Articles by: Iwona adamczyk

  • Events: Reports

    Alexis. La Tragedia Greca. A Contemporary Play with a Classical Touch

    It certainly is futile to try to decide the order of which had the first influence, art on society or society on art, but it is crucial to raise awareness of this unique symbiosis. The further one examines this fusion of impacts the more one becomes cognizant of the power each has on the other, especially bidding for changes, both in art due to societal influence and in society when art is used as a tool in social change.

    A similar question is raised in the play Alexis. A Greek Tragedy, a Motus production by Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Nicolò featuring actors: Silvia Calderoni, Vladimir Aleksic, Benno Steinegger and Alexia Sarantopoulou. The fourth play in the project Syrma Antigónes is presented by La Mama and The Public Theaters during the Under the Radar Festival.

    “Is art enough?” This is one of the questions posed to the audience by Silvia, the play’s embodiment of Antigone, when she is faced with a statement of one of the speakers in the documentary displayed throughout the play. He bluntly tells them that art is not sufficient to accomplish anything. Yet the play shows otherwise by becoming an artistic proof of art’s impact on social change, often creating provocative interpretations of social and political issues promoting reflection, conversation and commencing assessment of the problem at hand. This particular play, tells the story of the death of a fifteen year old Alexandros-Andreas Grigoropoulos (Alexis), shot by a police officer on the 6th of December, 2008 in the Exarchia sector of central Athens, an event that sparked the weeks long devastating riots. At the same time it addresses a far larger issue than just that of retelling the story of the slain youth: it examines the potential of it being the detonating fuse of the revolts shaking up major cities around the globe in the past few years.

    The performance, cleverly juxtaposed against the story of Antigone shares many of its themes, among them the widely recognized premise of the individual’s right to reject societal restraints, in Antigone’s case her freedom to perform what she felt to be a personal obligation, that of the burial of her bother Polynices. In the play one finds many comparisons between the “real” story of Alexis and the riots and the fictional Greek play and its characters. Creon therefore is mirrored in the Greek government, its rules and enforcement, and Antigone is “physically present” in Silvia, but is also the voice of the individual, of the deceased Alexis, of the public, the citizen, of the audience in a way.

    Few props are used during the performance, but the actors skillfully elicit emotion from the audience mesmerizing them initially with strange, continuous, robotic sounds and violent movement of a human figure, the motus perpetuus masterfully staged, and then throughout the play when the actors run into the crowd and the stage moves to within the public or during the final acts when they “call to arms.” The main idea behind the play is to demonstrate what art can do for social change as well as to show the power of a single event in generating a waterfall of locked up emotions which often have a deeper root. In the case of the riots after Alexandros’ death, the younger generation frustrated by the country’s economical problems, lack of perspective and evident corruption in the Greek state institutions showed their strength in number as they revolted.  Motus intrigues, they make one think, they get involved in a social and political issue, they bring awareness to its existence, and they involve their viewers, or rather invite them to be involved. So, as they come out on stage one by one in their final act, one, two, three, four… what will you do when they ask for the fifth member?

    On January 4th, the play opened at the La Mama Theater (74A 4th St) and began the Under the Radar Festival. The premiere was not surprisingly sold out, with the small theater filled to the last seat. The spectacle was followed by a very New York style after-party at the nearby Public Theater’s LuEsther Hall. Marche Region provided the selection of cheeses and wine for the event and the celebration of URFs opening continued to late hours.

    Alexis. A Greek Tragedy can be seen until January 14th at La Mama Theater. For tickets and more info visit: http://www.undertheradarfestival.com/index.php?p=460

    To read more about Motus and their productions visit: http://www.motusonline.com/
  • Art & Culture

    O'Mast - 67 minutes of Neapolitan Tailoring Tradition

    What is the first thing that comes to your mind when Naples is mentioned? Whether it is a story that someone told you, or one of your own experiences, it is likely to be a story in which the clever Neapolitan outsmarts the naïve tourist. It is this stereotypical image Naples has difficulties abolishing. Thanks to the efforts of citizens like Gianluca Milgiarotti the city will be seen in a completely different light and its bad reputation will soon be forgotten.

