>the</strong> majority of<br />
those <strong>Florentine</strong>s in favour of <strong>the</strong><br />
cause are probably not aware<br />
that, just over ten years ago, Pisa<br />
was <strong>the</strong> fi rst city in Italy to offi cially<br />
record <strong>the</strong> presence of commonlaw<br />
couples, registering over 40<br />
civil unions in <strong>the</strong> city and province,<br />
including fi ve gay couples.<br />
Soon after, <strong>Florence</strong>, Scandicci,<br />
Pistoia, Piombino and Empoli<br />
followed in Pisa’s footsteps by<br />
keeping offi cial accounts of <strong>the</strong><br />
num<strong>be</strong>r of unwed couples in <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
jurisdictions. <strong>Without</strong> a national<br />
law to address <strong>the</strong> issue, <strong>the</strong>se<br />
municipal efforts did not have<br />
much success, with very few couples<br />
declaring <strong>the</strong>ir common-law<br />
status in city halls.<br />
VISIT OUR BLOG<br />
http://<strong>the</strong>florentine.<br />
blog.dada.net/<br />
News<br />
Memory train<br />
remem<strong>be</strong>rs Holocaust<br />
Tuscan students embark on a journey to Auschwitz<br />
Last week, 500 Tuscan<br />
high school<br />
and university students,<br />
alongside teachers<br />
and municipal offi -<br />
cials, travelled on <strong>the</strong><br />
Treno della Memoria to<br />
Auschwitz in order to<br />
commemorate Europe’s<br />
Holocaust victims. In a<br />
moving display of solidarity,<br />
students participated<br />
in a memorial celebration<br />
in one of Auschwitz’s lagers,<br />
and were accompanied by regional<br />
councilor, Ugo Caffaz, where <strong>the</strong>y<br />
prayed and sang songs in Hebrew,<br />
Top spot for<br />
taxpayers<br />
Siena, Pisa and <strong>Florence</strong><br />
are country’s costliest<br />
Yes friends, <strong>the</strong> rumors are true:<br />
Tuscany is offi cially <strong>the</strong> most<br />
costly region in Italy. Cgia of Mestre,<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Veneto region, recently<br />
released a report which classifi es Italy’s<br />
most expensive cities on basis of<br />
<strong>the</strong> amount of money taxpayers hand<br />
over to municipalities each year. <strong>The</strong><br />
report revealed that <strong>Florence</strong> takes<br />
fi fth spot in <strong>the</strong> list of Italy’s most<br />
expensive cities. More precisely,<br />
each <strong>Florentine</strong> dishes out about<br />
1,150 euro a year in municipal tax in<br />
exchange for <strong>the</strong> goods and services<br />
<strong>the</strong> city provides. If this seems a lot,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n consider living in Siena, where<br />
taxpayers shell out almost 1,500 euro<br />
as well as in <strong>the</strong> Rom<br />
language. Caffaz remem<strong>be</strong>red<br />
<strong>the</strong> hundreds of<br />
Tuscans who, in <strong>the</strong><br />
wrong place at <strong>the</strong> wrong<br />
time, found <strong>the</strong>mselves<br />
on a freight train heading<br />
towards <strong>the</strong>ir horrifi c<br />
demise, ‘about 700 innocent<br />
Tuscans also shed<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir blood <strong>the</strong>re during<br />
<strong>the</strong> Holocaust, including<br />
<strong>the</strong> many civilians, politicians,<br />
workers and youth that were<br />
captured and shipped to evil places<br />
such as E<strong>be</strong>nsee, Mautahausen and<br />
Mar<strong>the</strong>im’.<br />
yearly, or in Pisa where residents<br />
must pay 1,180 euro each year to <strong>the</strong><br />
municipal administration.<br />
<strong>Florentine</strong> newspaper Il Firenze<br />
reports that <strong>the</strong> highest fees in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
are for Ici property and garbage<br />
disposal taxes. In light of <strong>the</strong>se fi ndings,<br />
city councilor Tea Albini, warns<br />
that ‘this classifi cation does not give<br />
a clear picture of <strong>the</strong> situation. Compared<br />
to o<strong>the</strong>r Italian cities, <strong>the</strong> vast<br />
array of services that <strong>the</strong> city offers<br />
its citizens, stand apart in terms of<br />
quality. Taxpayers do pay more in<br />
<strong>Florence</strong>, but <strong>the</strong> living standards<br />
are higher than in o<strong>the</strong>r Italian<br />
urban centres’.<br />
BETTER LIFE GONE BAD<br />
Foreigners reign in <strong>Florence</strong>’s Meucci Detention Centre<br />
Although <strong>the</strong>re are only 22 inmates in<br />
<strong>Florence</strong>’s Meucci Juvenile Detention<br />
Centre, located on Via degli Orti Oricellari,<br />
<strong>the</strong> vast majority of <strong>the</strong>m are immigrants,<br />
mostly coming from Romania and<br />
Morocco. <strong>The</strong>se youth have come to Italy<br />
in search of a <strong>be</strong>tter life and a more promising<br />
future yet have sadly ended up on<br />
<strong>the</strong> wrong path. <strong>The</strong> inmates range from<br />
14 to 21 years of age, and most are <strong>be</strong>ing<br />
detained for crimes related to drugs, rob<strong>be</strong>ry or <strong>the</strong>ft. In this correctional<br />
institute for minors, detainees are required to attend morning educational<br />
classes and afternoon artisan courses while serving <strong>the</strong>ir sentence, though<br />
director of <strong>the</strong> centre, Aldo Nesticò, argues that Meucci ‘lacks <strong>the</strong> necessary<br />
funds for things such as paper and pens, even toilet paper’. While such<br />
classes are designed to help <strong>the</strong> youth gain <strong>the</strong> essential knowledge, skills<br />
and experience needed upon release, <strong>the</strong> recidivism rate remains high.<br />
5<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
<strong>Florence</strong> NEWS<br />
EMERGENCY<br />
SUMMIT<br />
SAFEGUARDS<br />
COUNTRYSIDE<br />
Tuscan residents, urban planners,<br />
government offi cials and<br />
concerned citizens have <strong>be</strong>en<br />
unyielding in <strong>the</strong>ir fi ght against <strong>the</strong><br />
development of a large residential<br />
project in Montichiello, located<br />
in <strong>the</strong> characteristic Sienese Val<br />
d’Orchia.<br />
An emergency summit, held in<br />
Siena on January 22nd involved<br />
regional, provincial and local<br />
authorities, who opted to temporarily<br />
block <strong>the</strong> construction of a<br />
20-unit residential condominium<br />
in <strong>the</strong> heart of <strong>the</strong> Sienese Chianti,<br />
an area which has <strong>be</strong>en declared<br />
<strong>the</strong> patrimony of all of humanity by<br />
Unesco.<br />
Authorities have enforced<br />
Article 45 of <strong>the</strong> Urban Planning<br />
Code, which allows for ‘an indirect<br />
safeguarding procedure’ in<br />
order to uphold <strong>the</strong> architectural,<br />
cultural and ecological integrity of<br />
Tuscan cities and towns.<br />
As a result of such controversy,<br />
leftist federal minister,<br />
Francesco Rutelli, and president<br />
of <strong>the</strong> Tuscan Region, Claudio<br />
Martini, met in Rome a few weeks<br />
ago in order to draft an agreement<br />
<strong>be</strong>tween national and regional<br />
governments which <strong>would</strong> oversee<br />
<strong>the</strong> establishment of a provincial<br />
‘Urban Code’ specifi cally<br />
intended to safeguard and ensure<br />
<strong>the</strong> quality and distinctness of <strong>the</strong><br />
Tuscan countryside.<br />
�������������������<br />
������������������
6<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007 News<br />
National NEWS<br />
News in BRIEF<br />
■<br />
New hope for Lou Gehrig<br />
victims<br />
Italian researchers have increased<br />
chances for treating Lou Gehrig’s<br />
disease, a fatal and incurable<br />
nerve-wasting disease. A team<br />
led by Sebastiano Cavallaro at a<br />
National Research Council lab in<br />
Catania says it has found <strong>the</strong> 57<br />
genes responsible for <strong>the</strong> disease.<br />
Cavallaro cautioned that a num<strong>be</strong>r<br />
of genetic and environmental factors<br />
are implicated in <strong>the</strong> disease,<br />
which affects over 350,000 of<br />
<strong>the</strong> world’s population and kills<br />
over 100,000 every year. But, he<br />
said, <strong>the</strong> gene research, published<br />
in <strong>the</strong> international journal BMC<br />
Genomics, ‘could pave <strong>the</strong> way<br />
for early diagnosis and possible<br />
treatment’.<br />
■<br />
Fini in fi rst place<br />
Silvio Berlusconi caused a stir<br />
in his centre-right alliance last<br />
week, apparently anointing rightist<br />
leader Gianfranco Fini as<br />
his <strong>like</strong>ly successor. Speaking<br />
to journalists, <strong>the</strong> 70-year-old<br />
former premier spoke about his<br />
hope of uniting <strong>the</strong> four key centre-right<br />
parties into a federation<br />
and possibly even a single party.<br />
‘If we form a single party I think<br />
that Fini’s candidacy is <strong>the</strong> most<br />
prestigious and authoritative to<br />
lead it’, he said. Fini is currently<br />
leader of <strong>the</strong> rightist National<br />
Alliance party, <strong>the</strong> second largest<br />
in <strong>the</strong> opposition. He has<br />
stood by Berlusconi since <strong>the</strong><br />
former media tycoon entered<br />
Italian politics in 1994. Berlusconi,<br />
defeated by centre-left<br />
chief Romano Prodi in last April’s<br />
general election, has hinted several<br />
times that he is un<strong>like</strong>ly to<br />
run for premier next time if <strong>the</strong><br />
current legislature lasts <strong>the</strong> full<br />
fi ve years.<br />
■<br />
Expecting in Egypt<br />
Visitors to Milan can marvel at<br />
<strong>the</strong> arts of ancient Egypt’s superwomen<br />
in a show which opened<br />
<strong>the</strong>re last week. <strong>The</strong> exhibition,<br />
which features 50 previously<br />
unseen artifacts from Turin’s<br />
famed Egyptology Museum,<br />
shows why ancient Egypt’s<br />
women were far ahead of <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
contemporaries. On show for<br />
<strong>the</strong> fi rst time are papyri showing<br />
advanced gynecological knowledge<br />
and advice on all aspects<br />
of child<strong>be</strong>aring—including some<br />
of <strong>the</strong> world’s fi rst pregnancy<br />
tests. Nefer-Woman in Ancient<br />
Egypt, organised by <strong>the</strong> DNArt<br />
Foundation in collaboration with<br />
Palazzo Reale, runs until April 9.<br />
Media empire thwarted<br />
Anti-monopoly bill angers Berlusconi<br />
Opposition chief Silvio Berlusconi<br />
has accused <strong>the</strong> government<br />
of deli<strong>be</strong>rately targeting<br />
his media empire with a ‘criminal plan<br />
of attack’ on his three-channel private<br />
TV network Mediaset. ‘Mediaset<br />
will <strong>be</strong> forced to defend itself’, said <strong>the</strong><br />
billionaire media mogul, who threatened<br />
to ‘lead fi ve million people on to<br />
<strong>the</strong> streets’ in protest and use his TV<br />
channels to mobilise public opinion<br />
against <strong>the</strong> reforms. Premier Romano<br />
Prodi, responded that ‘demonstrations<br />
are a sign of active democracy<br />
and should always <strong>be</strong> respected but<br />
protests in aid of personal interests<br />
are less than praiseworthy’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> media bill was drawn up by<br />
Communications Minister Paolo<br />
No show<br />
show-down<br />
Judge is defendant in<br />
anti-crucifi x case<br />
An Italian judge who refuses to<br />
have crosses in his court room<br />
refused to appear at his hearing on<br />
whe<strong>the</strong>r he had broken <strong>the</strong> law. Prosecutors<br />
are seeking to convict Judge<br />
Luigi Tosti on six counts of walking<br />
out of court rooms when he saw crucifi<br />
xes hanging <strong>the</strong>re. Tosti, who was<br />
suspended from his duties a year ago,<br />
did not show up in court. His lawyers<br />
said he intended ‘to keep up his<br />
protest against <strong>the</strong> presence of monoreligious<br />
symbols’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Italian judiciary’s self-governing<br />
body, <strong>the</strong> Supreme Council of<br />
Magistrates, removed Tosti from his<br />
Gentiloni and has just <strong>be</strong>gun its passage<br />
through parliament. Gentiloni’s<br />
bill <strong>would</strong> force both Mediaset<br />
and Rai to move one of <strong>the</strong>ir three<br />
terrestial channels to digital within<br />
15 months of its approval, with <strong>the</strong><br />
freed-up airwaves <strong>be</strong>ing sold to<br />
competitors. It <strong>would</strong> introduce a<br />
45 percent cap on any given broadcaster’s<br />
share of <strong>the</strong> TV advertising<br />
market and reduce <strong>the</strong> amount of<br />
advertising permitted per hour of<br />
programming from 18 percent to 16<br />
percent, with in-show advertising<br />
included in <strong>the</strong> calculation.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Italian TV system is currently<br />
dominated by <strong>the</strong> three-channel<br />
state broadcaster Rai and Mediaset.<br />
Toge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y account for some<br />
90 percent of audience share and<br />
almost 96 percent of money spent<br />
on TV advertising, with 66.4 percent<br />
going to Mediaset and 28.8<br />
percent to Rai. This situation has<br />
<strong>be</strong>en criticised by <strong>the</strong> Constitutional<br />
Court, <strong>the</strong> Antitrust Authority, <strong>the</strong><br />
Communications Authority and <strong>the</strong><br />
European Commission.<br />
post last February and cut off his pay<br />
<strong>be</strong>cause of his ‘unjustifi able <strong>be</strong>haviour’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> decision, which reignited<br />
debate on crucifi xes in public buildings,<br />
came after Tosti was convicted<br />
by a criminal court a month <strong>be</strong>fore.<br />
<strong>The</strong> court gave Tosti a seven-month<br />
suspended sentence for refusing to<br />
perform his duties in <strong>the</strong> Marche<br />
town of Camerino.<br />
Crucifi xes are customary ra<strong>the</strong>r<br />
than mandatory in Italy’s public<br />
buildings. Offi cially, Catholicism<br />
is not Italy’s state religion and <strong>the</strong><br />
separation of Church and State is set<br />
down by <strong>the</strong> postwar Constitution<br />
and mandated by a 1984 Concordat<br />
that ended most of <strong>the</strong> Catholic<br />
Church’s privileges. In practice, with<br />
Catholicism <strong>be</strong>ing such a part of<br />
Italy’s cultural identity, local bodies<br />
decide whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong>y want crosses in<br />
<strong>the</strong> courthouse. Similar arrangements<br />
are in place in o<strong>the</strong>r public buildings—most<br />
notably schools, where<br />
<strong>the</strong>re have <strong>be</strong>en a raft of polemics.<br />
MILLIONS FOR MIDDLE EAST<br />
Italy champions Lebanese peace-keeping operations<br />
Italy reconfi rmed a promise of 120 million euro in aid last week as donor<br />
countries met in Paris to help Lebanon recover from last year’s war<br />
<strong>be</strong>tween Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. Italian Foreign Minister Massimo<br />
D’Alema, defi ning <strong>the</strong> donors’ conference a political and economic ‘boost’<br />
for Beirut, said Italy <strong>would</strong> also offer to renegotiate commercial debt repayments.<br />
French President Jacques Chirac, presiding over <strong>the</strong> work of <strong>the</strong><br />
Paris conference, publicly thanked Italy for its fresh display of ‘generosity’,<br />
noting that Rome had already sustained heavy expenses for Lebanon.<br />
Italy is currently <strong>the</strong> biggest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping<br />
operations in Lebanon, supplying 2,500 of <strong>the</strong> 11,500 soldiers in <strong>the</strong> UNI-<br />
FIL force. <strong>The</strong> force will come under Italian command on February 17.<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
PROMISES IN<br />
PROGRESS<br />
Li<strong>be</strong>ral reforms brought<br />
to parliament<br />
fresh government drive to li<strong>be</strong>r-<br />
A alise <strong>the</strong> Italian economy was<br />
hailed by consumer groups last<br />
week but also sparked protests,<br />
including one by fuel station operators,<br />
who called for a 14 days of<br />
ongoing strikes.<br />
<strong>The</strong> reforms approved by Premier<br />
Prodi’s cabinet will have immediate<br />
effect and include streamlining<br />
business start-up rules, li<strong>be</strong>ralising<br />
<strong>the</strong> opening hours of small businesses,<br />
abolishing certain mobile<br />
phone and bank charges and allowing<br />
supermarket chains to sell petrol<br />
and newspapers. <strong>The</strong> measures<br />
follow a fi rst deregulation package,<br />
approved in July, aimed at ending<br />
anti-competitive practices in several<br />
protected fi elds. <strong>The</strong>se measures<br />
affected lawyers, notaries, pharmacists,<br />
taxi drivers, banks and car<br />
insurers. Prodi said <strong>the</strong> new decree<br />
<strong>would</strong> fur<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> government’s<br />
goal of boosting competition and<br />
bringing down prices to <strong>the</strong> <strong>be</strong>nefi t<br />
of <strong>the</strong> consumer.<br />
O<strong>the</strong>r measures in <strong>the</strong> decree<br />
include <strong>the</strong> abolition of extra bank<br />
charges on overdrafts; more advantageous<br />
terms for mortgage holders;<br />
<strong>the</strong> elimination of some of <strong>the</strong><br />
red tape for people opening up<br />
small businesses, particularly hairdressers,<br />
bar<strong>be</strong>rs, <strong>be</strong>auticians and<br />
driving instructors; greater transparency<br />
in airfare advertising; a<br />
requirement for public services to<br />
accept payment using credit and<br />
banking cards; and clearer expiration<br />
dates on food products. <strong>The</strong><br />
decree will make it easier for motorists<br />
to obtain car insurance or sell<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir vehicles and allows <strong>the</strong>m to<br />
use personalised num<strong>be</strong>r plates. It<br />
also provides tax-break incentives<br />
for individuals, businesses and<br />
non-profi t organisations who give<br />
money to job-training institutes, and<br />
it forces <strong>the</strong> post offi ce to compensate<br />
customers if post is delivered<br />
late or goes missing.<br />
Although <strong>the</strong> decree has already<br />
come into effect, it must now <strong>be</strong><br />
approved by parliament to prevent<br />
it lapsing. Consumer groups said<br />
<strong>the</strong>y hoped it <strong>would</strong> not <strong>be</strong> watered<br />
down during <strong>the</strong> parliamentary<br />
process as protests ga<strong>the</strong>r pace.<br />
‘Bersani must hold out against <strong>the</strong><br />
lobby groups and corporations and<br />
parliament must approve <strong>the</strong> decree<br />
as it is, without too many revisions’,<br />
representatives said.
