News
From the the writers of The Best Of Youth and Winner of 5 Donatello
Awards comes My Brother Is An Only Child, a story of two brothers, very different, yet so alike.
Accio is the cause of his parents' desperation; irritable and a trouble-maker, impulsive and explosive, fighting every battle like a war.
His brother Manrico is handsome, charismatic, loved by all, but just as dangerous... In the Italian small-town life of the '60's and '70's, the two brothers have opposite political beliefs, are in love with the same woman and through an endless confrontation, they live a period of their lives filled with escaping, re-tuning, fighting and great passions.
My Brother Is An Only Child (15) is at cinemas nationwide from April 4. For more information go to www.mybrotherfilm.co.uk
EXHIBITIONS
CLAUDIO ABATE IN VISTAMARE
Gallery Vistamare - Pescara
Until May 10th
www.vistamare.com
The Vistamare Gallery of Pescara will host a selection of images of Claudio Abate, a Roman artist active since the sixties witness of the avant-garde theatre of Carmelo Bene and its successive period. He is capable to catch the eye of one sole image, environmental works which could not have been drawn in a more effective manner, becoming the emblem of a time. Only in the 80's does colour enter in his productions while he continues his collaborations with many artists of the New Roman School. In the 90's Abate is seen as a leader towards all of the artists with whom he collaborates. Today, Claudio Abates' pictures are subject to most important national and international shows with historical deposition of the most recent artistic and cultural motion.
FRANCIS BACON AT PALAZZO REALE
Palazzo Reale - Milano
Until June 29th 2008
www.francisbacon.it
Palazzo Reale accommodates sixty works of one of the most well-known and tormented contemporary English artists. A great occasion to admire some of the last works of Bacon which have never been displayed in Italy before, this is a full overview of his artistic career, ranging from the earliest paintings dating back to the '30s, revealing how Bacon was still in search of his personal language. The masterpieces of Bacon, rich of tension, witnesses of an inner drama of the sense of life are intense and exciting, allusive and symbolic and express with large force individual feelings and discomforts of the modern man.
CHINA: AT THE COURT OF THE EMPERORS
Palazzo Strozzi - Firenze
Until June 8th 2008
www.palazzostrozzi.org
An exhibition of masterpieces celebrating China's Golden Age dating from the Tang dynasty will be displayed in the halls of Palazzo Strozzi to celebrate for the first time in Europe and in Italy, the cultural Renaissance of the Country in the Middle. Splendid frescoes, spectacular stone sculptures, exquisite gold and silver objects, precious ceramics, vivacious terracotta statues, exotic glass, refined jewels, precious lacquers will be on show, many of which have never been seen before in the West. The Tang era was a renaissance for the arts, crafts and literature, a time of great social, economical and cultural development for China. The Silk Road, linking the Far East to Asia and the Mediterranean, opened China to foreign influences resulting in a remarkable cosmopolitanism which was reflected in the art of the time. This is a striking event in a grandiose culture on the Via della Seta.
DISCOVER DESIGN. VON VEGESACK COLLECTIONS
Pinacoteca Giovanni and Marella Agnelli
Turin, July 6th 2008
www.pinacoteca-agnelli.it
The Pinacoteca Giovanni and Marella Agnelli is pleased to present collection designs of Alexander Von Vegesack. The collections, a nucleus of more than 300 objects, divided into twenty-two sections, traces the history of 20th century design. Through furniture, architectural models, textiles, saddles, plates and glasses, books, catalogues, photographs, film and documents put together by Alexander von Vegesack. The leitmotiv of the exhibition is industrial furniture, and the display includes mass produced pieces, single pieces and prototypes that were milestones in 20th century design, like the first curved wooden furniture from Thonet, the seats and furnishings of Jean Prouvé, Charles and Ray Eames and Alvar Aalto, the domestic architecture of Le Corbusier, the first examples of tubular steel chairs by Mies van der Rohe in the 1920s, and important pieces by contemporary designers such as Ron Arad or Fernando and Humberto Campana. Corollary to the collections, and present to the public are souvenirs of his journey that testify eclectic personality and the intense life of von Vegesack that since the 60ies when he began to develop the project of the actual collection.
