Black Archive Alliance brochure

Project presentation_
Black Archive Alliance Volume II
A Villa Romana project in collaboration with Black History Month
Florence
Venerdì 6 Dicembre ore 18-19
Le Murate Art District
We are pleased to welcome you to the public presentation of a small series of
research projects conducted in several archives located in the Florentine
territory. This research offers us insights into the history that links Florence to the
African continent and to Afro-Descendant people and cultures. The presentation
of the second volume of the Black Archive Alliance will be an opportunity for the
public to learn about the project in a phase of development, anticipating the
catalog that will be presented in February 2020 within the Black History Month
Florence program.
History
Started in 2018 Black Archive Alliance is a research and training project that aims to
highlight a selection of documents that reflect the realities and histories of African
populations, their diaspora and their representation across in a series of archives and
public and private collections. The first edition created a virtual map of this archival
presence in the city with a catalog that aims to support future research by providing
perspectives that foster reflection.
Second edition
The second edition of the project was carried out with a tutoring format with teachers
and scholars in tandem with students guiding their research within the network of
Florentine archives established with the first edition as well as a few new sites to the
project. The "mentors" followed a small group of students in the development of short
research projects and writing with the final outcome consisting in in the realization of a
text which will be published in the second edition of the catalog in 2020. This edition,
elaborated over several phases consists of a research period, a public presentation
event and finally an exhibition dedicated to a selection of the newly commissioned
research and the presentation of the final catalog.

Mentors and affiliations:
Maria Antonia Rinaldi; Director of Masters in Art History and Museum Studies;
Studio Arts College International
Angelica Pesarini; Prof. Black Italia; NYU Florence
Ingrid Greenfield; Scholar and Assistant to the director; Villa I Tatti
Debora Spini; Prof. Political Science, Philosophy and Women’s Studies; Syracuse
University Florence
Sasha Perugini; Director Syracuse University Florence
Lorenzo Publici; Prof. Italian Modern History; Santa Reparata International School
of Art and Università degli Studi Firenze
Agnes Stillger; PHD Candidate LMU Munich, Co-Curator; Villa Romana
Researchers:
Ladan Savar, MICA/SACI
Nina Vitale, MICA/SACI
Anthony Quesen, MICA/SACI
Brian Rush, SRISA
Kemiya Searles, Syracuse University Florence
Mila Pingin, SACI
Polina Nazarova, SACI
Anna Cuciurean-Zapan, New York University Florence
Clara Hillis, New York University Florence

Abstracts:
1_
Two Ivory Tusks in a Medici Collection
Researchers:
Nina Vitale (MICA/SACI)
Ladan Savar (MICA/SACI)
Mentor:
Ingrid Greenfield, (Villa I Tatti)
Research site:
Palazzo Pitti, Tesoro dei Granduchi
This presentation will focus on two ivory tusks now in the Palazzo Pitti’s ‘Tesoro dei
Granduchi,’ sculpted into side-blown horns by artists in the kingdom of Kongo and
acquired by the Medici in the mid-sixteenth century. The elaborate geometric motifs
and intersecting orthogonal patterns are Kongolese designs that appeared not only on
the surface of ivories, but also in rock paintings and engravings, terracotta pottery,
woven textiles, and even scarification patterns on skin. After direct contact with the
Portuguese in the late fifteen century, as the Central African ruling class gradually began
to identify as a Christian aristocracy, the presentation of prestige objects like these
carved ivories was part of the Kongo kingdom’s evolving diplomatic agenda in which the
exchange of luxurious gifts played an important role in building political alliances
between African and European rulers and states. Though we currently know little about
exactly how these particular African objects reached Italy in the early modern period,
extra-European objects like these ivories were certainly valued by early modern Italian
elites for display in their collections, their beauty and strangeness signaling the wealth
and power of their owners.
2_
Territory in the image and image territory: The Italian invasion in Ethiopia through the
lens of the geographer (1935-1937)
Researcher:
Anthony Quesen (MICA/SACI)
Mentor:
Agnes Stillger,( Villa Romana)
Research site:
Istituto Geografico Militare
The research project focuses on photography as a tool of military cartography for the
preparation of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and the immediate documentation
and manifestation in geographical maps. In a small collection of private photo albums in
the archive of the Istituto Geografico Militare, the professional and private views of the