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Time to draw <strong>the</strong> line<br />
Italian football halted due to tragic death<br />
Football in Italy has <strong>be</strong>en put<br />
on hold indefi nitely following<br />
<strong>the</strong> death of a police offi cer<br />
during last week’s Sicilian derby<br />
<strong>be</strong>tween Catania and Palermo. <strong>The</strong><br />
38-year-old offi cer suffered fatal<br />
wounds as he attempted to break up<br />
fi ghting <strong>be</strong>tween rival fans outside<br />
<strong>the</strong> grounds.<br />
Italian Football Federation commissioner<br />
Luca Pancalli has called<br />
a halt to all football in <strong>the</strong> country<br />
for <strong>the</strong> foreseeable future. ‘Enough<br />
is enough’, says Pancalli. ‘This is no<br />
longer a sport. All football tournaments<br />
will <strong>be</strong> suspended until we<br />
solve <strong>the</strong> problem of violence during<br />
matches. It’s unacceptable for such<br />
incidents to happen in a country<br />
<strong>like</strong> Italy. At this moment, I’m not<br />
thinking about <strong>the</strong> bid, but should<br />
we lose our 2012 bid for <strong>the</strong> European<br />
championships <strong>be</strong>cause of this<br />
situation, we’d only <strong>be</strong> getting what<br />
we deserve’.<br />
In response to <strong>the</strong> police offi cer’s<br />
tragic death, Catania president Antonio<br />
Pulvirenti has vowed to quit <strong>the</strong><br />
club as quickly as possible. He told<br />
Violent incidents during <strong>the</strong> Catania-Palermo match<br />
reporters, ‘<strong>The</strong>re shouldn’t <strong>be</strong> football<br />
in Catania anymore. A man died<br />
and it’s meaningless to talk about<br />
football. This sport no longer suits<br />
me’.<br />
Ironically, <strong>the</strong> game <strong>be</strong>tween<br />
Catania and Palermo <strong>be</strong>gan with<br />
a minute’s silence in memory of<br />
Ermanno Licursi, <strong>the</strong> club offi -<br />
cial who died after <strong>be</strong>ing attacked<br />
while trying to break up a fi ght at an<br />
amateur league match in <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
town of Luzzi. <strong>The</strong> nationwide<br />
soul-searching that followed that<br />
incident, however, seemed to have<br />
made no difference at all when Palermo<br />
took <strong>the</strong> lead and Catania<br />
fans started to hurl fl ares. Tear gas<br />
and a half-hour suspension failed<br />
to stop <strong>the</strong> trouble, which climaxed<br />
when a home-made bomb exploded<br />
in offi cer Filippo Raciti’s face.<br />
Violence has reached epidemic<br />
proportions in stadiums throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> country, from <strong>the</strong> professional<br />
league down to amateur level.<br />
Brawls, fl ares, fi re-crackers and<br />
explosives abound. During <strong>the</strong> last<br />
few weeks, Fiorentina fans stab<strong>be</strong>d<br />
Motor GP<br />
ROSSI PENS NEW YAMAHA DEAL<br />
Valentino Rossi has confi rmed<br />
that he will stay with Yamaha<br />
until <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> 2008 Moto GP<br />
season. <strong>The</strong> 27-year-old Italian has<br />
<strong>be</strong>en thinking of a possible switch<br />
to four-wheeled motor sport at <strong>the</strong><br />
end of his current deal. Prior to <strong>the</strong><br />
team’s Sepang test in Malaysia, <strong>the</strong><br />
fi ve-time world champion said that<br />
re-signing with <strong>the</strong> Japanese manufacturer<br />
was <strong>the</strong> ideal situation for<br />
him. ‘I’m very happy to have renewed<br />
my contract with Yamaha until <strong>the</strong><br />
end of 2008. It means that now, I<br />
Sports<br />
7<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Sports & Leisure NEWS<br />
a Livorno supporter <strong>be</strong>fore a game<br />
in <strong>Florence</strong>; Atalanta fans battled<br />
with police guarding coaches carrying<br />
visiting Catania supporters;<br />
and a match in <strong>the</strong> fourth division<br />
Serie D was suspended after a linesman<br />
was hit by a drum thrown from<br />
<strong>the</strong> crowd. Raciti’s death could <strong>be</strong> a<br />
turning point in Italy.<br />
In Italy, <strong>the</strong> majority of stadiums<br />
are owned by city councils, who<br />
rent <strong>the</strong>m out to football clubs.<br />
As a result, clubs are unwilling to<br />
invest large sums of money improving<br />
security. Italian clubs are not<br />
directly responsible for maintaining<br />
order inside <strong>the</strong> stadiums. <strong>The</strong><br />
police, who are paid a small overtime<br />
rate to work at matches, concentrate<br />
on keeping rival fans apart<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than nipping violent <strong>be</strong>haviour<br />
in <strong>the</strong> bud. <strong>The</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re is <strong>the</strong><br />
problem of Italy’s hard-core ‘ultra’<br />
fans, which has turned <strong>the</strong> most<br />
volatile areas of stadiums into nogo<br />
zones for <strong>the</strong> police.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> face of <strong>the</strong>se issues, <strong>the</strong><br />
decision of Italian Football Federation<br />
chief Luca Pancalli to suspend<br />
all matches indefi nitely inspires<br />
hope—signalling that <strong>the</strong> country’s<br />
governing body is possibly ready<br />
to take a hard line to sort out <strong>the</strong><br />
problem. Now it is up to <strong>the</strong> club<br />
presidents to take action ensuring it<br />
doesn’t happen again.<br />
Funeral of <strong>the</strong> assasinated offi cer<br />
can just concentrate on racing this<br />
season’, said Rossi.<br />
Despite missing out on last<br />
year’s world title due to a mixture of<br />
mechanical failures and a crash at<br />
<strong>the</strong> season fi nale in Valencia, Rossi<br />
<strong>be</strong>lieves that Yamaha’s overall performances<br />
were key in convincing<br />
him to stay. ‘<strong>The</strong> past three years<br />
with Yamaha have <strong>be</strong>en very positive<br />
and this is why I am pleased to stay. I<br />
have great faith in <strong>the</strong> team and I am<br />
very excited about my future and <strong>the</strong><br />
future of <strong>the</strong> 800cc bike’.<br />
Dangerous<br />
Games<br />
By Roseanne Wells<br />
In response to <strong>the</strong> disastrous<br />
and disheartening football match<br />
in Catania on February 2, Claudio<br />
Lotito, President of Lazio,<br />
remarked that security was <strong>the</strong><br />
major weakness during games.<br />
<strong>The</strong> night match <strong>be</strong>tween Catania<br />
and Palermo sparked debate over<br />
who is responsible for insuring<br />
safety measures. Since most stadiums<br />
are currently owned by <strong>the</strong><br />
city <strong>the</strong>n rented out, police, not a<br />
private security force, are responsible<br />
for keeping exu<strong>be</strong>rant fans in<br />
check for little overtime compensation.<br />
Lotito’s informal proposal,<br />
broadcast during <strong>the</strong> Italian TV<br />
program ‘Controcampo’, notes<br />
that ‘<strong>the</strong> clubs should own <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
stadiums in order to cater <strong>be</strong>tter<br />
for <strong>the</strong> security system’.<br />
In addition to selling <strong>the</strong> stadiums<br />
to <strong>the</strong> individual squads, <strong>the</strong><br />
city <strong>would</strong> no longer <strong>be</strong> responsible<br />
for <strong>the</strong> activities at <strong>the</strong> games.<br />
This <strong>would</strong> place <strong>the</strong> fi nancial<br />
burden on <strong>the</strong> teams for <strong>the</strong> lack<br />
of updated security to control <strong>the</strong><br />
huge num<strong>be</strong>rs of rowdy spectators.<br />
But when fans sneak weapons,<br />
fl ares, fi recrackers, and bombs<br />
into stadiums, can football still <strong>be</strong><br />
considered game? Lotito remarks<br />
that <strong>the</strong> security ‘must also serve<br />
as a fi lter to diminish <strong>the</strong> access of<br />
<strong>the</strong> thugs to <strong>the</strong> stadium zone’, but<br />
<strong>the</strong> violence is not limited to <strong>the</strong><br />
fans without tickets; <strong>the</strong> seating<br />
for ‘ultra’ fans is unapproachable<br />
by <strong>the</strong> current police force. Even<br />
with a full-time security team,<br />
will football matches <strong>be</strong>come any<br />
safer? Let’s hope that something<br />
changes, so <strong>the</strong> fans actually have<br />
a game to go to.<br />
News in BRIEF<br />
■<br />
Manning guides<br />
Colts to victory<br />
Indianapolis <strong>be</strong>at Chicago 29-<br />
17 to win Super Bowl XLI in rainhit<br />
Miami. <strong>The</strong> Colts conceded<br />
a touchdown from <strong>the</strong> opening<br />
kick-off, but overcame a 14-6<br />
fi rst-quarter defi cit to triumph<br />
against <strong>the</strong> Bears at Dolphin<br />
Stadium.<br />
■<br />
Abu Dhabi gets Grand Prix<br />
Formula One Management<br />
has recently announced that<br />
Abu Dhabi, <strong>the</strong> capital city of<br />
<strong>the</strong> United Arab Emirates, has<br />
secured <strong>the</strong> rights to host a Formula<br />
One Grand Prix in 2009.
8<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Movie REVIEWS<br />
Thursday February 8<br />
Movies in English showing in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
by James Douglas<br />
ODEON THEATRE<br />
DREAMGIRLS<br />
Bill Condon’s adaptation of <strong>the</strong> 1981<br />
Broadway show Dreamgirls is a bigproduction<br />
musical given <strong>the</strong> lavish,<br />
big-screen treatment that visually at<br />
least may make up for its alleged shortfalls<br />
in <strong>the</strong> musical department. Supposed<br />
to <strong>be</strong>, but not confi rmed to <strong>be</strong>,<br />
<strong>the</strong> story of <strong>the</strong> rise to mainstream success<br />
of <strong>The</strong> Supremes and manager<br />
Berry Gordy Jr.’s Motown Records in<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1960s, <strong>the</strong> movie chronicles <strong>the</strong><br />
on- and off-stage lives of <strong>the</strong> trio. Jennifer<br />
Hudson’s showstopper ‘And I Am<br />
Telling You I Am Not Going’ has had<br />
<strong>the</strong> critics scurrying for superlatives.<br />
Monday February 12<br />
ODEON THEATRE<br />
THE HOLIDAY<br />
Grisly romantic comedy from <strong>the</strong><br />
queen of <strong>the</strong> chick fl ick, Nancy Meyers’<br />
<strong>The</strong> Holiday is an overstuffed turkey<br />
of a movie that bizarrely gets its Italian<br />
release way off season. However, even<br />
<strong>the</strong> most generous Christmas cheer<br />
<strong>would</strong> barely rescue this hopelessly<br />
miscast (Jack Black as romantic hero!),<br />
woefully misconceived transatlantic<br />
tryst tripe. Despite superior British<br />
cast (Winslet, Law, Sewell) and given<br />
<strong>the</strong> limitations of <strong>the</strong> incompetent Diaz,<br />
Meyers’ dull script and <strong>the</strong> movie’s idiotic<br />
premise, <strong>the</strong> director’s talents are<br />
wasted on mindless frivolity so lame it<br />
can barely move. For sad singles only.<br />
Tuesday February 13<br />
ODEON THEATRE<br />
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH<br />
‘You owe it to yourself to see this fi lm.<br />
If you do not, and you have grandchildren,<br />
you should explain to <strong>the</strong>m<br />
why you decided not to’. So says<br />
eminent fi lm reviewer Roger E<strong>be</strong>rt in<br />
a dramatic departure from his measured,<br />
impartial style. And he underlines<br />
<strong>the</strong> impending catastrophe now<br />
more than ever in <strong>the</strong> news that global<br />
warming represents. Al Gore’s environmental<br />
campaign laid out <strong>the</strong> facts<br />
and let <strong>the</strong> audience draw <strong>the</strong> obvious<br />
conclusion. Davis Guggenheim’s fi lm<br />
of this campaign, An Inconvenient<br />
Truth, serves to reinforce <strong>the</strong> point.<br />
An alarming and essential documentary<br />
that reminds us of what it is to <strong>be</strong><br />
human. A global warning.<br />
Wednesday February 14<br />
BRITISH INSTITUTE<br />
Femmes Fatales<br />
BAD TIMING<br />
Nicolas Roeg’s 1980 neo-noir Bad<br />
Timing has memorable performances<br />
from his wife <strong>The</strong>resa Russell<br />
as Milena Flaherty, troubled<br />
femme fatale, and Art Garfunkel<br />
as her hapless victim. Fragmented<br />
time lines, Viennese location, edgy<br />
soundtrack and an array of unpleasant<br />
characters, even a strangely<br />
subdued Harvey Keitel as <strong>the</strong> police<br />
inspector, make this a challenging<br />
and disturbing exercise in obsession<br />
and despair. <strong>The</strong> distributors tried to<br />
pull <strong>the</strong> plug on it at release, calling it<br />
‘sick’, ‘depraved’, etc.<br />
Thursday February 15<br />
ODEON THEATRE<br />
STEP UP<br />
Clichéd crowd-pleasing dance movie<br />
for hip hop tweenies who didn’t get<br />
West Side Story, Footloose or Fame.<br />
For <strong>the</strong>m Step Up may <strong>be</strong> a step up.<br />
For o<strong>the</strong>rs an unusually chaste and<br />
unchallenging urban fairy tale.<br />
Weeks 8 February - 22 February 2007<br />
Monday February 19<br />
ODEON THEATRE<br />
STRANGER THAN FICTION<br />
At last, a movie with a mind! Marc<br />
Forster’s intriguing Stranger than<br />
Fiction is <strong>the</strong> story of Harold Crick<br />
(Will Ferrell) who hears <strong>the</strong> narrative<br />
of his life from a mysterious voice in<br />
his head. This intelligent and funny<br />
examination of <strong>the</strong> intertwining of fi ction<br />
and reality has a particularly fi ne<br />
performance from Emma Thompson<br />
as <strong>the</strong> novelist whose fi ction <strong>be</strong>comes<br />
Crick’s reality. It may <strong>be</strong> <strong>the</strong> familiar territory<br />
of interfaces opened up by <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>like</strong>s of Woody Allen and more recently<br />
Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation) but Forster’s<br />
movie is consistently inventive,<br />
thought-provoking and entertaining.<br />
Tuesday February 20<br />
ODEON THEATRE<br />
BOBBY<br />
Emilio Estevez’s<br />
Bobby is <strong>the</strong> story<br />
of <strong>the</strong> assassination<br />
of Senator<br />
Ro<strong>be</strong>rt Kennedy<br />
at <strong>the</strong> Ambassador<br />
Hotel, Los<br />
Angeles in 1968.<br />
Ladling 60s idealism<br />
and li<strong>be</strong>ral politics into his script<br />
and direction, Estevez takes <strong>the</strong> interlinked<br />
stories of 22 hotel staff and<br />
guests who witnessed <strong>the</strong> event and<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Altman-<strong>like</strong> ensemble mosaic<br />
pieces toge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> spirit of <strong>the</strong> age.<br />
With an extraordinarily high-powered<br />
cast and a passionate appeal for peace<br />
and justice, <strong>the</strong> movie impacts movingly<br />
in our time, and <strong>the</strong> presence of<br />
Kennedy himself in au<strong>the</strong>ntic newsreel<br />
footage ra<strong>the</strong>r than in <strong>the</strong> performance<br />
of an actor adds resonance to <strong>the</strong> tragedy<br />
of lost promise.<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Wednesday February 21<br />
BRITISH INSTITUTE<br />
Femmes Fatales<br />
BODY HEAT<br />
Sizzling neo-noir thriller with Kathleen<br />
Turner as <strong>the</strong> femme fatale treading in<br />
<strong>the</strong> footsteps of many predecessors as<br />
she lures her lover into a plot to kill her<br />
husband. With more than a hint of <strong>the</strong><br />
classic Double Indemnity, Lawrence<br />
Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981) holds its<br />
own as ‘great trash’—taut, convincing,<br />
sexy, suspenseful and darkly satisfying.<br />
Thursday February 22<br />
ODEON THEATRE<br />
BREAKING AND ENTERING<br />
Anthony Minghella’s Breaking and<br />
Entering takes <strong>the</strong> urban transition<br />
zone of London’s King’s Cross redevelopment<br />
area for its locale. And it is in<br />
this everyman’s land of contemporary<br />
London that <strong>the</strong> parallel and intersecting<br />
lives of a representative cross-section<br />
of London life play out <strong>the</strong>ir stories:<br />
Jude Law as Will, <strong>the</strong> high-fl ying<br />
architect; Miro, <strong>the</strong> Bosnian refugee<br />
and athletic cat burglar; Amira (Juliette<br />
Binoche), his mo<strong>the</strong>r; Oana, <strong>the</strong> Russian<br />
prostitute; and more. <strong>The</strong> characters<br />
learn to live toge<strong>the</strong>r and say ‘I’m<br />
sorry’ when circumstances demand<br />
apology as <strong>the</strong> only way forward.
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong> cannot <strong>be</strong> responsible for changes in program details.<br />
OUR TOP PICKS<br />
VINOLIO 2007 – Food and wine trade expo – February 9–11<br />
Fortezza da Basso<br />
With Vinolio in its fi rst year, <strong>the</strong> expo hopes to <strong>be</strong>come an important national and international<br />
reference point for <strong>the</strong> wine, olive oil and gastronomic sectors. More than 4,000 businesses and<br />
accredited buyers will ga<strong>the</strong>r within <strong>the</strong> 50,000 square meters of <strong>the</strong> Fortress. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Florence</strong> trade<br />
expo will showcase <strong>the</strong> world’s most recent technological inventions, and support <strong>the</strong> biodiversity<br />
typical of agricultural traditions in Italian production. Not just a trade fair for buying and selling,<br />
Vinolio is a worldwide cultural event which uses <strong>the</strong> city of <strong>Florence</strong> as its stage.<br />
AREZZO WAVE BAND 2007– February 16, Prato<br />
On February 16, <strong>the</strong> Arezzo Wave Foundation will present <strong>the</strong> winners of <strong>the</strong> live regional contest<br />
Arezzo Wave Band 2007. This event aims to discover innovative musical talents that will perform<br />
in <strong>the</strong> Italia Wave event scheduled for July 2007. Regional contests <strong>be</strong>gan in January and will<br />
continue until <strong>the</strong> middle of March. Each region will <strong>be</strong> able to present one winning band for <strong>the</strong><br />
July ‘play-off’ fi nals. For more information call 0574-1836753 or visit www.arrezzowave.com.<br />
PRESIDENT’S DAY COMMEMORATION – February 19, 5:30pm<br />
Salone Brunelleschi, Palagio di Parte Guelfa<br />
<strong>The</strong> monument dedicated to George Washington, located in Parco delle Cascine’s Piazzale Kennedy,<br />
has received a much needed make-over. <strong>The</strong> restoration project, sponsored by <strong>the</strong> Tuscan<br />
American Association, will <strong>be</strong> presented on February 19 at Palagio di Parte Guelfa in commemoration<br />
of President’s Day and Washington’s 275th birthday celebration. Event speakers<br />
include International Relations Councilor Eugenio Giani, U.S. Consul General, Nora Dempsey<br />
and architect Claudio Cestelli. <strong>The</strong> Tuscan-American Association is an independent non-profi t<br />
organization founded in 1996. Its mission is ‘to deepen and broaden ties and promote cultural<br />
and economic exchange <strong>be</strong>tween <strong>the</strong> United States and Tuscany’. For more information visit:<br />
segreteria@toscana-usa.org.<br />
STING IN CONCERT –February 21, Teatro Verdi<br />
Sting, accompanied by renowned lute-player, Edin Karamazov, has announced a much-awaited<br />
European tour to promote his latest album, ‘Songs from <strong>the</strong> Labyrinth’. A personal tribute to Eliza<strong>be</strong>than<br />
composer John Dowland (1563–1626), <strong>the</strong> album has achieved enormous success world-wide<br />
both from <strong>the</strong> critics and <strong>the</strong> general public, debuting at <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> world’s charts.<br />
SNEAK PREVIEW – Chianti Classico 2006 – February 21, <strong>Florence</strong><br />
Join <strong>the</strong> 100-plus producers of Chianti classico at <strong>the</strong> Chianti Classico wine-tasting. Participants<br />
can enjoy a sneak preview of 2005–2006 wines as well as those on <strong>the</strong> 2004 reserve list. Oillovers<br />
can also enjoy samples of DOP oils from <strong>the</strong> 2006 harvest. For information and booking<br />
call: 055/8228523<br />
PEP BOU: <strong>the</strong> soap bubble magician – February 8-10<br />
Teatro Rifredi –Via Vittorio Emanuele II, 303<br />
Pep Bou’s shows are based on <strong>the</strong> creation of soap bubbles. Each bubble takes on a life of its<br />