    Naples native, Gianluca Migliarotti, attended NYU Film School and The Lee Strasberg TheaterInstitute in New York. After returning to Italy he founded Kid Dandy Productions, a boutique company producing short films, documentaries and commercials based in Milan. His latest creation is O’Mast, a 67-minute documentary on the Neapolitan tailoring tradition.

    On November 30th, the film was presented at NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò as part of the series ADDRESSING Style organized by Grazia d’Annunzio, special projects editor, Vogue Italia, and Eugenia Paulicelli, Professor of Italian and comparative literature and the member of faculty of the Certificate Program in Women’s Studies at Cuny Graduate Center. After a brief introduction by the Casa Italiana’s director Stefano Albertini, the sizable audience was presented with the screening of the brilliant documentary.

    Migliarotti not only demonstrated his superb directing skills, but also offered the viewers an “insider” view of the sartorial craft and did so with the utmost skill of keeping the audience attentive, engaged and craving for more. While familiarizing the viewers with the life and work of some of the best Neapolitan tailors, (among others the film features interviews with renown tailors such as Mariano Rubinacci and Claudio Attolini) Migliarotti sneaks in breathtaking views of his beloved Naples, juxtaposing shots of architectural motifs and seaside panoramas with close-ups of luxurious fabrics, buttons, and meticulous stitching. This surprisingly harmonious compilation provides not only a cinematographic delight to the eye, but together with the music creates a solid backdrop for the film and introduces viewers to another side of Naples, the one that Migliarotti wants so desperately to reveal.

    The screening of the film was followed by a panel discussion between Eugenia Paulicelli, Stefano Albertini and Gianluca Migliarotti. Ms. Paulicelli praised the film: “There is an urgent message in this film, it’s communicated through beauty not through horror. There’s a sense of community, working together.” Milgiarotti replied: “Kids in Naples are not educated. They look for heroes in the wrong things, in films like Gomorrah. And I hope they will find their heroes instead in these men.” She asked Migliarotti if his presentation of Naples as a beautiful and vibrant city was intentional and he stated: “ To me it was more about the colors, I wanted to emphasize the colors of the city and the colors of the fabrics. Anywhere one lives inspires the way one dresses, therefore [the Neapolitan dress code] is different than the dress code of Milan.” The young film director then answered numerous questions from the audience.

    I couldn’t resist asking a few questions of my own. Here is my brief conversation with Gianluca:
     

    I.A.: What prompted you to do a documentary on this particular subject?

    G.M.: Passion and respect. Passion for the bespoke and respect for the craftsmen.
    Love for my hometown too is one of the possible reasons. I wanted to show another side of Naples and its culture, a side that not many know, only Neapolitans.
     

    I.A.: Is this film in anyway a protest of globalization?

    G.M.: Globalization is a generic word. This [the film] wants to be a shout of light to what a local culture can be. Globalization can be very positive when it respects the traditions and the local culture of a place. Globalization can be sharing and not imposing.

    I.A.: Why did you decide to show only the "best" parts of Napoli and not the Napoli known to the world?

    G.M.: As I said, and as you said those are pictures that everyone knows already. I don't want to hide anything, I just want to show another side, full of beauty and positivity. How could people still live in Naples if it was as bad as they say? There must be something positive.

    I.A.:  Did you want the architectural motifs of the city to be seen as a parallel to the shots of fabric and close-up shots of the tailored details? (both by the way photographed and presented with STYLE and GRACE)

    G.M.: Thank you! Yes, I did it on purpose. I think the elegance of the forms and colors of the architecture influenced quite a bit the so-called Neapolitan style. The structure and the fabric are the architecture of the suit, like the skin and bones are for the body. It's just on another level, that I wouldn’t call superficial but just "external."