RICHARD AVEDON: PHOTOGRAPHS 1946-2004
Forma - International Center of Photography (MILAN)
Until June 8th
www.formafoto.it
The Forma Gallery will host a large and unprecedented retrospective dedicated to the work of Richard Avedon, one of the most famous photographers in the world, milestone in the story of the modern photography, exhibiting to the public more than 250 images between 1946 and 2004. Avedon is the artist who revolutionized the style of fashion photography he invented a new way of making his models expressive his models appeared as real people, personalities; his photographs transformed the rather dry, boring fashion photo into something real and alive. The exhibition curated by the Lousiana Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with the Avedon Foundation will also be an opportunity to pay a tribute to the long partnership between the fashion house and Richard Avedon.
OTTOCENTO. FROM CANOVA TO THE 4TH STATE
Rome - Scuderie del Quirinale
Until June 10, 2008
www.scuderiequirinale.it
"Ottocento. Da Canova al Quarto Stato", at the Scuderie del Quirinale, is the first exhibit entirely devoted to the Italian masterpiece paintings from the 19th century. On display about 100 works selected by Maria Vittoria Marini Clarelli, Superintendent of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome, as well as Fernando Mazzocca and Carlo Sisi, the most famous scholars on 19th century art. The exhibition intends to show how a group of extraordinary artists from Rome and Milan, Florence and Naples fought hard, each in a different context and in difficult historic situations, in order to create works of art that fully reflected the best of Italian tradition.
BODY AND LANDSCAPE
MART - Rovereto (TN)
Until June 1st 2008
www.mart.trento.it
Chinese artist Chen Zen works in Mart, Rovereto. Influenced during the period of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Chen Zen lived and worked between Shanghai, New York and Paris. His works exudes from the ethics used to define and recognize artistic movements. Chen Zen did a well aware synthesis of the cultural influences between east and west to the search for a universal language capable to be spread across art the common desire of peace. Art is the filter to cross the socio cultural and economic difference which divides the people.
PARIS 1900-THE PETIT PALAIS OF PARIGI IN THE DELLA MARRA PALACE IN BARLETTA
Palazzo della Marra - Barletta
Until July 20
www.paris1900.it
Palazzo Marra in Barletta is the first in Italy to host "Paris 1900", a selection of collections from Petit Palais in Paris that focuses on French artistic production from the late '800 to the beginning '900: paintings, sculptures, graphics works and furnishings from the city beloved by De Nittis. The exhibition sets out to recreate a culturally active and evolving time through 130 artworks by the most famous artists from the 1900. Curator of the exhibition is Gilles Chazal.
MIMMO PALADINO-BRIAN ENO. OPERA FOR ARA PACIS
Ara Pacis - Rome
Until May 11, 2008
www.arapacis.it
Created especially for the spaces of the new Museo dell'Ara Pacis, this event connects two contemporary artists, who are used to collaborating with others. The work of Mimmo Paladino competes with Ara Pacis and Richard Meier's rigorous architecture, through curtains that wind like a backstage along the museum's walls, creating a fantastic route of shapes and signs accompanied by music by Brian Eno, whose music the artist calls "visual music". This exhibition unites art and music and allows visitors to interact with the spaces of the museum in a new and original way, suggesting reflections and creating an ideal bridge between old and new.