own, <strong>be</strong>coming an actor of sorts as it fl oats over <strong>the</strong> stage. Pep Bou’s style of <strong>the</strong>atre alludes to <strong>the</strong><br />
transparent nature of <strong>the</strong> bubbles and <strong>the</strong> characters who blow and pop <strong>the</strong>m. <strong>The</strong> inhabitants of<br />
his imaginary world illustrate <strong>the</strong> fragile nature of <strong>the</strong> human condition. His third time at Teatro<br />
di Rifredi, Pep Bou has always worked magic on enthralled audiences.<br />
WALKER EVANS EXHIBIT – Until March 11<br />
Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografi a (MNAF<br />
Piazza S.M.Novella 14/a rosso - Leopoldine<br />
Photography lovers can line up at <strong>the</strong> Alinari National Museum of Photography, an offshoot of<br />
<strong>the</strong> historic Alinari Bro<strong>the</strong>rs’ company, to view <strong>the</strong> interesting retrospective by Walker Evans. Until<br />
March 11, <strong>the</strong> American photographer known for his visual documentation of rural America<br />
during <strong>the</strong> Great Depression will <strong>be</strong> on display for all eyes to enjoy. For more information call:<br />
05523951 or visit: www.alinarifondazione.it<br />
t<br />
What’s on & Where to Go<br />
t<br />
t<br />
9<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Events in FLORENCE FEB 9 TO FEB 22<br />
m<strong>be</strong>rship card necessary<br />
FRIDAY 9<br />
n DANCE<br />
da Tango a Sirtaki<br />
A tribute to Zorba, with Raffaele Paganini<br />
Teatro Verdi, via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina 99, tel.<br />
055.212320, www.teatroverdifi renze.it,<br />
20.45<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Vinolio<br />
Wine and oil, agricultural and food fair<br />
Fortezza da Basso tel. 05549721 -<br />
055496404 - www.fi renze-expo.it, 9-20<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Alter*nite<br />
rock, techno, goth, drum & bass<br />
Ippodromo Le mulina, 22.00<br />
Jeffrey Tate<br />
Pelle Carl<strong>be</strong>rg<br />
Sintetika, Via Luigi Alamanni 4, info 333-<br />
3591575, www.sintetikalive.it, 22.00, mem<strong>be</strong>rship<br />
only<br />
Six Dixiers<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
St. Thomas <strong>the</strong> Apostle Church Choir<br />
(United States)<br />
A. Vivaldi, W. A. Mozart, G. F. Händel music<br />
Chiesa di San Marco, via Maggio 18, www.<br />
amicimusicasacra.com,18.00<br />
Tony Levin & California Guitar trio<br />
Auditorium Flog, via Mercati Michele 24b<br />
tel. 055.487145, www.fl og.it, 21.30<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Laboratorio Zelig<br />
Teatro 13, Via Nicolodi 2, 21.15, €10/7<br />
Paolo Rossi in “Chiamatemi Kowalski<br />
- Evolution”<br />
Saschall, Lungarno Aldo Moro 3, tel.<br />
055.6504112, www.saschall.it, 21.00<br />
Pep Bou: il mago delle bolle di sapone<br />
Teatro di Rifredi, via Vittorio Emanuele II<br />
303, tel. 055.4220361, www.toscanateatro.it,<br />
21.00<br />
Serata gasp!<br />
cabaret, <strong>the</strong>atre and music<br />
Scantinato - la casa del teatro, Via San Domenico<br />
51, info 055-573857, 21.15<br />
Trappola per topi<br />
Teatro Le Laudi, via L. da Vinci 2r, tel.<br />
055.572831, www.caspi.it/teatri/defaultLaudi.htm,<br />
21.00, Sun 17.00<br />
SATURDAY 10<br />
n DANCE<br />
Au cafè<br />
Teatro Verdi, via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina 99, tel.<br />
055.212320, www.teatroverdifi renze.it,<br />
20.45, on Sun 16.45<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
Antica Farmacia di S.Maria Novella<br />
Piazza Santa Maria Novella, 15.00, info and<br />
booking 335-5312904<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Vinolio<br />
See Feb 9<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Bonsoir Joli Monsieur<br />
Pinocchio Jazz Club c/o Associazione Le Vie<br />
Nuove, v.le Giannotti 13, tel. 055.683388,<br />
www.pinocchiojazz.it, 22.00<br />
Carmen Consoli<br />
Nelson Mandela Forum (ex Palasport), viale<br />
Pasquale Paoli, tel. 055.678841, www.<br />
mandelaforum.it, 21.00, € 21-35<br />
Circuito 4 piste<br />
Reggae-roots, rock-cartoons, goa-trance,<br />
house<br />
Ippodromo Le mulina, 22.00<br />
Marc Andrè Hamelin, piano<br />
Teatro della Pergola, via della Pergola, 18,<br />
tel. 055.22641, www.pergola.fi renze.it,<br />
16.00<br />
Nobody’s Perfect: Pikaya Live + Alex<br />
Neri<br />
Tenax, via Pratese 46, tel. 055.308160,<br />
22.30<br />
Norge - Led Zeppelin Tribute Night<br />
Auditorium Flog, via Mercati Michele 24b<br />
tel. 055.487145, www.fl og.it, 21.30<br />
Sound power funk<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
Tricobalto<br />
rock, psychedelic and funk music<br />
Sintetika, Via Luigi Alamanni 4, info 333-<br />
3591575, www.sintetikalive.it, 22.00, mem<strong>be</strong>rship<br />
only<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
I barroccini di via dell’Ariento<br />
see ongoing<br />
I’ fi gliolo di prete<br />
in vernacular, see ongoing<br />
La macellara<br />
see ongoing<br />
Pep Bou: il mago delle bolle di sapone<br />
see Feb 8<br />
Serata gasp!<br />
see Feb 9<br />
THEATRE<br />
Trappola per topi<br />
see Feb 9<br />
SUNDAY 11<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
I crinali del Chianti: da Gaville alla Badiaccia<br />
a Montemuro<br />
trekking, starting point Bagno A ripoli,<br />
6.00
10<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
What’s on & Where to Go<br />
Events in FLORENCE FEB 9 TO FEB 22<br />
Gruppo Trekking di Bagno a Ripoli, www.<br />
trekkingbagnoaripoli.it, info 335.8483345<br />
or 055.633058<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Santo Spirito Fair<br />
Piazza S.Spirito, info 055.27051, all day<br />
Vinolio<br />
See Feb 9<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Carmen Consoli<br />
see Feb 10<br />
Endless Medley<br />
aperitivo and music 7€<br />
Decamerone, viale Lavagnini 40r, 19.00<br />
Il principio dell’errore<br />
acoustic Italian rock<br />
Circolo Arci Faliero Pucci, via G. D’Annunzio<br />
182, Mensola, 22.00<br />
Jeffrey Tate<br />
see feb 9<br />
Teatro Comunale, Corso Italia 16, tel.<br />
055.213535, www.maggiofi orentino.com,<br />
20.30, Sun 16.30<br />
L’incanto del corno<br />
horn and piano<br />
Auditorium della Clinica Medica di Careggi,<br />
viale Morgagni, www.agimusfi renze.it,<br />
10.30, free<br />
Nicola Benedetti & Alison Rhynd<br />
violin and piano<br />
Saloncino del Teatro della Pergola, via della<br />
Pergola, 18, tel. 055.22641, www.pergola.<br />
fi renze.it, 21.00<br />
Quartetto di Fiesole & Giovanni Riccucci<br />
Auditorium Sinopoli, Villa La Torraccia, via<br />
delle Fontanelle 24, Fiesole, 11.00<br />
n SPORTS & ACTIVITIES<br />
Fiorentina vs Udinese<br />
National Championship Soccer serie A<br />
Stadio Comunale Artemio Franchi, 20.30<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Le cognate<br />
Teatro Augusto Novelli c/o Circolo La Rinascente,<br />
via Ponte a Jozzi 1, località Cascine<br />
del Riccio, 16.15<br />
Trappola per topi<br />
see Feb 9<br />
MONDAY 12<br />
n CINEMA<br />
<strong>The</strong> Holiday<br />
(in English)<br />
Odeon CineHall, piazza Strozzi, tel.<br />
055.214068, www.cinehall.it, Shows 16.00<br />
– 19.00 – 22.00<br />
TUESDAY 13<br />
n CINEMA<br />
An Inconvenient Truth<br />
(in English)<br />
Odeon CineHall, piazza Strozzi, tel.<br />
055.214068, www.cinehall.it, Shows 16.00<br />
– 18.10 – 20.20 – 22.30<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
<strong>The</strong> stained class windows of St. James<br />
Church<br />
Via Rucellai 9, info and booking 055-<br />
461428, 15.30<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Mercato delle Cascine<br />
Clothing, lea<strong>the</strong>r, fruit, shoes, fl owers, household<br />
appliances<br />
Parco delle Cascine, 8-13<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Jam session + House band<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
Jazz Engine<br />
Arena Il Girone, Località Il Girone, Fiesole,<br />
21.30<br />
Live music with Flamenco by Luis Cardillano<br />
O’ Munaciello, Via Maffi a 31r, 21,00<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Il Vangelo secondo Gesù Cristo<br />
see ongoing<br />
Lina Sastri in “Corpo Celeste”<br />
see ongoing<br />
WEDNESDAY 14<br />
n LECTURES & CONFERENCES<br />
Love, love, love: readings and music<br />
for St Valentine’s day<br />
This programme will bring toge<strong>the</strong>r readings<br />
and music for St Valentine’s day<br />
<strong>The</strong> British Institute of <strong>Florence</strong>, Library and<br />
Cultural Centre Lungarno Guicciardini 9,<br />
info 055.26778270, 18.00, admission free<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Festa di San Valentino<br />
Candlelight dinner, reservations only.<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 30<br />
Gli infradito<br />
Tex-Mex and lounge blues<br />
Rex Café, via Fiesolana, 25, 22.00, free<br />
THURSDAY 15<br />
n CINEMA<br />
Step up<br />
(in English)<br />
Odeon CineHall, piazza Strozzi, tel.<br />
055.214068, www.cinehall.it, Shows 16.00<br />
– 18.10 – 20.20 – 22.30<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
<strong>The</strong> private passage of <strong>the</strong> Grand Duchess<br />
into SS. Annunziata<br />
Piazza SS Annunziata, info and booking<br />
055-461428, 10.00<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Flower market<br />
Via Pellicceria, 8-13<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Daniel Medeiros & Lanzoni-Spitilli-Negri<br />
Trio<br />
a mix of Brasilian music and jazz<br />
Rex Café, via Fiesolana, 25, 22.00, free<br />
Marcello Colasurdo e Paranza<br />
Auditorium Flog, via Mercati Michele 24b<br />
tel. 055.487145, www.fl og.it, 21.30<br />
Sunrise jazz orchestra<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
In alto mare<br />
Teatro Cantiere Florida, via Pisana 111r, tel.<br />
055.573857, www.elsinor.it, 21.00, €5/7<br />
Quella del piano di sopra<br />
see ongoing<br />
Quix. Un Don Quixote contemporaneo<br />
see ongoing<br />
FRIDAY 16<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Alter*nite<br />
see Feb 9<br />
Festa di azione gay & lesbica<br />
Auditorium Flog, via Mercati Michele 24b<br />
tel. 055.487145, www.fl og.it, 21.30<br />
Jazz & Friends<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
Stefan Anton Reck<br />
Teatro Comunale, Corso Italia 16, tel.<br />
055.213535, www.maggiofi orentino.com,<br />
20.30, Sun 16.30<br />
Three In One Gentlemen Suit<br />
Sintetika, Via Luigi Alamanni 4, info 333-<br />
3591575, www.sintetikalive.it, 22.00, mem<strong>be</strong>rship<br />
only<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
In alto mare<br />
see Feb 15<br />
La cena dei cretini<br />
Teatro Everest, via Volterrana 4 c/d , tel.<br />
055.2321754, www.teatroeverest.it, 21.00<br />
SATURDAY 17<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Fortezza Antiquaria - antique market<br />
Piazza Indipendenza, info 055.3283550<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
All For Col<br />
Pinocchio Jazz Club c/o Associazione Le Vie<br />
Nuove, v.le Giannotti 13, tel. 055.683388,<br />
www.pinocchiojazz.it, 22.00<br />
Circuito 4 piste<br />
see Feb 10<br />
European Electronic Techno Festival<br />
Fortezza da Basso, v.le Strozzi 1, tel.<br />
055.4455280, www.fi renze-expo.it, from<br />
22.30, all night<br />
Giardini di Mirò<br />
Auditorium Flog, via Mercati Michele 24b<br />
tel. 055.487145, www.fl og.it, 21.30<br />
<strong>The</strong> elegant gypsy quartet<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
Vadim Repin & Nikolai Lugansky<br />
violin and piano<br />
Teatro della Pergola, via della Pergola, 18,<br />
tel. 055.22641, www.pergola.fi renze.it,<br />
16.00<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
La cena dei cretini<br />
see Feb 16<br />
SUNDAY 18<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
Il Museo Nazionale Alinari della Fotografi<br />
a<br />
Piazza santa Maria Novella, 15.30, info and<br />
booking 335-5312904<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
5th edition “Carnevale Fiorentino nel<br />
Mondo”<br />
multi-ethnic carnival<br />
Historical city center, info 055.2768030,<br />
from 14.00<br />
Commemorazione dell’Elettrice Palatina<br />
corteo storico<br />
from piazzetta di Parte Guelfa to piazza Signoria,<br />
from 10.00 on<br />
Fierucolina Market<br />
Piazza Santo Spirito, all day<br />
Fortezza Antiquaria - antique market<br />
see Feb 17<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Bianchini, Geroni & Laraia<br />
aperitivo and music 7€<br />
Decamerone, viale Lavagnini 40r, 19.00<br />
Il fl auto all’Opera<br />
fl ute and piano<br />
Auditorium della Clinica Medica di Careggi,<br />
viale Morgagni, www.agimusfi renze.it,<br />
10.30, free<br />
Stefan Anton Reck<br />
see Feb 16<br />
Trio Alten<strong>be</strong>rg<br />
Saloncino del Teatro della Pergola, via della<br />
Pergola, 18, tel. 055.22641, www.pergola.<br />
fi renze.it, 21.00<br />
n SPORTS & ACTIVITIES<br />
Everlast Mabo Firenze - Hatria Basket<br />
Atri<br />
basketball<br />
Nelson Mandela Forum (ex Palasport), viale<br />
Pasquale Paoli, tel. 055.678841, www.<br />
mandelaforum.it, 18.00<br />
Everlast Mabo Firenze - Hatria Basket<br />
Atri<br />
basketball<br />
Nelson Mandela Forum (ex Palasport), viale<br />
Pasquale Paoli, tel. 055.678841, www.<br />
mandelaforum.it, at 18.00<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
La cena dei cretini<br />
see Feb 16<br />
MONDAY 19<br />
n CINEMA<br />
Stranger than fi ction<br />
(in English)<br />
Odeon CineHall, piazza Strozzi, tel.<br />
055.214068, www.cinehall.it, Shows 3.30<br />
– 5.50 – 8.10 – 10.30<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Cochi e Renato in “Nuotando con le lacrime<br />
agli occhi”<br />
Musical comedy<br />
Teatro Verdi, via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina 99, tel.<br />
055.212320, www.teatroverdifi renze.it,<br />
20.45<br />
TUESDAY 20<br />
n CINEMA<br />
Bobby<br />
(in English)<br />
Odeon CineHall, piazza Strozzi, tel.<br />
055.214068, www.cinehall.it, Shows<br />
15.30 – 17.50 – 20.10 – 22.30<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
Behind closed doors of <strong>the</strong> famous<br />
Teatro Comunale<br />
Corso Italia 12, info and booking 055-<br />
461428, 9.30<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Mercato delle Cascine<br />
see Feb 13<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Carnevale 2007, Gem Boy<br />
Auditorium Flog, via Mercati Michele 24b<br />
tel. 055.487145, www.fl og.it, 21.30, 8€<br />
Concerto di Carnevale<br />
Teatro Verdi, via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina 99, tel.<br />
055.212320, www.teatroverdifi renze.it,<br />
21.00<br />
Grande festa di carnevale<br />
Prize awarded to most orignal mask<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
Mia Cooper & Papa’s Gang<br />
Arena Il Girone, Località Il Girone, Fiesole,<br />
21.30<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Gioie. Frammenti di vita di Anna Maria<br />
Luisa de’ Medici, Elettrice Palatina<br />
see ongoing<br />
Giorgio Al<strong>be</strong>rtazzi in “Memorie di<br />
Adriano”<br />
see ongoing<br />
WEDNESDAY 21<br />
n DANCE<br />
A tribute to Milloss: Estri<br />
Feb 21-March 3 (Feb 23, 26 and March 2<br />
excluded), Teatro Goldoni, Via Santa Maria<br />
15, tel. 055.2335518, 20.30, Sun 15.30<br />
n LECTURES & CONFERENCES<br />
Siân Ede: Art and science: how contemporary<br />
art is refl ecting <strong>the</strong> obsession<br />
with science<br />
Siân Ede is Arts Director of <strong>the</strong> United Kingdom<br />
branch of <strong>the</strong> Calouste Gul<strong>be</strong>nkian<br />
Foundation, and author of Art and Science.<br />
<strong>The</strong> British Institute of <strong>Florence</strong>, Library and<br />
cultural center, Lungarno Guicciardini 9,<br />
info 055.26778270, 18.00, admission free<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Anteprima Vini Chianti Classico Gallo<br />
Nero 2006<br />
Stazione Leopolda, viale Fratelli Rosselli 5,<br />
tel. 055.212622, www.stazione-leopolda.it,<br />
14-20<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Martino Fantasma (alive folk)<br />
Rex Café, via Fiesolana, 25, 22.00, free<br />
Masuk Cham<strong>be</strong>r Choir (United States)<br />
Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Ricci, via del Corso,<br />
tel. 055.289367, 19.00<br />
Sting<br />
Teatro Verdi, via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina 99, tel.<br />
055.212320, www.teatroverdifi renze.it,<br />
20.45, 35-75€<br />
That’s all jazz<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Miserabili. Io e Margaret Thatcher<br />
Saschall, Lungarno Aldo Moro 3, tel.<br />
055.6504112, www.saschall.it, 21.00
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
THURSDAY 22<br />
n CINEMA<br />
Breaking and Entering<br />
(in English)<br />
Odeon CineHall, piazza Strozzi, tel.<br />
055.214068, www.cinehall.it, Shows<br />
15.30 – 17.50 – 20.10 – 22.30<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
Fondazione Giorgio La Pira<br />
Via La Pira, info and booking 055-461428,<br />
15.00<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Flower market<br />
see Feb 15<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
“O la bossa o la vita!”<br />
Bossa Nova and Brasilian music<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, tel.<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
Crowpath<br />
Ambasciata di Marte, via Mannelli 2, tel.<br />
055.6550786, www.ambasciatadimarte.<br />
org., 23.00, free<br />
Slow Train Soul (Z Star & Pudddu Varano<br />
UK)<br />
Auditorium Flog, via Mercati Michele 24b<br />
tel. 055.487145, www.fl og.it, 21.30, 8€<br />
Tell Mama<br />
Janis Joplin tribute<br />
Rex Café, via Fiesolana, 25, 22.00, free<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Alessandro Preziosi in “Datemi tre caravelle!”<br />
see ongoing<br />
ON GOING<br />
n EXHIBITS<br />
Sasha Sosno & Vladimir Kara “Presenza<br />
- Assenza”<br />
Until Dec 31, 16-19.30, closed Mon. &<br />
Hols, FYR Arte Contemporanea, Borgo degli<br />
Albizi 23, info 055.2343351, www.fyr.it<br />
Mostra on line “Die Flut” Alluvione<br />
1966<br />
Photo by Ivo Bazzichi<br />
Until March 31, Kunsthistorische Institut di<br />
Firenze, info 055.27681<br />
Marmo d’Arte a Firenze<br />
Until March 30, 9.30-12.30; 14.30-18.00,<br />
Parco d’Arte E. Pazzagli, Via Sant’Andrea a<br />
Rovezzano 5<br />
Furini - La Notte del Barocco<br />
Until April 1, Museo degli Argenti di Palazzo<br />
Pitti, piazza Pitti 1, info 055.294883<br />
Archeologia e restauro in Toscana<br />
Until Feb 28, Mon 14-19; Tue and Thur<br />
8.30-19; Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun 8.30-14,<br />
Museo Archeologico, Via della Colonna, 36<br />
C’era una volta... Pinocchio at Palazzo<br />
Pitti.<br />
Drawings and book exhibition<br />
Until March 25, 8.15-18.50, Galleria d’Arte<br />
Moderna, Palazzo Pitti, info 055.2388720,<br />
www.polomuseale.fi renze.it<br />
Back to Folk<br />
Collective drawing exhibition (Raymond<br />
Pettibon, Marcel Dzama, Vanni, Cuoghi,<br />
Enrico Vezzi, Matteo Fato) organised by<br />
Ivan Quaroni<br />
Until Feb 17, Galleria Daniele ugolini<br />
Contemporary, via Monte<strong>be</strong>llo 22r, tel.<br />
055.2654183, www.ugoliniart.com<br />
Creatività a colori<br />
Until Feb 28, 9-13 e 14-18, Museo Salvatore<br />
Ferragamo, via Tornabuoni 2, tel.<br />
055.3360456, www.museoferragamo.it<br />
Gli animali di Pinocchio<br />
works of Gaudenzio Nazario and <strong>the</strong> children’s<br />
publications from <strong>the</strong> fi rst half of <strong>the</strong><br />
19th century..<br />
Until Feb 28, 9-18.30; Sat 9-13.30, Biblioteca<br />
Marucelliana, via Cavour 43-47, tel.<br />
055.2722200, www.maru.fi renze.sbn.it<br />
Although it is not my profession.<br />
Michelangelo and <strong>the</strong> architectural<br />
drawing<br />
Until March 19, Casa Buonarroti, via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina<br />
70, info 055-241752, 9.30-14,<br />
www.casabuonarroti.it, € 6,50<br />
Toxic “Respect or Die”<br />
New Paintings<br />
Until Feb 16, 15-19, Sergio Tossi Arte Contemporanea,<br />
Via Pindemonte 63, info 055<br />
2286163<br />
Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, Elettrice<br />
Palatina<br />
Until April 15, Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina,<br />
info 055.2388614, www.polomuseale.<br />
fi renze.it<br />
Egyptian Motifs in <strong>the</strong> ‘English’ Cemetery.<br />
Hope of Life after Death<br />
Until May 27, Mon 14-19; Tue and Thu<br />
8.30-19; Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun 8.30-14,<br />
Archaeological Museum, Via della Colonna<br />
36, www.<strong>be</strong>niculturali.it, info 055-23575<br />
Free entrance to <strong>the</strong> city museums for<br />
residents<br />
In <strong>the</strong> afternoon on <strong>the</strong> last Saturday of <strong>the</strong><br />
month, Musei Comunali info 055.2768224<br />
Fashion and style. Interpretations of<br />
fashion in history<br />
Hidden wealth. An artistic collection of <strong>the</strong><br />
Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova<br />
Until June 2008, 8.45-13.50, Palazzo Pitti,<br />
Galleria del Costume, info 055.2388713<br />
Young Stylists for Calcutta<br />