geographers merge when surveying Ethiopian territory. A subjective narration of the
occupation process spins through the albums in which the landscape becomes a
witness: Almost innocent panoramic shots with careful topographical notes are followed
by the documentation of temporary interventions such as military assemblies, refugee
camps, exposed war trophies and rocket ramps. The success of the military enterprise is
finally reflected in photographs of the permanent monuments, buildings and technical
infrastructures of a ‘modern’ occupier.
3_
Andrea Aguyar and the Defense of the Roman Republic
Researcher:
Brian Rush (SRISA)
Mentor:
Lorenzo Pubblici (SRISA/ Università degli Studi Firenze)
Research Site:
Archivio del Risorgimento
Andrea Aguyar was born into slavery in Montevideo, Uruguay in the early 1800’s. His
exact date of birth and parents are unknown. Aguyar met Garibaldi during the civil war
of Uruguay in which both fought for the Liberal Colorado’s. After the civil war, Garibaldi
went to Brazil with his new-found companion, Andrea Aguyar to continue liberating
slaves. In 1848, Garibaldi returned to Italy with Aguyar by his side, after he proved
himself on the battlefield many times. Aguyar was commonly known for fighting with a
lasso while riding horseback. He would lasso his enemies off of their horses in the field
of battle and is said to have saved Garibaldi numerous times on the battlefield. Andrea
Aguyar lost his life while defending “The Roman Republic” from a French invasion after
a nearby bomb exploded. He gave his life for Italy to defend Rome from French
occupation. Andrea Aguyar was a hero that believed in the idea of a Republic and
fought for it until the very end.
4_
Giorgio La Pira, African Students and Contemporary Florence
Researcher:
Kemiya Searles (Syracuse University Florence)
Mentors:
Debora Spini (Syracuse University Florence)
Sasha Perugini (Syracuse University Florence)
Research Site: Personal Archive Antonella Bundu/Centro Internazionale Degli Studenti
Giorgio La Pira

My research focuses on the past history with the politics surrounding African students during
Giorgio La Pira’s mayorship. Consigliere Comunale Antonella Bundu plays a role in my research
as her parents met through this scholarship program bridging the gap between the politics of
the 60s and the contemporary political moment in Florence. To conclude, I discuss the methods
and strategies of the past of getting different cultures together and e difficulty in applying those
strategies since La Pira’s mayorship.
5_
Searching for Africa in the collections of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
Researchers:
Mila Pingin (SACI)
Polina Nazarova (SACI)
Mentor:
Maria Antonia Rinaldi (SACI)
Research Site:
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
The Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, opened in 1571 is formed by many different
collections of manuscripts, papyri and first edition books. Due to the complexity of the
way how the manuscripts and books are cataloged at the Laurenziana, in the following
students start to research in the Orientale collection, wanted by Grand Duke Ferdinando
I, where there is a section of Ethiopian manuscripts. In the research, classic authors who
wrote about Africa as the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century B.C.E.) will be taken in
consideration as well the geographical maps in the collection of the Grand Duke Cosimo
III that are now on display in the Biblioteca Laurenziana.
6_
Images and Narratives
Researcher:
Clara Hillis (NYU Florence)
Mentor:
Angelica Pesarini (NYU Florence)
Research Site:
Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo
My research in the Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo focuses on
images and narratives that capture the imposing nature of Italian colonialism and the
resulting alienation experienced by indigenous African peoples. Through an assessment
of photographs as well as captions, I seek to articulate pro-colonialist narratives and
practices, as well as Italy's voyeuristic approach to the colonies and their people.

7_
African women through Italian photography
Researcher:
Anna Cuciurean-Zapan (NYU Florence)
Mentor:
Angelica Pesarini (NYU Florence)
Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo
My research in the Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo focuses on the
portrayal of African women through Italian photography. I am interested in the ways in
which the photographic lens in the hands of the colonizer displays the dehumanization
and animalization of colonized populations emblematic of the European colonial era.