    I.A.:  Did you consider making a series of films on artisan crafts? Why or why not?

    G.M.: I have to say that I don't like series and I make my films on what really catches my interest. But I have to admit that so far I've done a few documentaries on craftsmen, like a barber and a silversmith who became designer thanks to Gio Ponti.It seems that we are also going to shoot another documentary on a great tailor from Florence soon.

    To view trailer of the film go to: http://vimeo.com/16443611

    To buy a full version please visit: http://www.thearmourystore.com/o-mast/o-mast-dvd

    The Armoury is menswear shop in Hong Kong that will host the Hong Kong premiere and sells the DVD on their website (do not get discouraged with the $195 price tag, it is listed in Hong Kong dollar which equals to about 25 US dollars). The DVD is a great gift for anyone interested in fashion, Italy, Naples or exquisite film-making.

  • Art & Culture

    150 Years of Genio Italiano. Opening

    Under the high patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano and with the support of Italy-America Chamber of Commerce, on December 15th, the opening of the exhibition was held at the Consulate General of Italy (690 Park Ave). The Consul General of Italy Natalia Quintavalle welcomed all invited guests and expressed her gratitude to Professor Riccardo Viale, Fondazione Rosselli, L’Academia Nazionale dei Lincei, and Festival of Science of Genoa “for recognizing the importance of giving the community of New York the opportunity to enjoy and appreciate such a wonderful exhibition.”

    Subsequently, Riccardo Viale thanked the Consul General for her kindness, in allowing to hold  the opening ceremony on the premises of the Consulate as most of the IIC space was taken up by the exhibition. Prof. Viale said that he always wanted to organize an exhibit pertaining to science and technology and therefore he was grateful to all the collaborators and sponsors of the project such as: Enel, Farmindustria, Telecom and AugustaWestland, and most of all Fondazione Roselli who brought the exhibit to realization. He then explained how the exhibition is arranged, divided into five categories: Experiencing the New, Travelling for Knowledge, Crossing the Frontiers, Efficiency at Work, and To Cure is to Live, briefly explaining each of the categories and what the viewers can expect to find in them.

    Next to address the audience was Mario Baldi, Associate Director at Politecnico di Torino and a Principal Architect at Embrane Inc. USA, who spoke about the many difficulties Italian engineers face both in finding work in their homeland after graduating from renown universities as well as when trying to apply for jobs abroad such as in the United States, due to the fact the schooling systems differ and often American employees are unfamiliar with the rigorous schooling these candidates go through. He talked about his own experiences, and those of his colleagues and students when they seek employment, emphasizing that many of them once hired by an American company prove themselves quickly with their efficiency, work ethic and innovation.

    Before the audience made their way to the Italian Cultural Institute for the viewing of the exhibition, they were presented with a screening of a documentary titled “Italia del Futuro” (Italy of the Future), which was made in collaboration with Festival of Science of Genoa and the Rosselli Foundation and introduced to the many scientific projects currently being worked on or researched in Italy.

    The coordinator of the project Chimera Poppi awaited the guests at the Institute and the exhibit was officially opened to the public. A wonderful reception followed during which the guests had the opportunity to speak to Ms. Poppi, Mr. Baldi and Prof. Viale about the realization of the exhibit or ask any questions.

    The exhibit will remain open to the public until January 27th, 2012.
    Please visit IIC website for more info.   for more information.
  • Events: Reports

    Coro Ortobene. From Sardinia to NYU



    A small Sardinian city of Nuoro is the home of 8 folklore choruses consisting of 20-30 people each. That is a significant number of singing souls for a town with a population of about 36,000. Friday evenings after the choirs’ rehearsals the streets of the town of Nuoro often fill with the sound of song as the members stroll the streets, meet in the city squares and continue to sing their hearts out. It is not uncommon to hear them serenade under the windows of the locals, especially if they happen to be newlyweds. Seems to be almost surreal, yet the shared passion for their culture and folklore has been in full swing and unswerving since 1973 for members of Coro Ortobene, one of Nuoro’s famous, all male choral groups.
     
    Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò welcomed Coro Ortobene on the stage of its small downstairs venue which provides wonderful acoustics for such an event. The stage filled up with identically dressed men led by their Choir Leader, Alessandro Catte, a solo singer and composer who recorded three albums of his own and has been a part of live theater performances and also sang alongside famed Sardinian musicians. He greeted the audience and spoke not only about the choir’s history but gave an insight to the spirit that keeps the tradition of folklore singing going strong for so many years. He spoke about the locals’ love for their native land of Sardinia, and of how important song and dance are to maintaining regional identity, for Sardinians consider their small island a continent of its own. After setting the mood, the members of Ortobene opened their mouths and transported the listeners from the shores of Sardinia to its mountainous terrains and all the way to the top of Monte Ortobene from which the choir gets its name.
     
    The concert began with a song titled A Duruseddu (F. Satta, A. Catte). In it, a poet grandfather wishes a lifetime of virtue to his newborn grandchild. Among religious themes, popular tradition songs such as this one have a strong presence in the collection of Nuoro’s choruses. Other songs written by the same poet speak of the disheartenment that invades his soul when he thinks of that which could have been, the lost loves of the youth, and of the sadness and regret he feels now. He returns to good spirits though when in Focos De Brama (F. Satta, A. Catte) the poet states: “But I will continue to sing of the good that I have dreamt and which guided me in life.”
     
    The folk music, or popular music (canto popolare) was often used to voice out things that were forbidden to say in the open. For example in Nanneddu Meu (P.Mereu, A. Catte) the writer pretends to be writing a letter to a friend, Nanni Sulis, whom he tells of the oppression the Sardinians were forced to withstand at the end of the 1800’s. A seemingly upbeat rhythm of the song in reality hides the sorrow of a difficult social situation of the time. Procurade e Moderare on the other hand is an open protest of the people. Composed by Francesco Ignazio Mannu, this hymn was written after the dramatic events that took place on the 28th of April 1794, the day in which the revolt led by Giovanni Maria Angioj began. These are examples of the strength of Sardinian identity and their propensity to achieve democracy and justice.
     
    Both song and dance have a strong presence in the lives of Sardinian people. Unu ballu Pilicanu (F. Satta, A. Catte) is an example of a popular tradition that is still widely practiced in the Sardinian land. Before the presence of musical instruments, dances were solely accompanied by singing, and often when the singing stopped the dancers would continue their movement following the rhythm and sound made by their own steps. Many of the songs in Ortobene’s repertoire address emotions and one’s state of mind, soul. Moreover, singing was and still is one of the ways of expressing feelings for the Sardinians, whom are known to be rather closed-up when it comes to emotion and sentimental manifestation.
     
    For more information on Coro Ortobene: http://www.ortobene.it/sezione_3.htm
    Find a sample of their music here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObIDfnKhT6s
    To learn more about the Nuoro please visit: http://www.discover-sardinia.com/regions/nuoro.htm
  • Hemingway in Italy.
    Art & Culture

    Hemingway’s Veneto on View @ Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò

    Not only was Hemingway one of the greatest prose writers of the twentieth century, but also, through his writing, he inspired literary minds such as Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, Elmore Leonard and Hunter S. Thompson. Where did he draw his inspiration? What moved and influenced the man that had such an impact on the writing style of others?

    The answer to that question can be found while viewing an exhibition titled Hemingway’s Veneto (Il Veneto di Hemingway) currently on view at the Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò. In this black and white photography show the viewers are introduced to another side of Hemingway, the traveler, and possibly the first citizen of the world. It focuses on the time Hemingway had spent in the Italian region of Veneto beginning in 1918, when as an eighteen year old youth he drove an American Red Cross ambulance on the Italian front during the First World War all the way to his last stay in Venice in 1954.
     