A selection of clothing from <strong>the</strong> pieces received<br />
in donation for vintage charity auction<br />
Until Feb 28, Palazzo Pitti, Palazzina della<br />
Meridiana, piazza Pitti 1, tel. 055.294883<br />
Walker Evans<br />
American PhotoJournalist<br />
Until March 11, MNAF - Museo Nazionale<br />
Alinari della Fotografi a, Piazza S.M.Novella<br />
14/a r, tel. 055.23951, www.alinarifondazione.it<br />
Un ponte sul Mediterraneo. Leonardo<br />
Pisano, <strong>the</strong> science of Arabia and <strong>the</strong><br />
birth of Western ma<strong>the</strong>matics<br />
Until March 10, Locali del Museo di Storia<br />
Naturale, Borgo degli Albizi 28, tel.<br />
055.7879594, www.archimede.ms<br />
Lo specchio della memoria<br />
Photo exhibition of polaroids by Andrei<br />
Tarkovsky on <strong>the</strong> occasion of <strong>the</strong> 20th anniversary<br />
of death.<br />
Until Feb 18, Archivio Storico del Comune<br />
di Firenze, via dell’Oriuolo 33, info<br />
055.2345943, www.comune.fi .it/archiviostorico/main.ht<br />
From now on’ by May Cornet<br />
Untill Feb 28, 10-13, 14.30-19, Galleria<br />
Bagnai, Via Coluccio Salutati, www.galleriabagnai.it<br />
Femmes d’autrefois<br />
paintings by Medea<br />
Until Feb 22, Maison Dumitru, B.go Pinti<br />
25R, info maisondumitru@li<strong>be</strong>ro.it<br />
Il Rinascimento dei bambini<br />
Until March 31, Istituto degli Innocenti - tel.<br />
055203711<br />
Il Re Bello e la sua Corte<br />
Bozzetti, elementi scenici e costumi dell’opera<br />
Il Re Bello.<br />
Until Feb 25, Teatro della Pergola, via della<br />
Pergola 18, tel. 055.22641, www.pergola.<br />
fi renze.it<br />
Lo spirito delle cose by Ro<strong>be</strong>rta Crocioni<br />
Until Feb 22, 11-13, 15.30-19.30, Galleria<br />
del Palazzo Palazzo Coveri, Lungarno Guicciardini<br />
19, info 055.281044, www.galleriadelpalazzo.com<br />
Non per caso by Daniel Spoerri<br />
Until April 29, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea<br />
Luigi Pecci, v.le della Repubblica 277,<br />
Prato, tel. 0574.5317, www.centropecci.it<br />
Personale di puntesecche di Antonio<br />
Manzi<br />
Until Feb 13, Archivio di Stato, viale Giovine<br />
Italia 6, tel. 055.244422<br />
Gianni Rodari nel mondo<br />
Exhibition of foreign editions by Rodari<br />
Until March 31, Museo Marino Marini, Piazzo<br />
San Pancrazio, tel. 055.219432, www.<br />
museomarinomarini.it<br />
Pitture e Collage dell’artista fi orentino<br />
Angelo Pontecorboli<br />
Drawings, collages, graphics and designs<br />
Until Feb 27, 9-17, free, SACI Gallery Studio<br />
Art Centers International, Palazzo dei Cartelloni,<br />
via S. Antonino 11, tel. 055.289948,<br />
www.saci-fl orence.org<br />
Anamnesi by Claudia Ballesio<br />
Until March 5, 16-19, closed Sun and Mon,<br />
What’s on & Where to Go<br />
11<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Events in FLORENCE FEB 9 TO FEB 22<br />
free, La Corte Arte Contemporanea, via de’<br />
Coverelli 27r, tel. 055.284435, www.lacortearte.it<br />
Opere 1950-2006 by Vasco Bendini<br />
Until March 31, 10-13, 14.30-19.30, Frittelli<br />
Arte Contemporanea, via Val di Marina 15,<br />
info 055.410153<br />
15X15. 15 galleries and 15 artists<br />
Contemporary art exhibit<br />
From Feb 15 to April 16, 9.30.18.30, free,<br />
Forte di Belvedere, info 055.2645356<br />
Carnevale con gli artisti<br />
Works of painting and sculpture from various<br />
Italian regions and abroad<br />
From Feb 20 to March 20, Caffè Decò,<br />
Piazza della Li<strong>be</strong>rtà, info 335-7010657<br />
Desiderio da Settignano. La scoperta<br />
della grazia nella scultura del Rinascimento<br />
From Feb 22 to June 3, Museo Nazionale<br />
del Bargello, via del Proconsolo 4, tel.<br />
055.294883, www.polomuseale.fi renze.it<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
Planetarium: meetings with <strong>the</strong> public<br />
2006, from January to May and from Octo<strong>be</strong>r<br />
to Decem<strong>be</strong>r ( on Thursdays and on<br />
Sundays), Planetario, via G. Giusti 29, info<br />
0552343723 www.fstfi renze.it<br />
Artisans of <strong>the</strong> Oltrarno, in search of<br />
artistic craftsmanship<br />
Genuine <strong>Florentine</strong> artisan traditions<br />
Info 055.3036108, www.fi renze-oltrarno.<br />
net, all year<br />
Guided visits by Associazione Akropolis<br />
January 11, 16, 20, 23, 25, 27, 30, tel.<br />
055461428 - http://It.geocities.com/associazione_akropolis<br />
Hortibus Collection & Garden tours<br />
Starting point: piazza S.Trinita, every Thur<br />
and Sat at 15.00, info 348.9100783, www.<br />
hortibus.com, € 25, all year<br />
Itinerari e Incontri<br />
Guided visits, book presentations, and conferences<br />
Associazione Akropolis, Info 055461428,<br />
http://it.geocites.com/associazione_akropolis/<br />
all year<br />
Baluardo a San Giorgio<br />
Every last Sunday of <strong>the</strong> month, 9.30-12.30,<br />
info 055-2616051, free<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Ciompi Antique fair<br />
Piazza de’ Ciompi, info 055.3283550, every<br />
week day and last Sunday of <strong>the</strong> month<br />
Mercato del Porcellino<br />
<strong>Florentine</strong> crafts with straw, hand-made embroidery,<br />
lea<strong>the</strong>r, woodwork,and fl owers<br />
Logge del Porcellino, every day, all day<br />
Mercato San Lorenzo<br />
<strong>Florentine</strong> crafts, hand-made embroidery,<br />
paper, lea<strong>the</strong>r etc<br />
Streets around Basilica San Lorenzo, every<br />
day, all day<br />
Christmas in <strong>the</strong> different area districts<br />
Until February 17, 2007, Various locations -<br />
info Q.1-Q.2-Q.3-Q.4-Q.5 - www.comune.<br />
fi .it<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Jazz...do it!<br />
Jazz & contemporary<br />
Caruso Jazz Café, via Lam<strong>be</strong>rtesca, 14/16r<br />
, info 055-281940, www.dulcisinfundo.org,<br />
www.carusojazzcafe.com, h 21.30<br />
Organ concerts<br />
Every day at 9.15 pm; on Saturdays at 6pm,<br />
Chiesa S.Maria de’ Ricci info 055215044<br />
Concerts at St. Mark’s English Church<br />
<strong>The</strong> “Orpheus Ensemble” presents sacred<br />
music, Italian opera arias and Neapolitan<br />
Songs with piano and voice<br />
St. Mark’s English Church, Via Maggio 16-<br />
18, info 340.8119192, every day at 21.15,<br />
€15, for <strong>The</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong> readers € 10 (Mondays<br />
free piano recital)<br />
Organ and instrumental concerts<br />
Chiesa di Santa Maria dei Ricci, via del<br />
Corso, info 055.289367, all year, Mon-Sun<br />
21.15, Sat 18.00, €11<br />
Ascolti musica. Concerts<br />
From January 25 to June 2m Scandicci Teatro<br />
Studio tel. 055757348 - www.scandiccicultura.org<br />
n NIGHTLIFE<br />
Ambasciata di Marte<br />
See web for Music program and concerts<br />
All year, Ambasciata di Marte, Via Mannelli<br />
2 , Campo di Marte, info 055-6550786,<br />
www.ambasciatadimarte.org, mem<strong>be</strong>r only,<br />
h 22.00<br />
Caruso Jazz Cafè<br />
Jazz nights<br />
Via Lam<strong>be</strong>rtesca 14/16r, info 055 281940,<br />
www.carusojazzcafe.com<br />
Champagneria<br />
Pizza, disco,pub, pop and rock music<br />
Via Villamagna 71, Candeli (Bagno a Ripoli,<br />
Firenze) info 055 632815, www.champagneria.it,<br />
music on Fri and Sat, free entrance<br />
Golden View<br />
Restaurant with music, every Sun, Mon and<br />
Wed live jazz music<br />
Via dei bardi 58r, info 055 214502<br />
Jazz Club<br />
jazz nights<br />
Jazz Club, via Nuova de’ Caccini 3, info<br />
055.2479700, 22.15, € 7<br />
Maracanà<br />
Disco-risto-show<br />
Via Faenza, 4 - Firenze Info-line:<br />
055.210298, www.maracana.it<br />
Pinocchio Jazz Club<br />
jazz nights<br />
Pinocchio Jazz Club c/o Associazione Le Vie<br />
Nuove, v.le Giannotti 13, tel. 055.683388,<br />
www.pinocchiojazz.it, 22.00<br />
Tenax<br />
Disco<br />
Tenax, via Pratese 46, tel. 055.308160<br />
reggae-roots + rock-cartoons + goatrance<br />
+ house<br />
Le Mulina Race Course (trot racing) V..le del<br />
Pegaso, price: € 5,00, info 335-6070924<br />
n PARKS<br />
Boboli Garden<br />
Piazza Pitti, from nov to February h 8,15 to<br />
16,30 (17,30 during march), from april to<br />
oct h 8,15 to 18,30, entrance 8€ info 055<br />
2651838<br />
Villa Peyron<br />
via Vincigliata 2 Fiesole, info 055 454791<br />
n SPORTS & ACTIVITIES<br />
Firenze Moms 4 Moms Network<br />
(in English) for many exciting events such<br />
as Playgroups, Mom’s Night Out, Couples<br />
Night Out and more<br />
For English Speaking Moms in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
and <strong>the</strong> surrounding areas: check out this<br />
link http://www.fi renzemoms4moms.net/ .<br />
Form more information: infotiscali@fi renzem<br />
oms4moms.net or call # 333-572-8945.<br />
Mudi Lab - workshops and daily play<br />
courses<br />
Every day 9am.-6pm., Istituto degli Innocenti<br />
LA BOTTEGA DEI RAGAZZI, via dei<br />
Fibbiai 2 - tel. 0552478386 - www.istitutodeglinnocenti.it<br />
Trotting race<br />
February 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 21 Ippodromo<br />
Le Mulina - info 0554226076 - www.ippocity.com<br />
Trotting race<br />
February 2, 4, 7 Ippodromo Le Mulina - info<br />
0554226076 - www.ippocity.com<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
La macellara<br />
Feb 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 21.00, Sun<br />
16.30, € 6/8, Teatro Il Palco, Piazza Elia<br />
dalla Costa 26, tel. 055.6810496, www.<br />
teatroilpalco.com<br />
I barroccini di via dell’Ariento<br />
Feb 10-11, 17-18, 21.15, Sun 16.15,<br />
€11, Teatro Nuovo, via Fanfani 16, tel.<br />
055.413067<br />
I’ fi gliolo di prete<br />
in vernacular<br />
Feb 10-11, 17-18, 21.00, Sun 16.30, Teatro<br />
di Cestello, Piazza del Cestello, 4, tel.<br />
055.294609, www.teatrodicestello.tbo.it<br />
Lina Sastri in “Corpo Celeste”<br />
Feb 13-18, 20.45, Sun 15.45, Teatro<br />
della Pergola, via della Pergola, 18, tel.<br />
055.22641, www.pergola.fi renze.it<br />
Il Vangelo secondo Gesù Cristo
12<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
What’s on & Where to Go<br />
Events in FLORENCE FEB 9 TO FEB 22<br />
Feb 13-18, 21.00, Sun 16.45, Teatro Puccini,<br />
via delle Cascine 41, tel. 055.362067,<br />
www.teatropuccini.it<br />
Quella del piano di sopra<br />
Feb 15-18, 20.45, Sun 16.45, Teatro Verdi,<br />
via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina 99, tel. 055.212320, www.<br />
teatroverdifi renze.it<br />
Quix. Un Don Quixote contemporaneo<br />
Feb 15-19, Feb 25-26, 21.00, Teatro Puccini,<br />
via delle Cascine 41, tel. 055.362067,<br />
www.teatropuccini.it<br />
Giorgio Al<strong>be</strong>rtazzi in “Memorie di<br />
Adriano”<br />
Feb 20-25, 20.45, Sun 15.45, Teatro<br />
della Pergola, via della Pergola, 18, tel.<br />
055.22641, www.pergola.fi renze.it<br />
Gioie. Frammenti di vita di Anna Maria<br />
Luisa de’ Medici, Elettrice Palatina<br />
Feb 20-25, 21.15, Sun 17.00, Salone Donatello,<br />
sotterranei di San Lorenzo, info<br />
055-6120205, €12<br />
Alessandro Preziosi in “Datemi tre caravelle!”<br />
Feb 22-25, 20.45, Sun 16.45, Teatro Verdi,<br />
via Ghi<strong>be</strong>llina 99, tel. 055.212320, www.<br />
teatroverdifi renze.it<br />
UP COMING<br />
n EXHIBITS<br />
Cezanne and Impressionism in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
From March 2 to July 29, Palazzo Strozzi,<br />
info 055 2776461 www.cezannefi renze.it<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
Sting in concert<br />
Feb 22, Auditorium Parco della Musica in<br />
Rome; Feb 23, Teatro degli Arcimboldi in<br />
Milan, info & booking www.boxol.it<br />
CHILDREN<br />
n CINEMA<br />
Cinema Kids<br />
every Sunday at 17.00<br />
Istituto Stensen, v.le don Minzoni 25/c, tel.<br />
055.576551, www.stensen.org<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
Il Giardino di Archimede, Ma<strong>the</strong>matics’<br />
Sundays<br />
Guided visits and surprise events at <strong>the</strong><br />
Museum<br />
All year, Il Giardino di Archimede, Museo<br />
per la Matematica, via S. Bartolo a Cintoia<br />
19, info 055.7879594, www.archimede.ms,<br />
on <strong>the</strong> fi rst Sunday of every month<br />
n SPORTS & ACTIVITIES<br />
<strong>The</strong> amazing circus of Merlin <strong>the</strong> Wizard<br />
Workshop to create circus equipment. For<br />
children ages 4 to 11<br />
Il Cappello di Merlino, via Mazzetta 14r, info<br />
055.264471, every Thur, 17.00<br />
<strong>The</strong> little joiner’s shop<br />
Workshop to create wooden games. Develops<br />
creativity and dexterity. For children<br />
ages 4 to 10<br />
Il Cappello di Merlino, via Mazzetta 14r, info<br />
055.264471, every Wed, 17.00<br />
<strong>The</strong> world through <strong>the</strong> senses<br />
Experimenting with <strong>the</strong> senses (taste, sight,<br />
hearing, touch, smell) through games and<br />
book-readings. For children ages 2 to 5<br />
Il Cappello di Merlino, via Mazzetta 14r, info<br />
055.264471, every Fri, 17.00<br />
Carnevalino dei ragazzi<br />
piazza Vittoria, Vicchio, 14.30-18.30<br />
Il Carnevale di Paperino<br />
Feb 18, 20, Circolo Arci Paperino, Paperino<br />
, Prato, info 0574.540192<br />
Il carnevale dei bambini<br />
Musica, balli e clownerie<br />
Auditorium Gianni Rodari, Campi Bisenzio,<br />
16.00<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Saburan<br />
puppet show<br />
Every Sat at 17.00, Teatro del Crc Antella,<br />
Via Pulicciano 53, Antella<br />
Puppet show<br />
Il Cappello di Merlino, via Mazzetta 14r, info<br />
055.264471, every Sat, 17.00<br />
Festa di Carnevale<br />
Masks and performances<br />
Feb 17, 17.00, Teatro del Crc Antella, Via<br />
Pulicciano 53, Antella<br />
Le avventure di fagiolino<br />
Feb 10, 17.00, Auditorium Gianni Rodari,<br />
Via G. Lorca 1, La Villa, Campi Bisenzio<br />
I musicanti di Brema<br />
Feb 10, 16.00, Castello, via R. Giuliani 374,<br />
Rifredi<br />
Notizie dal matrimonio di Cenerentola<br />
Feb 10, 16.30, Teatro Cantiere Florida, via<br />
Pisana 111r, tel. 055.573857, www.elsinor.<br />
it, €5/7<br />
Il gatto mammone<br />
Feb 11, 17.00, Teatro Moderno ARCI, Via<br />
Gramsci 5, Tavarnuzze<br />
Cappuccetto Rosso<br />
Feb 11, 16.30, Teatro Cantiere Florida, via<br />
Pisana 111r, tel. 055.573857, www.elsinor.<br />
it, €5/7<br />
Baracche e burattini<br />
10th Annual Children’s <strong>The</strong>atre Festival<br />
Feb. 10,17, 16.00, € 4,00, Castello, via R.<br />
Giuliani 374, info 055.2767045<br />
Pinocchio<br />
puppets show<br />
Feb 17, 16.30, €4, Castello, via R. Giuliani<br />
374, Rifredi<br />
Il gatto con gli stivali<br />
Feb 18, 17.00, Teatro Regina Margherita,<br />
via A. Mori 20 , Loc. Marcialla, Bar<strong>be</strong>rino<br />
Val d’Elsa<br />
L’orco con le penne<br />
Feb 18, 17.00, Limonaia Villa Montalvo, via<br />
di Limite, Campi Bisenzio<br />
Buon compleanno papà<br />
Feb 18, 17.30, Teatro del Popolo di Castelnuovo<br />
d’Elsa<br />
Festa di Carnevale<br />
Grand Performance: Stenterello<br />
Feb 18, 17.00, Teatro Le Laudi, via L. da<br />
Vinci 2r, tel. 055.572831, www.caspi.it/teatri/defaultLaudi.htm<br />
Quante storie!! <strong>The</strong>atre for children<br />
Feb 22, 17.30, €4, Cinema Accademia,<br />
via Montanelli 33, Pontassieve, tel.<br />
0558316437 - www.comune.pontassieve.<br />
fi .it<br />
Pollicino e altre storie<br />
Feb 22, 17.30, Accademia Cinema, Via<br />
Montanelli 33 , Pontassieve<br />
OUT OF TOWN<br />
n COMPETITION<br />
Fare e disfare è tutto un lavorare<br />
concorso fotografi co, premi in danaro<br />
Until Feb 15, Camera di Commercio di Prato<br />
info: www.po.camcom.it<br />
Italia Wave<br />
Regional selections participating in <strong>the</strong><br />
Arezzo Wave 2007<br />
Feb 16, 21.30, Offi cina Giovani, piazza dei<br />
Macelli, Prato, info 05741836753<br />
n EXHIBITS<br />
Corrispondenze - Works from <strong>the</strong> collection<br />
of Centro Pecci and Civic Museum<br />
of Prato<br />
Until April 7, 10-14, 15-19, Centro per l’Arte<br />
Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, v.le della Repubblica<br />
277, Prato, tel. 0574.5317, www.<br />
centropecci.it<br />
Opere pittoriche di Franco Ferraro<br />
Until April 27, closed Sat and Sun, free,<br />
Confartigianato Sede di Maliseti, via Saccenti<br />
19/21, Prato<br />
Carlo Ginori’s album. Documents and<br />
pathways of an illuminated man. Exhibition<br />
and guided visits<br />
Until April 30, Museo Richard Ginori Sesto<br />
Fiorentino, tel. 055.4207767<br />
Kids Riot - Botto e Bruno<br />
Until May 20, 9-19, Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea<br />
Luigi Pecci, v.le della Repubblica<br />
277, Prato, tel. 0574.5317, www.centropecci.it<br />
Chi guarda chi?<br />
Portraits by Leo Cardini<br />
Until Feb 28, Overspace, via Inghirami 19,<br />
Prato, info 0574.595645, www.overarredodesign.it<br />
Aldo Lurci paintings<br />
Until March 14, Confartigianato di Prato, via<br />
Montegrappa 138, Prato<br />
Artisti Amici dei Musei<br />
Until Feb 28, 10-13, 15-18, Tues closed,<br />
Cassero Medievale, viale Piave, Prato<br />
Kashmir: <strong>The</strong> 5 senses<br />
Until March 5, €6, closed on Tues, Museo<br />
del Tessuo, via Santa Chiara 24, Prato,<br />
0574 611503, www.museodetessuto.it<br />
Scatti violenti<br />
Photografi c exhibition about violence through<br />
<strong>the</strong> movies from Pasolini to Tarantino.<br />
Until May 13, Foyer del teatro della Limonaia,<br />
via Gramsci 426, Sesto Fiorentino, tel.<br />
055.440852 - www.teatrodellalimonaia.it<br />
Non per caso by Daniel Spoerri<br />
Until April 29, 10-19, Tues closed, Centro<br />
per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, v.le<br />
della Repubblica 277, Prato, tel. 0574.5317,<br />
www.centropecci.it<br />
Tribute to Boccaccio. Painting exhibition<br />
from February 18 to March 31, Certaldo (Firenze)<br />
Palazzo Pretorio tel. 0571661219<br />
- www.comune.certaldo.fi .it<br />
n GUIDED TOURS<br />
Visita dell’Abbazia<br />
Every Wed and Friday 10-12, Sun 15.30-<br />
18.00, Abbazia San Salvatore e San Lorenzo<br />
a Settimo, Scandicci, www.badiadisettimo.it,<br />
info 055-7310537<br />
La foresta dell’Acquerino<br />
trekking<br />
Feb 11, 7.45, starting point Bar Moncelli,<br />
loc. Santa Lucia, Prato, info 368-3873099<br />
A ‘Nature’ Itinerary in <strong>the</strong> hills of Calvana<br />
Feb 13, 21.00, info 0574-22004, www.caiprato.it<br />
La valle del Rio Buti<br />
trekking<br />
Feb 18, info 368-3873099, www.polisportivaaurora.it<br />
On <strong>the</strong> Scaffolding with Filippo Lippi<br />
Visits to <strong>the</strong> restoration of Filippo Lippi’s<br />
fresco (max 12 persons)<br />
Cattedrale di Santo Stefano, piazza del<br />
Duomo, Prato, info 0574.24112, www.restaurofi<br />
lippolippi.it, by reservation only, every<br />
Sat at 10, 11, 16, 17, Sun at 10, 11, €8<br />
Ab<strong>be</strong>y of San Salvatore and San Lorenzo<br />
a Settimo<br />
Every Wed, Fri 10-12, Sun 15.30-18, closed<br />
July and Aug, Badia a Settimo, Scandicci,<br />
info 055.7310537, www.badiadisettimo.it<br />
<strong>The</strong> Ceramics of Montelupo<br />
Free guided visits of Archaeology and<br />
Ceramics Museum and participation in<br />
workshops<br />
Every Thur from 10.00 to 14.00, Museo Archeologico<br />
e della Ceramica, Moninfoupo<br />
Fiorentino, info 0571.518993<br />
Wine and Fashion in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong><br />
Mountains. Itineraries with guided visits,<br />
shopping<br />
Tours to discover <strong>the</strong> <strong>be</strong>auty of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong><br />
Mountains. Visits to artisan workshops<br />
and local shopping centres<br />
All year Mon and Sat, Resco Travel, info<br />
055.868009<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Festa de l’Unità Invernale<br />
Feb 13-18, Montespertoli city center, evening<br />
(Sat, Sun all day)<br />
Atmosphere and mystery, a night of<br />
Carnevale<br />
Feb 15, Borgo san Lorenzo historical center,<br />
21.00<br />
Polentata delle ceneri<br />
Feb 21, Borgo San Lorenzo city center,<br />
from 8 to 13<br />
Week-end of February 10-11<br />
Antique fair at Villa Corsini<br />
Feb 9, 10, 11, Villa Corsini a Mezzomonte,<br />
Impruneta (Firenze), www.mediag.it, from<br />
10 to 20, 7€<br />
Mostra Mercato di Antiquariato “Villa<br />
Corsini”<br />
Feb 9 to 11, Villa Corsini, San Casciano,<br />
info www.mediag.it, 10-20, 7€<br />
Antique market<br />
Feb 10, Incisa Valdarno, tel. 055.8333450,<br />
all day<br />
Carnival parade<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Feb 11, 18, 20, Rufi na, tel. 055.8399014,<br />
all day<br />
Carnevale mugellano<br />
Feb 11, 18, 20, Borgo San Lorenzo, historical<br />
center, from 15.00<br />
Carnevale nella Firenze dei Medici e<br />
dei Lorena<br />
Light shows and dancing<br />
Feb 11, Antico Spedale del Bigallo, Via<br />
Bigallo e Apparita 14, Bagno a Ripoli, info<br />
334-2007438, www.bigallo.it, from 20.00,<br />
prenotazione obbligatoria<br />
Fierucola delle bigonge<br />
Feb 11, Piazza del Comune e Piazza Buonamici,<br />
Prato, 9-19<br />
Fiera di Carnevale<br />
Feb 11, 18, San Mauro a Signa city center,<br />
all day<br />
Week-end of February 17-18<br />
Carnival festival<br />
Feb 10, 17, 20, Piazza Vittorio Veneto, Sesto<br />
Fiorentino, tel. 055.4496357, all day<br />
Carnival parade<br />
Feb 11, 18, 20, Rufi na, tel. 055.8399014,<br />
all day<br />