ROME AND THE BARBARIANS, THE BIRTH OF A NEW WORLD
Palazzo Grassi - Venice
Through July 20, 2008
www.palazzograssi.it
Palazzo Grassi hosts an exhibition of exceptional works that narrates and revisits a time which spans from Julius Caesar's conquering of Gallia to the birth of the Empire. A modern vision is employed to judge the longobard period in a new light, the destructive impact with Roman civilization and the attempt to "become Roman" by the so-called Barbarians. Many of the pieces on display belong to national collections, such as the Treasure of Beja in Portugal, the hexagonal shrine of Conques, the funeral outfit of the Merovingian king. Images of battles between Romans and Barbarians are compared; rare imperial sculptures in gold that escaped fusion, and much more that bear witness to the reinterpretation of Roman culture by the Barbarians. The new is at the root of all modern European nations and highlights the exchange and influences between Greek-Roman and Germanic cultures.
FOLKLORE EVENTS
PALIO DI SAN GIORGIO in Ferrara, every weekend in May
This Palio has medieval origins and was first performed in the 13th century. The Palio follows a precise ritual every weekend. The first weekend there is a candle offering in the cathedral of Ferrara followed by a solemn blessing of the races. The second weekend is dedicated to the competition of flag bearers that come from all over the world. The grand historic procession occurs on the third weekend with approximately 1000 characters that parade through the city in renaissance costumes and lastly, the fourth Sunday in May, the races take place in Piazza Ariostea with the participation of a large audience.
More info at : www.paliodiferrara.it
CORSA DEI CERI, RACE OF THE CANDLES on 15 May in Gubbio, Umbria
Gubbio's Race of the Candles is one of the most famous in the world and it is celebrated on 15 May, day of the Patron Saint of Gubbio, St Ubaldo and dates back to the 13th century. The Candles consist of three huge wooden constructions, octagonal in shape, up to 7 metres in height each surmounted by the statue of St Ubaldo, St George and St Antony. The men bearing the huge candles, the Ceraioli, are dressed in brightly coloured costumes, with a sash around the waist, yellow for St Ubaldo, blue for St George and black for St Antony. At 6pm the Candles are raised on the Ceraioli's shoulders and, after being blessed, an extraordinary race starts along the main streets and squares of Gubbio to terminate
at the Basilica of St Ubaldo on the slopes of Mount Ingino. The winner of the race is established not by the order of arrival, but by the greater or lesser degree of the skills shown by the bearers. More info at: www.bellaumbria.net
CAVALCATA SARDA, 20th May in Sassari, Sardinia
It is the biggest Sardinian feast of non-religious connotation. It was born as homage to the King of Italy on the occasion of his visit to Sardinia in 1899. It's a spectacular and colourful event with the participation of people from all over the island. The programme includes processions in typical costumes, music and the participation of groups of riders who on their horses perform a daring cavalcade through the city streets, a re-enactment of the one that took place in honour of the King.
More info at : www.festeinsardegna.it
SPORTING EVENTS
"PIAZZA DI SIENA" SHOW JUMPING EVENT IN ROME, 22-25 May 08
"Piazza di Siena" is one of the most captivating and glamorous show jumping events in the world and it takes place in the legendary setting of Piazza di Siena in Villa Borghese. The event was created by Marcantonio Borghese (a Roman aristocrat and owner of Villa Borghese) whose aim was to recreate the atmosphere of the medieval "palios" in his own ground and park. This is a four-day event and the absolute highlight is the Gran Premio Roma. Sport and tradition are combined in this one great event.
More info at: www.piazzadisiena.com
THE "VOGALONGA" IN VENICE, 11 May 08
The "Vogalonga" is a 30Km non-competitive rowing race in which hundreds of boats of every shape and form, together with hundreds of Venetian and foreign rowers take part. This day of festivity, completely devoted to rowing, makes it possible for Venice and the lagoon to be rediscovered along the race's singular course. The first edition of the Vogalonga originated in 1974 to find a solution to the ever worsening situation of the lagoon due to noisy boats with outboard motors. 500 old Venetian boats thus gathered following the same route as today's Vogalonga. There will be more than 1700 boats and 5000 rowers with crews coming from all over the world. More info at: www.vogalonga.it
Stefania Gatta
Press Office
Italian State Tourist Board