    In “Death in the Afternoon” Hemingway states: “If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.” Hemingway was a master of a terse minimalist style of writing, and his secret to being able to convey the atmosphere of the moment or the ambience of a particular place in an unpretentious, almost condensed way, as the above quote states, lays in first utterly familiarizing himself with the subject or place. 

    Fifty years after his death, the Venice International University wants to honor Hemingway the writer and world citizen with this exhibit. In the opening letters of the catalog that accompanies it, Ambassador Umberto Vattani and Professor Stefano Micelli write: “As a writer [Hemingway] can be seen as the symbol of a type of globalization which is attentive to territories and cultures, a type of globalization that is often in the background as compared with the globalization of finance and economics.” The photographs on view depict the various periods that the writer had spent in the region of Veneto, Italy.  They illustrate not only that which has brought him there in the first place, but especially that which has kept him coming back, that which has made him invite his friends to the area because there “people know how to live.” In the images Hemingway is shown immersing himself completely in the Italian culture and lifestyle. He is captured enjoying the little pleasures in daily life, conversing with friends, shopping in the local markets, strolling the streets of small towns and even hunting. Absorbing the local customs of places he visited, is most likely what gave him the ability to then in his writing get across the same ambience of such places to his readers.

    The exhibit, curated by Gianni Moriani, Rosella Mamoli Zorzi opened on November 9th, 2011 at NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò and was an immediate success. The director of Casa Italiana, Stefano Albertini welcomed all attendees and greeted the curators and special guests, which included Baroness Mariuccia Zerilli Marimò. He then passed the microphone to the curators and Rosella Mamoli Zorzi gave an introduction to the exhibit in English and Gianni Moriani spoke in Italian. The evening was made even more enjoyable by the catering provided by Piave D.O.P. and Allegrini. Veneto region wines Soave and Valpolicella were served and accompanied by Piave cheese and dishes such as Risotto all’Amarone.

    The exhibit remains open until December 15th, 2011. Make sure to pick up the catalog by Antiga Edizioni, which gives a detailed history of Hemingway’s adventures in the Veneto region.  
  • Art & Culture

    Padiglione Italia @ the Italian Cultural Institute of New York


    It is not unusual for the Italian Cultural Institute to host such an exhibit, what is new is the project itself. For the first time a project, “Italy in the World Pavillion,” became a part of Venice Biennale 2011 and opened the door for Italian artists and those of Italian heritage living and working abroad to join the exhibition, previously accessible only to those residing in Italy.


    The creator and curator of Padiglione Italia, Vittorio Sgarbi presented the idea of this special initiative to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Franco Frattini and the Director of the Ministry’s Cultural Department, Vincenza Lo Monaco, which they immediately embraced, giving it their full support. On the road to completion of this project, all 89 Italian Cultural Institutes of the world were involved.

     
     


    The institutes, in collaboration with their local museums, universities and cultural organizations, have nominated artists to be included in the project and a panel of judges consisting of art critics and scholars under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The commission has given 217 artists the opportunity to exhibit their works in the Cultural Institute that has nominated them, as well as to be part of the video documentary that would be projected on the wall of the Arsenale in Venice during the Biennale.
     

     
    On October 3rd, 2011 the Italian Cultural Institute in New York City opened the exhibition of the two, now New York based Italian artists Pesce and Filomeno. Among many others, the ceremony was attended by the Consul Dino Sorrentino, the project coordinator Francesca Valente, Renata Rosati and Simonetta Magnani Cultural Attachés at the Italian Cultural Institute, one of the artists Angelo Filomeno, and sponsors: Murray Moss founder of Moss Design and Mary Sabbatino, Vice President of Lelong Galerie of NYC.