Carnevale mugellano<br />
Feb 11, 18, 20, Borgo San Lorenzo, historical<br />
center, from 15.00<br />
Fiera di Carnevale<br />
Feb 11, 18, San Mauro a Signa city center,<br />
all day<br />
Little Carnival parade<br />
Feb 17, Piazza della Vittoria Vicchio, tel.<br />
055.844003, all day<br />
Fair of crafts, antiques and secondhand<br />
goods<br />
Feb 18, Dicomano, tel. 055.838541, all<br />
day<br />
Carnevale Dicomanese<br />
Feb 18, 20, Dicomano city center, all day<br />
Sagra of sweets and chestnuts<br />
Feb 18, Loc. Migliana, Cantagallo (Prato),<br />
all day<br />
Mercatino di artigianato e antiquariato<br />
Feb 18, Certaldo, 9-20<br />
n MUSIC & CONCERTS<br />
La notte caraibica<br />
free cari<strong>be</strong>an dance lessons<br />
Feb 12, 14, 19, 21, only on Mon and Wed<br />
22.15, Omi Music Club, via Tevere 100,<br />
Osmannoro<br />
Live music<br />
Feb 9, 16, 22.00, Fattoria del Bassetto,<br />
Certaldo<br />
European Saxofhone Quartet<br />
Feb 9, 21.00, Conservatorio di San Niccolò,<br />
p.za Cardinal S. Niccolò 6 , Prato<br />
Almasfera<br />
Feb 9, 21.30, Offi cina Giovani, piazza dei<br />
Macelli, Prato, info 05741836753<br />
Maratona Beethoven<br />
isonatas for violin and piano<br />
Feb 10, 21.00, Teatro Shalom, via Busoni,<br />
24 , Empoli, info 0571.711122<br />
Godamn Superstar<br />
Marilyn Manson tribute<br />
Feb 10, 22.30, Siddharta, via Trav. Pistoiese<br />
83, San Paolo, Prato<br />
Concerti-aperitivo<br />
Feb 11, 18, 10.00, Teatro Metastasio, via<br />
Cairoli 59, Prato, tel. 0574.6084, www.metastasio.it<br />
Partiture<br />
Original concert by 4 young composers<br />
Feb 11, 17.00, Teatro Magnolfi , via Go<strong>be</strong>tti<br />
74, Prato<br />
L’Elisir d’Amore di Donizetti<br />
Feb 11, 15.00, Teatro Dante, piazza Dante<br />
53, Campi Bisenzio<br />
Gaudeamus Omnes<br />
Dancing and singing of Carnasciale Rinascimentale<br />
Feb 11, 16.30, Auditorium La Tinaia di Parco<br />
Corsini, Fucecchio<br />
Di 10 in 10<br />
Dedicated to <strong>the</strong> 80’s<br />
Feb 11, 21.30, Offi cina Giovani, piazza dei<br />
Macelli, Prato, info 05741836753<br />
Diana Torto-John Taylor Duo<br />
Feb 12, 21.15, Teatro Metastasio, via Cairoli<br />
59, Prato, tel. 0574.6084, www.metastasio.it
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Events in FLORENCE FEB 9 TO FEB 22<br />
Paolo Fresu & Uri Caine<br />
classic music revisited<br />
Feb 16, 21.15, Teatro Aurora, via S. Bartolo<br />
in Tuto 1, Scandicci<br />
Carnival Concert<br />
Offenbach, Strauss fa<strong>the</strong>r and son, Lanner,<br />
Lehár, Fucik music, Peter Guth director<br />
Feb 17, 21.00, Teatro Comunale Garibaldi,<br />
piazza Serristori, Figline Valdarno<br />
Festa di Carnevale con I Cavalieri del<br />
Re<br />
dark and metal music<br />
Feb 17, 21.30, Siddharta, via Trav. Pistoiese<br />
83, San Paolo, Prato<br />
Lanzoni, Tavolazzi, Paoli Trio<br />
classical music<br />
Feb 17, 21.15, Teatro Regina Margherita via<br />
A. Mori, 20 , Loc. Marcialla , Bar<strong>be</strong>rino Val<br />
d’Elsa<br />
Anthony Braxton Sextet<br />
Feb 19, 21.00, Teatro Metastasio, via Cairoli<br />
59, Prato, tel. 0574.6084, www.metastasio.it<br />
Carnival Concert<br />
Offenbach, Strauss fa<strong>the</strong>r and son, Lanner,<br />
Lehár, Fucik music, Peter Guth director<br />
Feb 22, 21.00, Teatro Excelsior, via Ridolfi<br />
75, Empoli<br />
Camerata Strumentale “Città di Prato”<br />
Feb 22, 21.00, Teatro Politeama Pratese, via<br />
Garibaldi 33-35, Prato, tel. 0574.455210,<br />
www.politeamapratese.com<br />
Concerto-recital Rosa Balistreri<br />
Feb 17, 21.15, Teatro Manzoni di Calenzano<br />
Via Mascagni 18, Calenzano<br />
n PARKS<br />
Sculptures in a woodland<br />
In an untouched wood of ilex and oak trees<br />
in <strong>the</strong> heart of Sienese Chianti, many internationally<br />
renowned artists from fi ve continents<br />
have created imposing contemporary<br />
sculptures<br />
Parco sculture del Chianti, La Fornace<br />
48/49, Pievasciata, Siena, info<br />
0577.357151, www.chiantisculpturepark.it,<br />
open all year<br />
n SPORTS & ACTIVITIES<br />
Il Triocco. Handicraft and collectors’<br />
market<br />
Figline Valdarno, info 055.951569, all day<br />
Empoli vs Palermo<br />
National Championship Soccer serie A<br />
Stadio Castellani, V.le delle Olimpiadi , Empoli,<br />
18.00<br />
Empoli vs Roma<br />
National Championship Soccer serie A<br />
Stadio Castellani, V.le delle Olimpiadi , Empoli,<br />
18.00<br />
Scandicci corre<br />
half Marathon<br />
info 055.7591273, www.podisticailponte.it<br />
n THEATRE (in Italian unless o<strong>the</strong>rwise noted)<br />
Mac<strong>be</strong>th<br />
Feb 7-11, 21.00, Sun 16.00, Teatro Metastasio,<br />
via Cairoli 59, Prato, tel. 0574.6084,<br />
www.metastasio.it<br />
Il medico dei pazzi<br />
Feb 9-11, 21.00, Sun 16.00, Teatro Excelsior,<br />
via Ridolfi 75, Empoli, tel. 0571.72023<br />
Alessandro Benvenuti in “Addio Gori”<br />
Feb 13, 21.00, Teatro Niccolini di San Casciano<br />
IN TUSCANY<br />
n EXHIBITS<br />
La passione e l’arte<br />
Bransi and Magnani collections<br />
Dec 8 to March 11, Santa Maria della Scala<br />
Palazzo Squarcialupi, Siena, info www.verniceprogetti.it<br />
Joel Peter Witkin<br />
American artists’ exhibition<br />
Jan 20 to April 8, Seravezza, Palazzo Mediceo,<br />
info 392.9586574, 15- 20 closed on<br />
Mon, € 5<br />
n MARKETS & FESTIVALS<br />
Carnevale di Santa Croce 2007<br />
Carnival Parade<br />
Feb 11and 18, Santa Croce sull’<strong>Arno</strong> (Pisa),<br />
info 0571.34473, 16.30<br />
Carnevale di Foiano della Chiana 2007<br />
Carnival Parade<br />
Feb 11 and 18, Foiano della Chiana (Arezzo),<br />
info 0575.642100, wwww.carnevaledifoiano.it,<br />
from 14 to 19<br />
Carnevale di Foiano di Viareggio<br />
Carnival Parade<br />
Feb 11, 18, 20, Viareggio (Lucca), info<br />
0584.795520, wwww.carnevaledifoiano.it,<br />
from 14 to 19<br />
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What’s on & Where to Go<br />
13<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007
14<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
UP CLOSE & PERSONAL<br />
An Interview with<br />
Antonina Bargellini<br />
by Elia Celestina Della Chiesa<br />
‘How fortunate indeed is your Firenze, to have as Mayor a man<br />
<strong>like</strong> you, so sensitive to her <strong>be</strong>auty.’<br />
Jacqueline Kennedy<br />
Mayor Piero Bargellini with daughter Antonina, 1966<br />
Assessor of Education, Culture and <strong>the</strong> Environment under Giorgio La Pira in<br />
<strong>the</strong> 1950s, Piero Bargellini <strong>be</strong>came mayor of <strong>Florence</strong> in 1966. Fondly<br />
remem<strong>be</strong>red by <strong>Florentine</strong>s as <strong>the</strong> ‘Flood Mayor’, Mr Bargellini distinguished<br />
himself for his dedication to <strong>Florence</strong> and his noteworthy organizational abilities.<br />
Bargellini used his home as <strong>the</strong> operation headquarters where politicians and<br />
writers such as Aldo Moro, Ted Kennedy, Saragat and Montanelli were received<br />
during <strong>the</strong> days following <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong> tragedy. Elected senator in 1968 and later<br />
appointed judge, he was a prolifi c writer throughout his entire life, authoring no<br />
less than 120 books. He was also founding editor of Il Frontespizio, an important<br />
cultural magazine which ga<strong>the</strong>red toge<strong>the</strong>r noteworthy Italian writers <strong>like</strong> Carlo<br />
Bo, Mario Luzi and don Giuseppe De Sica. <strong>The</strong> sixth daughter of Piero Bargellini,<br />
Antonina ‘grew up’ in Palazzo Vecchio. She accompanied her fa<strong>the</strong>r on<br />
many offi cial visits including <strong>the</strong> Mayor’s 1966 trip to <strong>the</strong> United States to raise<br />
funds for victims of <strong>the</strong> fl ood. Antonina has always shared her fa<strong>the</strong>r’s vocation<br />
for protecting and improving <strong>Florence</strong>. She has dedicated her life to volunteer<br />
work in hopes of <strong>be</strong>ttering her city on both <strong>the</strong> human and artistic level.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong>: Tell us about your fa<strong>the</strong>r as ‘Flood Mayor’.<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Antonina Bargellini: When my fa<strong>the</strong>r <strong>be</strong>come mayor he said, ‘I’ve made so<br />
many love declarations to <strong>Florence</strong> that in <strong>the</strong> end I had to marry her. I <strong>be</strong>lieve<br />
in life-long marriage so I will always <strong>be</strong> married to this city. In <strong>the</strong> same way that<br />
I’ve only had one wife throughout my life, I will only have one city’. And when <strong>the</strong><br />
fl ood came, we really got to witness how strong that marriage actually was.<br />
My fa<strong>the</strong>r’s biggest worry after <strong>the</strong> fl ood was that <strong>Florence</strong> <strong>would</strong> <strong>be</strong> considered<br />
a dead city. He made huge, immediate efforts to help <strong>the</strong> city get back<br />
on its feet by giving public money to <strong>the</strong> people who needed it. ‘This money is<br />
burning in my hands’ he <strong>would</strong> say and <strong>the</strong>n give it away without waiting for<br />
bureaucratic approval. <strong>The</strong> city sued him several times for that. He used to tell<br />
us, ‘<strong>The</strong> fl ood left me with bronchitis and a whole lot of time in court’.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> days after <strong>the</strong> fl ood, people took to sending him money personally to<br />
distribute as he saw fi t. Clo<strong>the</strong>s, too. <strong>The</strong>re was a Swiss baron who sent us a<br />
frightening amount of clo<strong>the</strong>s—mostly tuxedos and evening gowns! And my<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>r <strong>would</strong> wring her hands and say ‘How can I give <strong>the</strong>se to people? <strong>The</strong>y<br />
will throw <strong>the</strong>m back at me’. Santa Croce was a poor neighbourhood. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
people were fi ghting to survive. You couldn’t give <strong>the</strong>m fancy suits at times <strong>like</strong><br />
those! I remem<strong>be</strong>r my bro<strong>the</strong>r helping himself to some dinner jackets and I took<br />
a camel-hair coat. My fa<strong>the</strong>r was very severe, ‘If you take one thing, you have to<br />
give back two of your own’.<br />
We transformed our basement into a huge centre for <strong>the</strong> needy, and <strong>the</strong> door<br />
was always open. I mean, half of it had <strong>be</strong>en washed away by <strong>the</strong> fl ood, but <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r half was always open. We couldn’t give food, though. We had no gas to<br />
cook with. But people <strong>would</strong> bring us food and we’d host whoever came for a<br />
meal. People <strong>would</strong> come here, eat, talk, cry and <strong>the</strong>n get back to work again.<br />
TF: What do you most remem<strong>be</strong>r about <strong>the</strong> fl ood?<br />
AB: Well, this house was fl ooded under 6 meters of water and we lived on <strong>the</strong><br />
top fl oors. All <strong>the</strong> neighbours came to stay with us, <strong>be</strong>cause <strong>the</strong>y felt safer here.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y talked that fi rst night saying ‘Well, at least we live on <strong>the</strong> mayor’s street;<br />
surely it will <strong>be</strong> <strong>the</strong> fi rst one he’ll restore’. How wrong <strong>the</strong>y were! My fa<strong>the</strong>r<br />
never <strong>would</strong> have fi xed up his own street fi rst! He had a very different plan for<br />
our house. He made it into <strong>the</strong> symbol of fl ooded <strong>Florence</strong>. He’d take powerful<br />
people on tours through <strong>the</strong> house to make <strong>the</strong>m aware of how hard <strong>the</strong> city<br />
had <strong>be</strong>en hit by <strong>the</strong> tragedy. Santa Croce was one of <strong>the</strong> neighbourhoods that<br />
suffered <strong>the</strong> most. <strong>The</strong> only time we saw him in <strong>the</strong> days of <strong>the</strong> fl ood was when<br />
he came to tour people through. He had so many people to take care of. We<br />
weren’t his only family. <strong>The</strong> whole of <strong>Florence</strong> was his family.<br />
<strong>The</strong> nights of <strong>the</strong> fl ood, citizens <strong>would</strong> spread news through open windows<br />
and from rooftops. ‘We have a sick woman here; send news of her to Palazzo<br />
Vecchio’. Messages <strong>would</strong> travel from rooftop to rooftop in <strong>the</strong> dark. People<br />
wanted <strong>the</strong> voices needed to reach City Hall <strong>be</strong>cause Bargellini was <strong>the</strong>re. My<br />
fa<strong>the</strong>r was struck by <strong>the</strong> faith people had in Palazzo Vecchio.<br />
TF: How has this experience changed your life?<br />
AB: Well, I do want to clarify one thing. I only want to talk about <strong>the</strong> fl ood if my<br />
stories can somehow have meaning in today’s world. To me, <strong>Florence</strong> is currently<br />
going through very hard times. Today’s tragedy is different from <strong>the</strong> one<br />
caused by <strong>the</strong> fl ood, and in a way, it’s almost worse. <strong>The</strong> degradation of <strong>the</strong> city<br />
and <strong>the</strong> indifference of its citizens pain me so much.
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
We must take <strong>the</strong> time to re-read <strong>the</strong> fl ood and see why <strong>Florence</strong> sprang<br />
from her ruins even more <strong>be</strong>autiful than <strong>be</strong>fore. In 1966, we all worked toge<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
united by a real love for this city. People were desperate, but we all worked<br />
side-by-side without political or social barriers. All of those young people came<br />
from all over <strong>the</strong> world to help. My fa<strong>the</strong>r worried about <strong>the</strong>ir arrival, ‘My God,<br />
he said, ‘where in <strong>the</strong> world am I going to put <strong>the</strong>m all? What am I going to feed<br />
<strong>the</strong>m’? <strong>The</strong>y were children in his eyes—many hadn’t turned 18 yet. <strong>The</strong>re were<br />
hundreds and <strong>the</strong>y had nowhere to sleep. But <strong>the</strong>y came with a certain spirit<br />
and with an inner strength.A true sense of solidarity. We need to re-introduce<br />
that feeling to this city. <strong>The</strong>re are so many problems today. We have to fi nd a<br />
way to recreate that welcoming, altruistic spirit.<br />
This city has always demonstrated openness towards young people, and<br />
that’s why so many came to help when she was in trouble. Venice also fl ooded<br />
but didn’t receive <strong>the</strong> same response. <strong>Florence</strong> has always given a strong message<br />
to young people—of hope and Humanism. After all, Humanism was born<br />
here. This is a special city.<br />
TF: What problems do you feel are most prevalent in <strong>Florence</strong> today?<br />
AB: My fa<strong>the</strong>r considered <strong>Florence</strong> a <strong>be</strong>autiful woman who needs to <strong>be</strong> cared<br />
about deeply and in even <strong>the</strong> smallest of ways. O<strong>the</strong>rwise, she’ll get worn down,<br />
lose her charm and <strong>be</strong>come vulgar. He passed that view onto me. He felt it really<br />
important to protect her <strong>be</strong>auty, maintain her smaller alleys, city-wide lighting and<br />
her forgotten gardens—he truly wanted <strong>Florence</strong> to <strong>be</strong> ‘<strong>the</strong> city of fl owers’. My<br />
God, if he could see <strong>Florence</strong> now! His goal as a writer was to inspire love for<br />
this city. It was <strong>the</strong> gift he wanted to give people, and it is a sentiment we are<br />
really lacking.<br />
I mean, if you look at history you can see that <strong>the</strong>re has <strong>be</strong>en a true change<br />
in attitude. We’ve gone from <strong>be</strong>ing merchants to <strong>be</strong>ing mere shopkeepers. <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Florentine</strong>s have always <strong>be</strong>en merchants, in <strong>the</strong> highest sense of <strong>the</strong> word. <strong>The</strong><br />
Medici, <strong>the</strong> Strozzi knew how to get wealthy, but as <strong>the</strong>y did, <strong>the</strong>y made efforts<br />
to make <strong>the</strong> city more <strong>be</strong>autiful. <strong>The</strong>ir perspective was simple: <strong>the</strong> more <strong>be</strong>autiful<br />
<strong>the</strong> city, <strong>the</strong> more wealth it will generate. People will come to it, and <strong>the</strong> more<br />
relationships we form with visitors, <strong>the</strong> <strong>be</strong>tter off <strong>the</strong> city will <strong>be</strong>. <strong>The</strong> merchants<br />
earned a lot, but <strong>the</strong>y also built, restored and protected a lot. Our mentality today<br />
is drastically different. We are out to take advantage of <strong>the</strong> city, not to enhance it.<br />
In our search for economic profi t, we render it poorer than <strong>be</strong>fore.<br />
No one can spare a moment of kindness for a tourist, for example. Sometimes I<br />
Cesare Moncelli<br />
Via S. Maria 16 r<br />
50125 Firenze<br />
www.segnidiseta.it<br />
studio@segnidiseta.it<br />
FIRENZEITALY<br />
15<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
UP CLOSE & PERSONAL<br />
see tourists admiring this house and I go downstairs and ask <strong>the</strong>m if <strong>the</strong>y’d <strong>like</strong> to<br />
see <strong>the</strong> inside of a real Tuscan palazzo. Most look at me <strong>like</strong> I’m crazy, but some<br />
accept and leave my home immensely grateful. It takes so little to make a guest<br />
feel welcome. Tell <strong>the</strong>m a bit of history or give a smile. <strong>Florence</strong> has <strong>be</strong>come a<br />
vulgar city. We need to stop that and develop and protect our relationships with<br />
foreigners. People now come to <strong>Florence</strong> for three minutes, wait in frighteningly<br />
long lines and can’t wait to leave again. My utopia <strong>would</strong> <strong>be</strong> to make <strong>Florence</strong> in<br />
2007 a welcoming city on various levels.<br />
TF: How can <strong>Florence</strong> <strong>be</strong>come a ‘welcoming’ city?<br />
AB: <strong>The</strong>re’s a lot of immigration today, we can’t negate that, and it’s right that<br />
things should <strong>be</strong> this way. <strong>The</strong> city hosts people from all over <strong>the</strong> world, and<br />
<strong>Florence</strong> needs to learn to welcome <strong>the</strong>m. I am working to bring toge<strong>the</strong>r a<br />
group of <strong>Florentine</strong>s and foreigners—people from Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo,<br />
Algeria and o<strong>the</strong>r places around <strong>the</strong> world. <strong>The</strong>re are many immigrants who<br />
have an incredibly high cultural level and <strong>the</strong>y live as outcasts. Our group’s<br />
objective is to work toge<strong>the</strong>r against <strong>the</strong> degradation of <strong>Florence</strong>. <strong>The</strong> city’s<br />
physical degradation comes from not having an au<strong>the</strong>ntic relationship with <strong>the</strong><br />
city. It springs from feeling <strong>like</strong> you don’t <strong>be</strong>long to it. If people feel no spiritual<br />
attachment to <strong>the</strong> place <strong>the</strong>y’re living, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>y automatically lack respect for<br />
it. I don’t accuse foreigners: I think <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong>s are <strong>the</strong> fi rst to show disrespect<br />
for <strong>the</strong>ir city. But with this international group, we are trying to educate<br />
ourselves about our rights and duties so that we can stop acting <strong>like</strong> subjects<br />
and start acting <strong>like</strong> true citizens. A Senegalese writer said, ‘We want to stop<br />
demanding things for our community. We want to start giving back to <strong>Florence</strong>.<br />
Ultimately, we want to give our love’. It’s about offering concrete love—through<br />
various forms of social activism. I’m not talking about forming an association.<br />
We are moving to <strong>be</strong>come part of <strong>the</strong> solidarity networks that already exist in<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong> neighbourhood councils. It’s about recognizing and responding<br />
to <strong>the</strong> needs of <strong>the</strong> people who live in our neighbourhoods. And it’s a movement<br />
where <strong>Florentine</strong>s and foreigners work toge<strong>the</strong>r. If you work toge<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
side by side, you <strong>be</strong>come friends, and forging friendship is <strong>the</strong> fi rst step in<br />
changing society.
16<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
MOSAICS BY<br />
JANE’S GEMS<br />
In <strong>the</strong> Octo<strong>be</strong>r 19, 2006 issue, I<br />
wrote an article about Suor Plautilla<br />
Nelli, <strong>the</strong> fi rst known woman<br />
painter of <strong>Florence</strong> and about <strong>the</strong><br />
restoration of her painting Lamentation<br />
with Saints, which was unveiled<br />
last Octo<strong>be</strong>r and can <strong>be</strong> seen in <strong>the</strong><br />
large refectory at <strong>the</strong> Museo di San<br />
Marco. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Florence</strong> Committee of<br />
<strong>the</strong> National Museum of Women in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Arts restored <strong>the</strong> painting and<br />
produced a DVD on <strong>the</strong> project. I<br />
asked <strong>the</strong> renowned restorer, Rossella<br />
Lari, to express how she felt as<br />
she was restoring <strong>the</strong> painting, which<br />
is included as part of <strong>the</strong> DVD. I was<br />
very moved by what she said and<br />
<strong>would</strong> <strong>like</strong> to share it with our readers.<br />
As Jonathan Nelson (a Syracuse<br />
University/ <strong>Florence</strong> professor and<br />
editor of <strong>the</strong> book Suor Plautilla Nelli,<br />
<strong>The</strong> First Woman Painter of <strong>Florence</strong>)<br />
expressed to me, ‘often a restorer<br />
works with a sense of detachment,<br />
in order to <strong>be</strong> fair and accurate, but<br />
after work, feels <strong>the</strong> emotion of his<br />
or her work’. We, who were deeply<br />
connected to this restoration project,<br />
have <strong>be</strong>come very emotionally tied to<br />
Suor Plautilla Nelli and for me, she will<br />
forever <strong>be</strong> part of my soul.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> words of restorer<br />
Rossella Lari:<br />
Life in Italy<br />
Look to Jane Fortune’s column for news and views on <strong>Florence</strong>’s <strong>be</strong>st cultural events, from art and music to<br />
dance and <strong>the</strong>atre. Discover must-dine family restaurants and many of <strong>the</strong> area’s unsung treasures. Spotlight on<br />
women artists, outstanding artisans and unsung heroes of <strong>Florentine</strong> tradition. Don’t miss Jane’s Gems, places to<br />
go and people to know—for <strong>the</strong> veteran city-dweller and <strong>the</strong> newly arrived.<br />
<strong>The</strong> past in wax at ‘La Specola’<br />
Section of <strong>the</strong> Natural History Museum of <strong>the</strong> University of <strong>Florence</strong><br />
by Dottoressa Marta Poggesi, Direttrice<br />
In 1771, <strong>the</strong> Wax Model Workshop<br />
was established in <strong>Florence</strong> by<br />
Abbot Felice Fontana, who <strong>be</strong>came<br />
<strong>the</strong> museum’s fi rst director. For more<br />
than a century, this workshop produced<br />
anatomical wax models which<br />
today constitute one of <strong>the</strong> most<br />
prestigious collections of its kind in<br />
<strong>the</strong> world. Supported by Grand Duke<br />
Peter Leopold of Lorraine, <strong>the</strong> workshop<br />
occupied <strong>the</strong> ground fl oor of<br />
Palazzo Torrigiani (adjacent to Palazzo<br />
Pitti). In 1775, <strong>the</strong> Palazzo was<br />
offi cially inaugurated and opened to<br />
<strong>the</strong> public as <strong>the</strong> Royal and Imperial<br />
Museum of Physics and Natural History<br />
(<strong>the</strong> current ‘La Specola’ Zoology<br />
Museum).<br />
Thus, <strong>the</strong> workshop <strong>be</strong>gan production<br />
even <strong>be</strong>fore <strong>the</strong> museum was<br />
established, and its products are still<br />
admired for <strong>the</strong>ir accuracy, originality<br />
and artistry. <strong>The</strong>y were created<br />
for educational purposes, to teach<br />
anatomy through directly observing<br />
a cadaver. In fact, <strong>the</strong> collection was<br />
conceived as a three-dimensional<br />
treatise, in that it not only consisted<br />
of wax models but also included of<br />
Via Romana 17<br />
Entrance fee: 4 euro adults,<br />
2 euro for children ages 6–16,<br />
Children under 6 enter free.<br />
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday,<br />
Sunday 9-1; Saturdays 9-5; closed<br />
Wednesdays.<br />
Tel: 055-228-8251<br />
a series of illustrations and related<br />
explanatory sheets. <strong>The</strong> preparation<br />
method <strong>be</strong>gan with dissection of<br />
<strong>the</strong> cadaver. <strong>The</strong> resulting anatomical<br />
pieces were used to create clay<br />
models. <strong>The</strong> plaster moulds obtained<br />
from <strong>the</strong> clay models were <strong>the</strong>n fi lled<br />
with wax.<br />
In almost a century of work, an<br />
enormous num<strong>be</strong>r of models were<br />
produced, mostly depicting human<br />
anatomy but also illustrating comparative<br />
anatomy and botany. Many<br />
of <strong>the</strong>se models were commissioned<br />
by buyers both in Italy and abroad.<br />
More than 1,400 pieces are currently<br />
exhibited in <strong>the</strong> La Specola<br />
Museum, featured in 581 showcases<br />
located in 10 rooms.<br />
Jane’s comments: ‘Specola’ means<br />
‘observatory’. This collection is<br />
famous throughout <strong>the</strong> world for its<br />
incredible accuracy and <strong>the</strong> realism<br />
its details. <strong>Florence</strong> has a long tradition<br />
of artistic wax modeling, introduced<br />
by Ludovico Cigoli (1559–<br />
1613). It was not until <strong>the</strong> second<br />
half of <strong>the</strong> 18th century, however,<br />
that experts opened a school of ceroplastics<br />
(<strong>the</strong> art of modelling anatomical<br />
specimens in wax). Clemente<br />
Susini, for example, crafted models<br />
for medical students <strong>be</strong>tween 1775<br />
and 1814 and remained active until<br />
1893. <strong>The</strong> museum’s most important<br />
pieces are a group of waxes by<br />
Gaetano Zumbo (1656–1701) that<br />
have extraordinary artistic value.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y carry both philosophical and<br />
religious meaning, <strong>be</strong>sides <strong>be</strong>ing<br />
excellent anatomical models. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
life-size pieces, which reproduce all<br />
<strong>the</strong> details of <strong>the</strong> human body, are<br />
sometimes very hard to look at, but<br />
always fascinating.<br />
I’d <strong>like</strong> to express my deepest gratitude<br />
to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florence</strong> Committee of <strong>the</strong> National<br />
Museum of Women in <strong>the</strong> Arts, and in particular<br />
to Jane Fortune and Magnolia Scudieri,<br />
for giving me <strong>the</strong> opportunity to restore<br />
Plautilla Nelli’s Lamentation. Often people<br />
have asked me what I felt as I carried out<br />
this project, and only now, at <strong>the</strong> end, can<br />
I express <strong>the</strong> different sensations that it<br />
inspired in me. Let me <strong>be</strong>gin, however, by<br />
saying that in every project, a conservator<br />
must have two different approaches to <strong>the</strong><br />
work in question. First, you need to look at<br />
it as a whole, exchanging impressions and<br />
evaluations with <strong>the</strong> art historian who follows<br />
<strong>the</strong> project. Later, when you enter into<br />
<strong>the</strong> operative stage, with brushes and scalpels<br />
in hand, you can consider only <strong>the</strong> physical reality of <strong>the</strong> work, without<br />
allowing yourself any emotions about <strong>the</strong> image itself. You need this distance<br />
in order to save <strong>the</strong> smallest paint fl ake, independent of <strong>the</strong> value of <strong>the</strong> painting<br />
or how much you <strong>like</strong> it.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> day, however, I often let myself <strong>be</strong> moved by <strong>the</strong> timid<br />
compassion that emanates from <strong>the</strong> faces of <strong>the</strong> crying women. As a woman,<br />
I let myself <strong>be</strong> carried back in time, to imagine <strong>the</strong> life of Sister Plautilla and<br />
her companions within <strong>the</strong> confi nes of <strong>the</strong> convent. At this point, as I rock<br />
myself in this dreamy spirit, <strong>the</strong> emotions arrive: with pleasure and a touch<br />
of pain I try to identify with Plautilla’s emotions. From this restoration I have<br />
come away enriched as a restorer, and as a person. Thanks to all of you.<br />
Thank you, Plautilla.<br />
FAMILY<br />
RESTAURANT<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
In this section, expect suggestions<br />
regarding restaurants Bob and I particularly<br />
love—for <strong>the</strong>ir good food, and<br />
especially <strong>the</strong> friendship and kindness<br />
each has extended to us over <strong>the</strong> 15<br />
years we have <strong>be</strong>en coming to <strong>Florence</strong>.<br />
Several restaurants will <strong>be</strong> wellknown,<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs may not <strong>be</strong>, but each<br />
has one thing in common—<strong>the</strong>y have<br />
shared <strong>the</strong>ir lives with us and that is a<br />
gift we most treasure.<br />
To paraphrase, <strong>the</strong> cuisine of <strong>Florence</strong><br />
is <strong>like</strong> ‘Brunelleschi’s architectural lines,<br />
which need nothing added, and nothing<br />
subtracted.’<br />
RESTAURANT: I’ che’ c’e c’e<br />
Via Magalotti 11/r<br />
(A side street off Borgo dei Greci<br />
<strong>be</strong>tween Piazza Santa Croce and<br />
Piazza della Signoria)<br />
Closed: Mondays /Tel: 055-216589<br />
ocated in <strong>the</strong> oldest section of Flor-<br />
Lence, this is ano<strong>the</strong>r wonderful family<br />
restaurant. Friendly, casual, it has<br />
individual tables as well as communal<br />
seating at long wooden tables and<br />
<strong>be</strong>nches in <strong>the</strong> center of <strong>the</strong> room. Gino<br />
Noci, owner and chef, serves traditional<br />
Tuscan food with a French fl air. Gino<br />
trained with Giorgio Pinchiorri at Buca<br />
Lapi <strong>be</strong>fore opening his own restaurant,<br />
I’che’c’è c’è, which he runs toge<strong>the</strong>r<br />
with his lovely wife, Mara. He also gives<br />
cooking classes in Fabbrica, a hamlet<br />
outside of <strong>Florence</strong>. He also annually<br />
holds classes in Tuscan cooking at a<br />
private club in Atlanta, Georgia. A complimentary<br />
glass of prosecco and coccoli<br />
(salty, fried bread dough balls) are<br />
offered after you’re seated. Many years<br />
ago, at our fi rst meal here, Gino personally<br />
introduced us to <strong>the</strong> sweet, ice-cold,<br />
after-dinner lemon liqueur, limoncello!<br />
Menu suggestions: Grilled sal mon<br />
(salmone), which is ‘melt in your mouth<br />
delicious’ with or without a rich mushroom<br />
sauce, and carciofi alla Romana<br />
(<strong>the</strong>se artichokes are <strong>be</strong>tter <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong><br />
ones you can get in Rome!)—all musts.<br />
I’ che’c’e c’e has great desserts, but<br />
if you crave ice-cream (gelato), Vivoli (via<br />
isola della Stinche7/r; closed Mondays)<br />
is nearby. This well-known, family-owned<br />
gelateria has <strong>be</strong>en open since 1930.<br />
Gelato ingredients are milk, eggs, sugar<br />
and natural fl avors—and until you tasted<br />
chocolate (cioccolato), you’ve never<br />
tasted anything so delicious! Some think<br />
Bernardo Buontalenti (<strong>the</strong> Italian Mannerist<br />
who created <strong>the</strong> famous grotto in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Boboli Gardens) created gelato for<br />
Francesco de’ Medici in 1565.<br />
Jane Fortune fell in love with <strong>Florence</strong><br />
when she spent her junior year abroad<br />
here ‘molti anni fa’. Returning again and<br />
again over <strong>the</strong> years with her life partner,<br />
Bob Hesse, <strong>the</strong>y now live here part time.<br />
Jane, whose passion is art, serves as a<br />
trustee on several boards of museums in<br />
<strong>the</strong> United States. In <strong>Florence</strong>, she is <strong>the</strong><br />
chairman and founder of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florence</strong><br />
Committee of <strong>the</strong> National Museum of<br />
Women in <strong>the</strong> Arts (NMWA), a mem<strong>be</strong>r<br />
of American International League (AIL),<br />
chairman of <strong>the</strong> board of trustees of Studio<br />
Art Centers International (SACI) and is<br />
currently writing a guide to <strong>the</strong> works by<br />
women artists in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florence</strong> museums.<br />
Contact:<br />
j.fortune@<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Life in Italy<br />
ITALIAN VOICES: A WINDOW ON LANGUAGE AND CUSTOMS IN ITALY<br />
‘Mah...’<br />
by Linda Falcone<br />
I<br />
have never <strong>be</strong>en on a speeddate<br />
in my life, and I’m hoping<br />
to <strong>be</strong> able to say that until<br />
<strong>the</strong> day I die. Repeated introductions,<br />
timers and frantic checklists<br />
make me nervous. I’m just not good<br />
at having to <strong>be</strong> interesting at high<br />
speeds. Besides, when you live in a<br />
country where getting sized up is <strong>the</strong><br />
order of <strong>the</strong> day, <strong>the</strong>re’s no need to<br />
torture oneself voluntarily—at least<br />
in public.<br />
I much prefer to have my ‘speeddate’<br />
sessions in private—and most<br />
of <strong>the</strong>se are purely language related.<br />
Finding a nice free phrase to spend<br />
quality time with is quite a feat,<br />
especially if you’re prone to weeding<br />
words out of your mind with<br />
<strong>the</strong> zeal of a gardener gone manic.<br />
This week, for instance, I’ve had<br />
several impressive close encounters<br />
with numerous Italian expressions.<br />
Alas, none of <strong>the</strong>m made it past our<br />
seven-minute round of ‘getting to<br />
know you’.<br />
Admittedly, I am picky. A single<br />
writer seeking depth cannot just<br />
go falling in love with every wordsuitor<br />
who offers her a plate at <strong>the</strong><br />
picnic. For me, language is a love<br />
relationship, and if my heart isn’t in<br />
it or I can’t get my head around it,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>re’s just no sense leading a<br />
poor word on. Aloneness is <strong>be</strong>tter<br />
than bad company, and survival can<br />
sometimes depend on a very good<br />
goodbye.<br />
When I am truly lonely for a<br />
good word to write about, I call my<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>r. If you want to fi nd some<br />
truth, you’ve got to go to someone<br />
you can’t lie to. Plus, she is a writer<br />
too, who knows <strong>be</strong>tter than to provide<br />
me with mere vocabulary.<br />
‘Okay’, she told me over <strong>the</strong> phone<br />
last night, ‘Tell me what you’ve<br />
learned this week’.<br />
‘Mah, non ho imparato niente, I<br />
haven’t learned anything’.<br />
‘So, write about not learning anything’.<br />
I refused <strong>the</strong> idea at fi rst, of<br />
course. Partly <strong>be</strong>cause I couldn’t<br />
see <strong>the</strong> fun of it, and mostly <strong>be</strong>cause<br />
that’s what you do when you’re on<br />
an all-encompassing refusal rampage.<br />
But <strong>the</strong>n it hit me—<strong>the</strong> word<br />
for that strange sense of inconformity<br />
I’d <strong>be</strong>en carrying around with<br />
me for days. It’s what Italians say,<br />
when <strong>the</strong>y can’t think of anything to<br />
say. It’s mah.<br />
Often heard and frequently<br />
misunderstood, mah is a complex<br />
exclamation with a myriad of meanings.<br />
Useful in times of unveiled<br />
mystery, mah is also known to English-speakers<br />
as ‘who knows’ or ‘I<br />
haven’t got a clue’. It’s quite a bit<br />
stronger than boh, <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r syllable<br />
Italians use to admit ignorance.<br />
Both words show that you have no<br />
idea what <strong>the</strong> fi nal verdict will <strong>be</strong>,<br />
but mah, carries more skepticism.<br />
‘Mah! That case will need a decade<br />
just to knock down <strong>the</strong> courtroom<br />
door. And once it’s in, <strong>the</strong>re’s no<br />
telling what <strong>the</strong> judge’s gavel is<br />
going to hit’.<br />
Sometimes used to introduce<br />
discussion or resume debate, mah<br />
can also <strong>be</strong> a net that captures stray<br />
thoughts. It’s <strong>the</strong> time you take<br />
<strong>be</strong>fore you jump and your chance to<br />
consider how cold <strong>the</strong> water is. Like<br />
<strong>the</strong> English word ‘well’, it gives you<br />
a chance to round up your run-wild<br />
ideas. Mah, however, holds none of<br />
well’s <strong>be</strong>tween-<strong>the</strong>-lines optimism.<br />
Think of it as a disclaimer disguised<br />
as an extra breath. As <strong>the</strong> prelude<br />
to a thought you’ve never <strong>be</strong>fore<br />
formulated, mah is a buffer against<br />
false hopes. It serves to warn <strong>the</strong><br />
world that your speedy new <strong>the</strong>ory<br />
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17<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
‘Sometimes used to introduce discussion or resume debate, mah is <strong>the</strong><br />
net that captures stray thoughts. It’s <strong>the</strong> time you take <strong>be</strong>fore you jump<br />
and your chance to consider how cold <strong>the</strong> water is.’<br />
might not make it through <strong>the</strong> test<br />
drive. ‘Mah! I don’t know if this<br />
will work, but I’m willing to give it<br />
a shot’.<br />
A breath-based extension of ma,<br />
<strong>the</strong> Italian word for ‘but’, mah carries<br />
many of <strong>the</strong> same undertones. To<br />
<strong>the</strong> English speaker ‘but’ can <strong>be</strong> one<br />
scary bugger. With a tip of its hat, it<br />
topples <strong>the</strong> tower you carefully built<br />
in <strong>the</strong> fi rst clause. ‘I appreciate your<br />
efforts, but <strong>the</strong> answer is no.’ Mah<br />
is ‘but’ without <strong>the</strong> padding, and it<br />
can stand alone if accompanied by<br />
an exclamation point. <strong>The</strong> seed of<br />
doubt and <strong>the</strong> champion of inconformity,<br />
mah means ‘I disagree’. <strong>The</strong><br />
reasons why are considered obvious<br />
and often left unexplained.<br />
With mah, looters <strong>like</strong> uncertainty,<br />
skepticism, ignorance and<br />
doubt <strong>be</strong>come <strong>the</strong> crowded inmates<br />
of a cell that’s only three letters<br />
wide. In this sense, you’ve got to<br />
hand it to Italians. <strong>The</strong>y have a<br />
knack for creating words with<br />
ant-<strong>like</strong> strength that can carry 10<br />
times <strong>the</strong>ir body weight. Constantly<br />
pressed for space, Italians have<br />
learned how to pack a whole lot of<br />
meaning into a single unassuming<br />
syllable. So, while mah may not <strong>be</strong><br />
a word for <strong>the</strong> highly dignifi ed, it is<br />
both a crutch and a walking stick<br />
that can certainly prove useful for<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>like</strong>s of you and me.<br />
One day, perhaps, we shall <strong>be</strong><br />
wiser. In <strong>the</strong> meantime, it can’t hurt<br />
to have a word for all <strong>the</strong> things<br />
that are hard to get your heart in<br />
or your head around. Carry mah<br />
with you at all times. We can never<br />
know when <strong>the</strong> hemming, hawing,<br />
stalling side of ourselves will turn<br />
up and demand dinner. We’ll never<br />
know when our wild inner child<br />
will want to break out and make<br />
non-conformist angels in <strong>the</strong> snow.<br />
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18<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Culture & CUSTOMS<br />
To whom we owe it all<br />
<strong>The</strong> legacy of Lady de’ Medici<br />
Carla Bardi (Ed.)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Little Big Cook Book<br />
by Mary Ann Pinto<br />
Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici<br />
(1667–1743) ought to <strong>be</strong> one<br />
of <strong>the</strong> most famous and popular<br />
<strong>Florentine</strong>s of all times, for it<br />
was she who turned <strong>Florence</strong> into<br />
a cultural mecca. With a stroke of<br />
her pen, she <strong>be</strong>quea<strong>the</strong>d <strong>the</strong> Medici’s<br />
jewels, pictures, sculptures,<br />
manuscripts and buildings to <strong>the</strong><br />
city of <strong>Florence</strong>. Yet she has <strong>be</strong>en<br />
overlooked and neglected for more<br />
than three centuries.<br />
Anna Maria’s fa<strong>the</strong>r, Grand<br />
Duke Cosimo III, was a weak<br />