    Francesca Valente introduced the project, its initiation and step-by-step route to completion, putting emphasis on the collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and all 89 Italian Cultural Institutes located throughout the world. She expressed that the project “drew a map of Italian creativity abroad” and that its aim was to include and not to exclude as many artists as possible that have been active in the last ten years, as it was meant to celebrate the coinciding 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy. She drew attention to the importance of the first decade of a new century, which tends to be “creative and full of new ideas and stimuli.”


    Next to speak was the Attaches for Cultural Affairs and curator of the exhibit in the Galleria,  Renata Rosati who thanked everyone involved in the project’s completion and gave the audience a brief introduction to the works of Pesce and Filomeno. A more in depth picture of Gaetano Pesce’s work was drawn by an interesting speech given by Murray Moss, who, knowing the artist personally accentuated Pesce’s influence on society and aim at social change.


    He described Pesce as an open-minded and most importantly patriotic individual who “questions everything including his own deepest convictions.” Subsequently, Mary Sabbatino presented the audience with background on the works of Angelo Filomeno, as she invited the audience to follow in the footsteps of the artist and “to look deep inside our own selves where we will find the world, we will find all of humanity.”
     

     
    Both exhibits are on view at the Italian Cultural Institute (686 Park Ave) until October 27th, 2001. The Galleria is open Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm. Please visit the controversial Italia in Croce installation by Gaetano Pesce, an Italian architect and designer widely known for his multi-disciplinary works found on display and in permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and many others. The downstairs gallery shows the impressive art of Filomeno, who combines traditional skills of embroidery and the use of crystals, onyx and metal to transport viewers to a world of beauty as he sees it, and invites everyone to what was excellently phrased by Mary Sabbatino: “see the terror that we find when we look within ourselves.”
     

     
     
  • Art & Culture

    "The Towers, the Portico and the Farm"

    Many of us that have had the opportunity to wander the countryside of Italy have marveled over the stunning elegance of the villas, which seem not only to be perfectly fused into the natural surroundings, but to form this marvelous scenery. These villas are architectural wonders, planned with the utmost precision and meticulousness, often not with the focus on functionality but on style, trend and design. Most of these built during the Italian Renaissance period are the essence of this historical period.

    Now until October 21st, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò of NYU hosts an exhibit titled The

    Bastions, The Portico and the Farmyard curated by the Italian architect Alberto Faliva. The exhibit is composed of wonderfully detailed, wooden models of 16th century Italian countryside villas. This eye pleasing presentation has a more significant purpose, as it introduces the viewer to the little known concept of the pseudo-fortified villa. Faliva, overcoming the difficulties of tedious research on this subject, presents us with a complete study of eight surviving 16th century villas in the region of the valley of the Po river known as Pianura Padana.

    These fairytale-like country retreats share unusual architectural features consisting of military elements (merlons, towers, moats), and look like small fortresses rather than typical country estates commonly constructed all throughout the Italian countryside. It is this shared characteristic that fascinated Faliva as he began his arduous research on a topic that was insufficiently examined to this point. In his treatise he raises some intriguing questions pertaining to the purpose of the fortification of these villas and whether this fortification was real or merely symbolic in nature. He curiously investigates the popularity of this type of structure in this particular area of Italy, which is the sole host of these eccentric architectural finds.

    This unique exhibit is a must see not just for all those interested in the Italian Renaissance but everyone that enjoys the introduction of new ideas and concepts or simply would like to get momentarily carried away to the atmosphere of the past. 

    Pick up a copy of the catalogue which accompanies the exhibit and read the full contents of Faliva’s detailed study where you will find attention grabbing historical information that clarifies the unfamiliar, yet captivating concept of the pseudo-fortified villa. It also contains color photographs of the authentic villas to further assist in the examination of the models on display.

    The exhibit is open Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM. You may find more information at: http://www.casaitaliananyu.org