and indolent ruler. Educated by a<br />
fanatic <strong>the</strong>ologian, Cosimo <strong>be</strong>came<br />
a gloomy, religious fanatic. He<br />
married <strong>the</strong> frivolous Margherita<br />
Luisa d’Orleans, who hated both<br />
her husband and Tuscany. From<br />
this unhappy union, three children<br />
were born: Ferdinando in 1663,<br />
Anna Maria Luisa in 1667 and<br />
Giangastone in 1671. Margherita<br />
<strong>The</strong> English Bookstore in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
pp. 976, €15 €12<br />
10% off<br />
with this<br />
coupon*<br />
ANIMALS<br />
<strong>The</strong> Little Big Book of<br />
Various Authors<br />
<strong>The</strong> Little Big Book of Animals<br />
Mon thru Sun: 9am–7.30pm<br />
via de’ Neri, 32 r - <strong>Florence</strong><br />
(near <strong>the</strong> Uffizi Gallery)<br />
tel. +39 055 238 24 56<br />
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had tried to induce a miscarriage<br />
when pregnant with Anna Maria,<br />
by riding horseback at breakneck<br />
speed. She returned to France in<br />
1675.<br />
As a child, Anna Maria spent<br />
much time with her uncle, Cardinal<br />
Leopold de’ Medici, who taught<br />
her to love literature, art and music.<br />
By <strong>the</strong> age of 16 she had developed<br />
into a witty, attractive girl who<br />
drew and painted, loved music and<br />
had mastered Latin and most of<br />
<strong>the</strong> modern European languages.<br />
She was her fa<strong>the</strong>r’s favorite child,<br />
and he wanted to arrange a great<br />
marriage for her. But her parents’<br />
reputations had spread through <strong>the</strong><br />
courts of Europe, and <strong>be</strong>cause of<br />
this she was refused by <strong>the</strong> princes<br />
of Spain and Portugal, and by Louis<br />
XIV for <strong>the</strong> Dauphin of France. On<br />
June 5, 1691 she married <strong>the</strong> widower<br />
Johann Wilhelm II, Elector<br />
Palatine, and went to live in Duesseldorf.<br />
Anna Maria was a devoted<br />
wife and mourned her husband<br />
when he died in 1716. A year later,<br />
she returned to <strong>Florence</strong>, bringing<br />
back many paintings that she had<br />
acquired in Germany. She was welcomed<br />
joyously by Cosimo, who<br />
had not seen her for 27 years.<br />
Since none of his children had<br />
produced an heir, Cosimo tried to<br />
resolve <strong>the</strong> problem of succession<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Tuscan domain <strong>be</strong>fore his<br />
death in 1723, but without success.<br />
In 1731, <strong>the</strong> matter seemed to <strong>be</strong> settled<br />
to <strong>the</strong> satisfaction of <strong>the</strong> major<br />
powers of Europe. Even Giangastone<br />
was pleased with <strong>the</strong> choice of<br />
Don Carlos, <strong>the</strong> second son of Eliza<strong>be</strong>th<br />
Farnese and King Phillip V of<br />
Spain. <strong>The</strong> situation <strong>the</strong>n changed,<br />
and Don Carlos received <strong>the</strong> kingdom<br />
of Naples and Two Sicilies to<br />
rule instead. <strong>The</strong> state of Lorraine<br />
went to France, and <strong>the</strong> Duke of<br />
Lorraine, to compensate him for<br />
his loss, was given Tuscany.<br />
Giangastone’s conduct, which<br />
had always <strong>be</strong>en deplorable, continued<br />
to degenerate rapidly. He<br />
Life in Italy<br />
Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici<br />
reinforced himself for his rare public<br />
appearances by drinking heavily<br />
and <strong>the</strong>n often <strong>be</strong>haved in a<br />
slovenly manner. Anna Maria persuaded<br />
him to repent shortly <strong>be</strong>fore<br />
he died in July 1737. He confessed,<br />
was given communion and granted<br />
absolution by <strong>the</strong> pope.<br />
Three months later, Anna Maria<br />
and <strong>the</strong> Duke of Lorraine signed a<br />
pact by which <strong>the</strong> paintings, sculptures,<br />
manuscripts, jewels and<br />
all o<strong>the</strong>r precious possessions of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Medici were to <strong>be</strong> conserved<br />
as possessions of <strong>the</strong> State, never<br />
to <strong>be</strong> taken from Tuscany. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
were to <strong>be</strong> used for public enjoyment<br />
and to attract foreigner visitors.<br />
Most of <strong>the</strong> works of art in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Uffi zi, almost everything in <strong>the</strong><br />
Pitti Palace, much of what is in <strong>the</strong><br />
Bargello, <strong>the</strong> Laurentian Library<br />
and <strong>the</strong> Medici Chapels in <strong>the</strong><br />
church of San Lorenzo (including<br />
Michelangelo’s statues) are only<br />
part of Anna Maria’s legacy.<br />
For centuries most <strong>Florentine</strong>s,<br />
historians and tourists have overlooked<br />
<strong>the</strong> lady who is responsible<br />
for this city’s incredible artistic<br />
patrimony. <strong>The</strong> only reminders of<br />
her existence were a few meters of<br />
street leading to <strong>the</strong> Uffi zi along<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong> and a portrait on <strong>the</strong><br />
ground fl oor of <strong>the</strong> Uffi zi. <strong>The</strong>n,<br />
in 1945, <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n mayor of <strong>Florence</strong><br />
Gaetano Pieraccini, a great<br />
admirer of Anna Maria, launched<br />
a contest for a statue of her. Raffaello<br />
Salim<strong>be</strong>ni won, but he did not<br />
complete <strong>the</strong> statue until 1971. It<br />
was temporarily placed at <strong>the</strong> foot<br />
of a back staircase in <strong>the</strong> Pitti Palace,<br />
awaiting a decision about its<br />
permanent location. Finally <strong>the</strong><br />
statue was placed at <strong>the</strong> base of <strong>the</strong><br />
campanile of San Lorenzo (which<br />
Anna Maria had commissioned)<br />
and unveiled on February 18, 1995,<br />
<strong>the</strong> 252nd anniversary of her death.<br />
While this sounds <strong>like</strong> a suitable<br />
position, <strong>the</strong> truth of <strong>the</strong> matter is<br />
that <strong>the</strong> market stalls in <strong>the</strong> street<br />
literally hide <strong>the</strong> statue. Nor do <strong>the</strong><br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
bicycles chained to <strong>the</strong> fence surrounding<br />
it or <strong>the</strong> trash-bags littering<br />
<strong>the</strong> ground add to <strong>the</strong> attraction<br />
of <strong>the</strong> site. Despite protests from<br />
<strong>the</strong> sculptor’s widow and a petition<br />
of 1,000 signatures ga<strong>the</strong>red by <strong>the</strong><br />
Association of Tourist Guides, <strong>the</strong><br />
statue has not <strong>be</strong>en moved.<br />
An exhibition dedicated to Anna<br />
Maria runs from until April 15,<br />
2007 in <strong>the</strong> Palatine Gallery of <strong>the</strong><br />
Pitti Palace, where she lived, and in<br />
<strong>the</strong> Villa Quiete, where she stayed<br />
during <strong>the</strong> hottest months of summer.<br />
Hopefully, after this exhibition<br />
Anna Maria will have won <strong>the</strong> recognition<br />
she deserves.<br />
After spending fi ve vacations as a<br />
guest at <strong>the</strong> Pensione Pitti Palace,<br />
Mary Ann Pinto moved to <strong>Florence</strong><br />
in l971 and married <strong>the</strong> manager.<br />
She helped him run <strong>the</strong> hotel until<br />
<strong>the</strong>y retired in Octo<strong>be</strong>r 1991.<br />
Her recollections of those years is<br />
recorded in Diary of an Italian Innkeeper’s<br />
Wife, which she is preparing<br />
for publication.<br />
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www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Life in Italy<br />
<strong>The</strong> night <strong>the</strong> bridges came falling down<br />
When World War II ravaged <strong>Florence</strong><br />
by Deirdre Pirro<br />
Rumours were rife all over <strong>the</strong><br />
city. Many said <strong>the</strong> Anglo-<br />
American troops had already<br />
reached <strong>the</strong> outskirts of <strong>the</strong> city.<br />
However, one thing was certain. On<br />
<strong>the</strong> afternoon of August 3, 1944, <strong>the</strong><br />
German High Command in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
had <strong>the</strong> following ordinance<br />
displayed on <strong>the</strong> street corners:<br />
Beginning from this moment, it is<br />
prohibited for anyone to leave <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
homes and walk in <strong>the</strong> streets or<br />
piazzas of <strong>the</strong> City of <strong>Florence</strong>. All<br />
<strong>the</strong> windows, even those in cellars,<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> entrance and hallways<br />
of houses, shall remain closed<br />
day and night. <strong>The</strong> population is<br />
advised to stay in <strong>the</strong>ir cellars, and<br />
where <strong>the</strong>y do not have one, to go to<br />
a church or o<strong>the</strong>r big building. <strong>The</strong><br />
patrols of <strong>the</strong> German armed forces<br />
have <strong>be</strong>en ordered to shoot at anyone<br />
who is found on <strong>the</strong> street or<br />
who appears at <strong>the</strong> windows.<br />
By dusk, <strong>the</strong> city was completely<br />
deserted. That night fi ve of<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>n six bridges crossing <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Arno</strong>—Ponte Santa Trinità, Ponte<br />
delle Grazie, Ponte della Vittoria,<br />
Ponte della Carraia and <strong>the</strong> Ponte<br />
di Ferro—were all blown up, effectively<br />
cutting <strong>the</strong> city in two.<br />
Only Ponte Vecchio was spared.<br />
Some say it was considered too<br />
fragile to support <strong>the</strong> weight of<br />
Allied tanks; o<strong>the</strong>rs <strong>be</strong>lieved it was<br />
<strong>be</strong>cause Adolf Hitler had admired<br />
it so much on his visit to <strong>Florence</strong><br />
in 1938. None<strong>the</strong>less, to block <strong>the</strong><br />
passage giving access to and from<br />
Ponte Vecchio, <strong>the</strong> two neighbourhoods<br />
leading up to it, on both sides<br />
of <strong>the</strong> river, including Por Santa<br />
Maria, via dei Bardi, Borgo San<br />
Jacopo, and via Guicciardini were<br />
also mined and blown up.<br />
An old friend of mine, Pietro B.<br />
vividly remem<strong>be</strong>rs his mo<strong>the</strong>r telling<br />
him that <strong>the</strong> Germans had given<br />
residents in <strong>the</strong>se areas four hours<br />
to leave <strong>the</strong>ir homes. At <strong>the</strong> time,<br />
his family lived in an apartment in<br />
one of <strong>the</strong> famous antique towers<br />
in Borgo San Jacopo. Believing this<br />
measure to <strong>be</strong> merely a temporary<br />
one, his fa<strong>the</strong>r created a makeshift<br />
safe which he cemented into<br />
<strong>the</strong> wall to hide what was left of<br />
<strong>the</strong> family jewels until <strong>the</strong>y could<br />
return. Little did <strong>the</strong>y know that<br />
all that <strong>would</strong> <strong>be</strong> left <strong>the</strong> following<br />
morning was rubble.<br />
In fact, <strong>the</strong> explosion of <strong>the</strong> mines<br />
<strong>be</strong>gan at eight o’clock at night on<br />
August 3 and lasted right through<br />
<strong>the</strong> night, <strong>the</strong> worst blast <strong>be</strong>ing<br />
heard at four in <strong>the</strong> morning. <strong>The</strong><br />
next day, <strong>the</strong> Allied troops reached<br />
Porta Romana, and <strong>the</strong> battle to<br />
li<strong>be</strong>rate <strong>Florence</strong> <strong>be</strong>gan and lasted<br />
until <strong>the</strong> end of <strong>the</strong> month when <strong>the</strong><br />
city was fi nally freed.<br />
In his book and photographic<br />
record entitled 50 War-Damaged<br />
Monuments of Italy (published in<br />
1946), Emilio Lavagnini looks at<br />
<strong>the</strong>se events that ravaged Italy’s<br />
artistic heritage. He maintains that<br />
Ponte Santa Trinità was probably<br />
‘<strong>the</strong> most important piece of architecture,<br />
from <strong>the</strong> point of view of<br />
art, that was destroyed by <strong>the</strong> war<br />
in Italy’.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fi rst Ponte Santa Trinità had<br />
<strong>be</strong>en constructed in 1252. <strong>The</strong> original<br />
structure was replaced <strong>be</strong>tween<br />
1566 and 1569 by <strong>the</strong> bridge built<br />
by Bartolomeo Ammanati, based<br />
on a design by Michaelangelo, and<br />
adorned, at its two ends, by marble<br />
statues representing <strong>the</strong> four seasons.<br />
After <strong>the</strong> war, it was rebuilt,<br />
according to Lavagnini, by using<br />
every element of <strong>the</strong> original bridge<br />
that could <strong>be</strong> ‘fi shed out of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong>’.<br />
This was done by damming <strong>the</strong> river.<br />
Several pieces were immediately<br />
recuperated while o<strong>the</strong>rs remained<br />
in <strong>the</strong> river’s depths for years. <strong>The</strong><br />
statue of <strong>the</strong> Primavera for example,<br />
remained headless until 1961, when<br />
<strong>the</strong> head was fi nally found and<br />
restored to its rightful owner.<br />
<strong>The</strong> reconstruction project was<br />
entrusted to fl amboyant architect<br />
Riccardo Gizdulich. He researched<br />
photographs and <strong>the</strong> original drawings<br />
left by Ammannati. Studying<br />
<strong>the</strong> fragments dragged up from <strong>the</strong><br />
bottom of <strong>the</strong> river, Gizdulich concluded<br />
that <strong>the</strong> original masons<br />
must have used special chiselling<br />
and cutting implements when building<br />
<strong>the</strong> bridge. He designed similar<br />
tools and had <strong>the</strong>m made. A group<br />
of artisans <strong>the</strong>n painstakingly fi tted<br />
toge<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> old pieces of <strong>the</strong> bridge<br />
with new stone taken from <strong>the</strong> same<br />
19<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Culture & CUSTOMS<br />
quarry in <strong>the</strong> Boboli Gardens that<br />
Ammannati had used. <strong>The</strong> new<br />
bridge took three years to complete<br />
and was inaugurated in 1958.<br />
<strong>The</strong> work was paid for by a citizens’<br />
committee headed by <strong>the</strong> art<br />
historian Bernard Berenson, which<br />
raised $100,000 abroad, by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florentine</strong>s<br />
who contributed $30,000<br />
and by <strong>the</strong> Italian government,<br />
which added a fi nal $350,000.<br />
So <strong>the</strong> next time you cross Ponte<br />
Santa Trinità or wander along Por<br />
Santa Maria, via dei Bardi, Borgo<br />
San Jacopo, or via Guicciardini,<br />
look up at <strong>the</strong> mishmash of architectural<br />
styles in <strong>the</strong> buildings <strong>the</strong>re<br />
and spare a thought for <strong>the</strong> night<br />
<strong>the</strong>y blew up <strong>the</strong> bridges.<br />
Deirdre Pirro is an international<br />
lawyer who lives and works in<br />
<strong>Florence</strong>. Apart from <strong>the</strong> law, her<br />
interests include modern Italian<br />
history and <strong>the</strong> history of gastronomy.<br />
She can <strong>be</strong> contacted at:<br />
ddpirro@gmail.com
20<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Travel & LEISURE<br />
Life in Italy<br />
Seeing in <strong>the</strong> rain<br />
Bagni di Lucca and Barga played ‘Misty for Me’<br />
by Samuel Jay Keyser<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>be</strong>st thing about Bagni di Lucca, nor<strong>the</strong>ast<br />
of Lucca, is not what it is but what it<br />
recalls. Stare into <strong>the</strong> vapors rising from<br />
<strong>the</strong> 120-degree hot springs and you’ll see images<br />
of ano<strong>the</strong>r epoch: Byron and Shelley taking <strong>the</strong><br />
waters and writing home to urge Tennyson to do<br />
<strong>like</strong>wise, German poet Heinrich Heine and Irish<br />
novelist Charles Lever feeding <strong>the</strong>ir muses and<br />
perhaps <strong>the</strong>ir metabolisms. This spa town above<br />
<strong>the</strong> rushing river Serchio is worth a walk around.<br />
Once you cross its Ponte a Serraglio, you’ll <strong>be</strong> on<br />
<strong>the</strong> road up to ano<strong>the</strong>r, slower, mistier, mossier<br />
world of sulfur fumes and sleepy hollows. It was<br />
Novem<strong>be</strong>r when my friends and I were <strong>the</strong>re.<br />
One of <strong>the</strong> springs was closed for <strong>the</strong> season.<br />
Hardly anyone was around. We had <strong>the</strong> road to<br />
Bagni Caldi and <strong>the</strong> adjacent Stabilimento Jean<br />
Varraud all to ourselves—ourselves and a black<br />
cat that stalked us long enough to <strong>be</strong> bored by<br />
our company and seek excitement elsewhere in<br />
a bit of string.<br />
Near <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> hill is <strong>the</strong> early-20th-century<br />
Stabilimento Jean Varraud, a labyrinth of<br />
steam baths, massage rooms, exfoliation cham<strong>be</strong>rs<br />
and swimming pools. We crept in fully<br />
clo<strong>the</strong>d and unannounced and somehow managed<br />
to explore <strong>the</strong> establishment thoroughly,<br />
ignored by chunky men in terrycloth ro<strong>be</strong>s and<br />
fl ip-fl ops who passed by <strong>like</strong> wraiths <strong>be</strong>fore <strong>the</strong>y<br />
disappeared <strong>be</strong>hind unmarked doors, leaving in<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir wake a puff of sulfur. We felt <strong>like</strong> Dante<br />
exploring Purgatory.<br />
More evocative even than <strong>the</strong> Stabilimento’s<br />
springs or its long history of ‘taking <strong>the</strong> waters’<br />
is its casino, now a preserved room fi lled with<br />
gaming tables, where clients came to relieve <strong>the</strong><br />
tedium of sitting in <strong>the</strong> grotta a vapore and afterwards<br />
lying face-down in a white sheet and an<br />
uncomfortable blanket, breathing in. One table,<br />
covered with images of cards, is monogrammed<br />
with <strong>the</strong> name Carib<strong>be</strong>an Spud—which sounds<br />
more <strong>like</strong> a potato than a card game. <strong>The</strong> walls<br />
of <strong>the</strong> casino have <strong>be</strong>en scraped to reveal layers<br />
of yesterdays. It is a ghostly room, well suited to<br />
<strong>the</strong> bath-ro<strong>be</strong>d spirits that fl it from bath to <strong>be</strong>d<br />
without so much as a buongiorno.<br />
EXHIBIT<br />
Vincenzo Marino<br />
January 1 st - February 28 th 2007<br />
restaurant - pizzeria<br />
CONTE UGOLINO<br />
via senese, 17 d-e-f<br />
Firenze ph. 055 22 21 27<br />
Barga Ca<strong>the</strong>dral from afar<br />
Fifteen kilometers away is <strong>the</strong> town <strong>the</strong><br />
guidebooks say is <strong>the</strong> prettiest in <strong>the</strong> Garfagnana.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y’ll get no argument from me. Barga<br />
is a movie set of steep, dark streets lined with<br />
houses whose earth-colored walls, in quiet<br />
pinks, gentle browns and compliant grays, suggest<br />
<strong>the</strong>y haven’t <strong>be</strong>en constructed so much as<br />
grown from <strong>the</strong> hillside. I say all this having<br />
seen Barga in a pouring rain.<br />
If ever a town had its head in <strong>the</strong> clouds, it’s<br />
Barga. <strong>The</strong> day was gray when we arrived, grayer<br />
when we stopped for lunch in a fi ne little restaurant<br />
just inside <strong>the</strong> city walls and, after linguine<br />
al tartufo and a defensible local wine, pouring<br />
with rain. <strong>The</strong> 12th-century Duomo, perched at<br />
<strong>the</strong> very top of <strong>the</strong> town, is <strong>the</strong> jewel in Barga’s<br />
crown. We marched Duomo-ward, never minding<br />
that <strong>the</strong> rain came harder with each step,<br />
and wave after wave of water washed down <strong>the</strong><br />
tilted streets under our feet. <strong>The</strong> piazza in front<br />
of <strong>the</strong> Duomo could have afforded a stunning<br />
view of <strong>the</strong> Garfagnana landscape. But as we<br />
looked into a gray mist in tutti direzione, it was<br />
as if <strong>the</strong> Duomo were fl oating in a cloudy sea.<br />
‘Barga is a movie set of steep,<br />
dark streets lined with houses<br />
whose earth-colored walls,<br />
in quiet pinks, gentle browns<br />
and compliant grays, suggest<br />
<strong>the</strong>y haven’t <strong>be</strong>en constructed<br />
so much as grown<br />
from <strong>the</strong> hillside.’<br />
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Inside, a few euro in a coin box illuminated<br />
a 15-foot-high marble pulpit sitting on columns<br />
supported by a pair of patient lions. Above<br />
<strong>the</strong> altar was an imposing 12th-century, multicolored<br />
wood carving of St. Christopher, with<br />
<strong>the</strong> Christ child portrayed as a miniature king,<br />
crown and all, sitting up properly on his shoulder.<br />
In <strong>the</strong> chapel to <strong>the</strong> right is a pair of Della<br />
Robbias worth <strong>the</strong> walk in <strong>the</strong> rain. In <strong>the</strong> chapel<br />
to <strong>the</strong> left are two ordinary paintings, one to<br />
<strong>the</strong> Glory of <strong>the</strong> Madonna by <strong>the</strong> school of Simone<br />
Pignoni and one a grisly <strong>be</strong>heading scene<br />
of St. John <strong>the</strong> Baptist by Baccio Ciarpi—and<br />
<strong>the</strong> walk-away <strong>be</strong>st in show, a crucifi xion by an<br />
unknown maestro of Barga hung inconspicuously<br />
on <strong>the</strong> chapel wall. (But <strong>the</strong>n I’ve always<br />
<strong>be</strong>en a pushover for unknown masters.)<br />
<strong>The</strong> walk back down <strong>the</strong> paved hillside was<br />
slick. We stepped carefully to avoid losing our<br />
footing. Every now and <strong>the</strong>n we <strong>would</strong> stop and<br />
stare upward at a corner of <strong>the</strong> town where <strong>the</strong><br />
roofs cut into <strong>the</strong> sky to make a collage of tile<br />
and gutter spouts. When a town <strong>be</strong>gins to paint<br />
its own pictures, you know you’re in a special<br />
place. See Barga whatever <strong>the</strong> wea<strong>the</strong>r, but<br />
make a special effort to see it in <strong>the</strong> rain.<br />
Bagni di Lucca
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Life in Italy<br />
Making connections through <strong>the</strong>ater<br />
Day of memory takes center stage at FITC event<br />
by P.M. Louis<br />
is a powerful and<br />
unique art form <strong>be</strong>cause<br />
‘<strong>The</strong>atre<br />
its essential nature is based<br />
on ga<strong>the</strong>ring people toge<strong>the</strong>r to tell<br />
stories, hear <strong>the</strong>m, see <strong>the</strong>m and<br />
feel <strong>the</strong>m. <strong>The</strong> stories we feel most<br />
deeply are <strong>the</strong> ones that explore our<br />
collective history. <strong>The</strong>y question<br />
and expose <strong>the</strong> human condition<br />
and often celebrate <strong>the</strong> connecting<br />
points <strong>be</strong>tween us’, says <strong>the</strong> <strong>Florence</strong><br />
International <strong>The</strong>atre Company’s<br />
co-artistic director Bari Hochwald,<br />
in reference to FITC’s newest<br />
project. A unique mix of drama<br />
and history, <strong>the</strong> project foresees<br />
an annual program that recognizes<br />
<strong>the</strong>atre as a vital way to keep <strong>the</strong><br />
conversation of Holocaust events<br />
alive for all mem<strong>be</strong>rs of <strong>the</strong> community<br />
and spark <strong>the</strong>ir participation in<br />
Il Giorno della Memoria.<br />
FITC <strong>be</strong>gins this journey in association<br />
with <strong>the</strong> Jewish community<br />
of <strong>Florence</strong> and will <strong>be</strong> creating an<br />
entire afternoon dedicated to creativity,<br />
education and community<br />
on February 11th. ‘We cannot forget<br />
<strong>the</strong> Holocaust <strong>be</strong>cause it was both<br />
<strong>be</strong>yond imagination and within<br />
<strong>the</strong> depth of human capacity’, says<br />
Hochwald. ‘That is why my coartistic<br />
director, Aaron Craig, and I<br />
are committed to fi nding a way to<br />
develop this project. We are looking<br />
forward to Dominique Cieri’s assistance<br />
in creating <strong>the</strong> event in <strong>the</strong><br />
most comprehensive way possible’.<br />
Dominique Cieri, New Jersey<br />
Playwright Fellow and educational<br />
consultant for FITC, has <strong>be</strong>en a key<br />
player in making <strong>the</strong> company’s<br />
goals a reality. Co-author of <strong>the</strong><br />
book From <strong>the</strong> Attic, to <strong>the</strong> Classroom<br />
to <strong>the</strong> Stage—<strong>The</strong> Holocaust,<br />
Cieri has spent <strong>the</strong> last 10 years<br />
using her love of <strong>the</strong>atre and her<br />
passion for telling deep human<br />
Synagogue of <strong>Florence</strong><br />
truths to enhance <strong>the</strong> program of<br />
Holocaust Studies at Yavneh Academy<br />
in New Jersey. Each year she<br />
works with 13-year-old students<br />
to adapt a non-fi ction work into<br />
drama and present <strong>the</strong> play to <strong>the</strong><br />
community. And each year, Cieri<br />
<strong>be</strong>gins <strong>the</strong> journey of reacquainting<br />
herself with <strong>the</strong> horrors of<br />
<strong>the</strong> Shoah, <strong>the</strong> power of faith and<br />
human <strong>be</strong>ings’ capacity to <strong>be</strong>come<br />
villains, survivors or heroes in <strong>the</strong><br />
face of unimaginable odds.<br />
‘<strong>The</strong>re are many ways to learn’,<br />
Cieri says. ‘I <strong>be</strong>lieve that Yavneh’s<br />
Holocaust Studies program is one<br />
of <strong>the</strong> <strong>be</strong>st available <strong>be</strong>cause it goes<br />
<strong>be</strong>yond academia, enhancing learning<br />
through <strong>the</strong> arts. <strong>The</strong> Holocaust<br />
play is a vital aspect of <strong>the</strong> syn<strong>the</strong>sis<br />
of knowledge and a kinetic<br />
experience which translates into a<br />
performance by very real people.<br />
Each year, my eighth grade class<br />
steps into <strong>the</strong> shoes of men and<br />
women <strong>like</strong> Krystyna Chiger, who<br />
as a child went into <strong>the</strong> sewers of<br />
L’vov with her family, where <strong>the</strong>y<br />
sought refuge for 14 months. This is<br />
<strong>the</strong> unique and meaningful process<br />
of history coming to life through<br />
drama’.<br />
At 3pm on February 11, audiences<br />
can witness <strong>the</strong> experience<br />
of Krystyna Chiger in Sewers of<br />
L’vov. <strong>The</strong> play was written by <strong>the</strong><br />
students at Yavneh, under <strong>the</strong> guidance<br />
of Cieri and will <strong>be</strong> performed<br />
by community mem<strong>be</strong>rs and FITC<br />
artists here in <strong>Florence</strong>. Involving<br />
over 40 people, 10–70 years of<br />
age, expatriate and Italian, as well<br />
as international students, <strong>the</strong> play<br />
will <strong>be</strong> performed in both English<br />
and Italian. <strong>The</strong> drama with <strong>be</strong> followed<br />
by a reception, and <strong>the</strong> event<br />
will conclude with a panel of leading<br />
educators discussing <strong>the</strong> impor-<br />
tance of studying <strong>the</strong> Holocaust<br />
today. In this way, <strong>the</strong> artistic directors<br />
of FITC hope that this event<br />
will <strong>be</strong> a launching pad for creating<br />
original plays throughout <strong>the</strong> years,<br />
utilizing Cieri’s model, with <strong>the</strong><br />
children of <strong>Florence</strong> in order to tell<br />
<strong>the</strong> stories that unfolded in Tuscany<br />
during that historical period.<br />
‘This use of <strong>the</strong>atre as a tool for<br />
education helps it <strong>be</strong>come a shared<br />
community event which examines<br />
<strong>the</strong> very human intricacies of choice<br />
and action that occurred during<br />
<strong>the</strong> Holocaust. It is an opportunity<br />
for everyone—performers and<br />
audience mem<strong>be</strong>rs a<strong>like</strong>—to confront<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir own feelings, opinions<br />
and <strong>be</strong>liefs about this particular<br />
human tragedy not only as a history<br />
but also as a continual cycle<br />
that occurs and reoccurs each day<br />
on this planet’.<br />
21<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
<strong>The</strong> ARTS<br />
Sala Sadun,<br />
Synagogue of <strong>Florence</strong><br />
via L.C. Farini, 4<br />
3pm – staged reading;<br />
5pm – reception;<br />
5:30pm – panel discussion<br />
Entry is free, but seating is ex -<br />
tremely limited and reservations<br />
are strongly recommended. For<br />
reservations and fur<strong>the</strong>r information:<br />
info@fl orence<strong>the</strong>atre.com or<br />
055 239 9949.
22<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
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News & Views<br />
Stark contrasts<br />
Photo exhibit captures trials of Great Depression<br />
by Richard Keenan<br />
<strong>The</strong> current exhibit of <strong>the</strong> photographs by Walker Evans at <strong>the</strong> Museo<br />
Nazionale Alinari della Fotografi a offers a view of cultural history<br />
largely forgotten by <strong>the</strong> current generation, for whom <strong>the</strong> United<br />
States has always <strong>be</strong>en a formidable world power. <strong>The</strong> Great Depression<br />
of <strong>the</strong> 1930s, which lasted <strong>the</strong> <strong>be</strong>tter part of a decade and ended only with<br />
America’s entry into World War II, saw much of America’s rural population<br />
struggling to subsist without adequate food, housing or jobs. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
photographs fi rst came to public attention in Let Us Now Praise Famous<br />
Men, <strong>the</strong> book Evans created thanks to a collaborative effort with James<br />
Agee. Agee’s text juxtaposed with Evan’s stark, black and white photographs<br />
offers eloquent testimony to those troubled times.<br />
Most of <strong>the</strong> photographs in <strong>the</strong> current exhibit were taken <strong>be</strong>tween<br />
1935 and 1937, when Evans and Agee were traveling through <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn<br />
United States, subsidized by <strong>the</strong> Farm Security Administration, one of<br />
<strong>the</strong> many government agencies created by President Franklin Roosevelt to<br />
address <strong>the</strong> problems facing <strong>the</strong> American economy. One noteworthy work<br />
is Penny Picture Display (1936), a collage of photographs taken by <strong>the</strong><br />
machines commonly found at carnivals and amusement arcades. <strong>The</strong>re are<br />
some fi fty photographs in <strong>the</strong> collage of men, women and children. Well-fed,<br />
<strong>Florence</strong>’s BUSINESS CARDS<br />
cgale@fastwebnet.it<br />
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www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
<strong>The</strong> ARTS<br />
smiling, unafraid of<br />
<strong>the</strong> future, <strong>the</strong>se<br />
happy faces are in<br />
stark contrast with<br />
<strong>the</strong> faces of tenant<br />
farmers and<br />
sharecroppers, who are clearly malnourished, poorly clo<strong>the</strong>d and certainly<br />
unsmiling. Sharecropper Family (1936), taken in Hale Country, Alabama,<br />
depicts a family of four—a man, two women and a child. Clearly worn down<br />
by <strong>the</strong> circumstances of barely subsistent living, <strong>the</strong>y remain stoic and resolute<br />
none<strong>the</strong>less.<br />
Perhaps <strong>the</strong> most poignant photograph in <strong>the</strong> exhibit is Child’s Grave<br />
(1936), depicting a simple mound of sandy soil with a set of construction<br />
stones at ei<strong>the</strong>r end and a small dinner plate placed in <strong>the</strong> center. This<br />
nameless child, o<strong>the</strong>rwise forgotten by history, is effectively captured by<br />
Evan’s photographic sensitivity and perception. <strong>The</strong> exhibit, rounded out by<br />
various scenes from o<strong>the</strong>r parts of Depression-era America, includes several<br />
noteworthy photographs of <strong>the</strong> Brooklyn Bridge published in 1994.
www.<strong>the</strong>fl orentine.net<br />
Housing For Sale<br />
Immobili vendita<br />
Special apartment with roof terrace.<br />
Overlooking <strong>the</strong> <strong>Arno</strong> and in<br />
prestige location of <strong>Florence</strong>. 62sqm<br />
plus terrace, mezzanine with double<br />
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with large wardro<strong>be</strong> and bathroom,<br />
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opportunity. Ref: Palestro. Call Judieanne<br />
Colusso 335.839.0712 -<br />
info@coloursoftuscany.com<br />
Loft For Sale in Prato. 2 lofts near<br />
historic centre, each 137 sqm, ideal<br />
for home offi ce. We can show layout<br />
and location. For information, e-mail<br />
marco@agilelogica.it<br />
House Hunting<br />
cerco casa<br />
American professor and family is<br />
seeking a 2 or 3 <strong>be</strong>droom furnished<br />
apartment in <strong>the</strong> Oltranrno from April<br />
1 through mid-June. Must have ADSL<br />
internet. Call Ken at 055/282176 or<br />
email newfi eld@hawaii.rr.com<br />
Housing for Rent<br />
Immobili in affi tto<br />
Room for rent in city centre. Sharing<br />
with male. Apartment with terrace.<br />
450 euro per month. Available mid<br />
February. 3403710786<br />
Charming one <strong>be</strong>droom apartment.<br />
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Call Judieanne 335.839.0712 -<br />
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Quality one <strong>be</strong>droom apartment<br />
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Euro 1200 pm. Possible for<br />
long or short term. Ref: Alessandro.<br />
Call Judieanne 335.839.0712 -<br />
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A large room with private bathroom<br />
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close to piazza Gavinana), write to elia.<br />
dellachiesa@dada.it<br />
Costa San Giorgio Apartments<br />
offers for rent 8 quality apartments<br />
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ra Maria) - costasangiorgiofl orence<br />
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Business for Sale<br />
Attività commerciali<br />
Total Liquidation Sale! We sold<br />
<strong>the</strong> Dress Shop! 50%-70% off fi nest<br />
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seasons. Sola Moda 51/r Via dei Neri,<br />
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Children’s clothing manufacturer<br />
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Italy and abroad. For more information<br />
send an email to gio.giu@gmail.com<br />
Jobs Wanted<br />
Cerco lavoro<br />
I am looking for a home-based<br />
or internet job, or part time employment<br />
in <strong>Florence</strong>. I am Spanish, and I<br />
am English speaking and have good<br />
knowledge of Italian. Please contact:<br />
maria_fernandezp@hotmail.com or<br />
num<strong>be</strong>r : 3207262753.<br />
Young Canadian female (24) seeks<br />
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seeks employment from mid-February.<br />
Please contact Victoria 333.3673970<br />
victoriainfantino@yahoo.it<br />
A woman for all seasons. Receptionist,<br />
secretary, group chaperon,<br />
English teacher, English to Italian<br />
translator. Excellent knowledge of various<br />
PC programs. Seeking employment<br />
also part time. Pls call Ernestina<br />
Giusti: phone 055-222020 or email<br />
ernestinagiusti@yahoo.it.<br />
Part-qualifi ed accountant, seeks<br />
employment, with experience both<br />
in practice and in private business.<br />
Native English speaker. Please contact<br />
vanessacmurphy@hotmail.com.<br />
Young woman (32), German native<br />
speaker, excellent English and Italian,<br />
degree in English literature and art history,<br />
Italian permit of stay, seeks parttime<br />
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I am looking for a home-based and/<br />
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and have good knowledge of Italian.<br />
Please contact paula_genn@yahoo.<br />
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English-speaking female, having<br />
good knowledge of Italian, looking for<br />
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Kindly contact 340.1447898<br />
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American University in <strong>Florence</strong><br />
Italy, is currently accepting applications<br />
for Italian language, studio art<br />
and fashion design instructors. CVs<br />
should <strong>be</strong> submitted by email to<br />
rolsen@santareparata.org<br />
Private Lessons<br />
Lezioni private<br />
Italian individual lessons in <strong>Florence</strong>.<br />
Sharpen your grammar to<br />
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Ceramic classes. Paint your own renaissance’s<br />
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Body Language Pilates/Yoga<br />
Studio 30+ level-specifi c Pilates<br />
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335.790.4029. YOGA Thu, Fri, Sun:<br />
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Private oil painting lessons in English<br />
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All levels welcome. For more<br />
information please contact Cathy at<br />
055.2207171 / 338.1499392<br />
New Year’s Resolution #2: Continue<br />
Exercise Program! Yoga provides fi tness<br />
<strong>be</strong>nefi ts. Feeling stressed? Featuring<br />
also “Offi ce Yoga”. Body Language.<br />
392.803.4271<br />
Expert craftsman offers individual<br />
or group classes in English or Italian.<br />
Introduction to chiselling and<br />
embossing-<strong>the</strong>ory and practice.<br />
Introduction to technical design.<br />
Call Fabrizio 338.5060720 or write<br />
acquafresca69@hotmail.com<br />
Lea<strong>the</strong>r Crafting Classes. Scuola del<br />
Cuoio offers short-term (3 hours/1-<br />
2 days) & long-term (1 wk to 10<br />
mths) individual courses and classes<br />
under a Master Lea<strong>the</strong>r Craftsman<br />
inside <strong>the</strong> Monastery of Santa Croce,<br />
via San Giuseppe 5 (thru <strong>the</strong> garden).<br />
Enquiries: tel. 055.244.533 or<br />
info@lea<strong>the</strong>rschool.com. For more<br />
info. visit www.lea<strong>the</strong>rschool.com<br />
Would you <strong>like</strong> to learn how to write<br />
short stories and novels? Experienced<br />
creative writing professor offers inspirational<br />
private lessons. 329.2945876<br />
23<br />
Thursday 8 February 2007<br />
Classifi ed ADS<br />
Leisure & Vacation<br />
Tempo li<strong>be</strong>ro e vacanze<br />
Il Salotto di Firenze B&B located in<br />
splendid Via Roma at <strong>the</strong> corner with<br />
<strong>the</strong> magnifi cent Piazza Duomo, includes<br />
4 <strong>be</strong>drooms and 2 welcoming single<br />
rooms. Private, intimate and reserved<br />
in a completely refurnished artistic<br />
building in <strong>the</strong> heart of <strong>Florence</strong>. For<br />
information and reservations call: +39<br />
055.218347 or +39 348.1590197.<br />
info@ilsalottodifi renze.it<br />
Panoramic colonial house in <strong>the</strong> hills<br />
of Chianti, only 15 km from <strong>Florence</strong>.<br />
Surrounded by a large park and olive<br />
grove, swimming pool. 4-6 person fl ats<br />
for rent for brief periods, completely<br />
furnished. Quiet, family-style atmosphere.<br />
Landlords available on site for<br />
any needs. Tel. 333.2203265, e-mail<br />
femanesc@tin.it<br />
Services<br />
Servizi<br />
Professional Computer Consultant<br />
can fi x any PC related problems. Can<br />
work anywhere in Tuscany and Umbria.<br />
English and Italian. Call TuscanyPc-<br />
Clinic +39.334.1085438.<br />
Computer SOS will solve all computer/Internet<br />
related problems, including<br />
ADSL. Will come to your home.<br />
Speaks and reads English fl uently.<br />
Corrado 320.0932811<br />
Personals<br />
Personali<br />
34-y-o Italian male is looking for a<br />
single room in apartment with nonsmoking<br />
English speaker(-s) to start<br />
February 1. Max euro 350/month.<br />
Please call after 6 p.m. 339.131.0695,<br />
Walter.<br />
I’m Italian and want to improve<br />
my English I am looking for an English<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>r tongue for conversation<br />
exchange. Call Pietro 3476485534 or<br />
write piero_gatto@iol.it<br />
I’m Italian and want to improve<br />
my English I am looking for an English/American<br />
mo<strong>the</strong>r tongue for<br />
conversation exchange. Call Cristina<br />
333.3891682<br />
Household items for sale<br />
Vendita oggetti personali<br />
A selection of good books in English<br />
- paperbacks and hard covers<br />
-contemporaries, classics, and children’s--great<br />
book club selections--<br />
1 to 3 Euros each. Contact joseph.<br />
michael@alice.it or 338/6792271.<br />
Bargain sales: Sangiorgio dishwasher<br />
almost unused (guarantee till 2010),<br />
colonial style wicker sofa perfect conditions,<br />
Samsung DVD reader, iron.<br />
Contact: vstove@yahoo.it<br />
Bianchi women’s touring bicycle<br />
(Spillo k 20), 7005 aluminium frame, 3<br />
for 7 Shimano gears, with tachometer,<br />
helmet, tools, many extras. Euro 200.<br />
Brian Marble: 333.3738322