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VILLA AUREA AGRIGENTO: an English Captain's Dream

Agrigento (Sicily) celebrates its election as Italian Capital of Culture 2025 with a grand exhibition in one of its lesser known treasures – the Villa Aurea (Golden Villa) in the Valley of the Temples, set between two of the most iconic monuments - the Temple of Concordia and the Temple of Hercules.

The early 20^th century villa is now the Park of theValley of the Temples headquarters, purchased by the Italian State from the owner, Sir Alexander Hardcastle, a wealthy English nobleman and a passionate archaeologist.

Thanks largely to Hardcastle, the neglected Valley, strewn with fallen columns and fragments of sculptured architectural elements, was reborn. He spent much of his personal fortune on new excavations and the recovery of the abandoned monuments and ended up tragically - penniless in the Agrigento mental asylum, where he died.

The exhibition “I Tesori d'Italia – I Grandi Capolavori dell'Arte” (the Treasures of Italy – the Great Masterpieces of Art) has the ambitious aim of representing all the Italian regions with works by artists native to these areas, some famous, others lesser known, thus giving an overall view of the widespread creative talent that has existed for over seven centuries in the Italian peninsula. It also gives an opportunity to visit Hardcastle's splendid mediterranean garden which was opened to the public in 2019.

“I Tesori d'Italia – I Grandi Capolavori dell'Arte” runs until December in Villa Aurea.

Info: Tel. WhatsApp: +39.331.5280088 www.mostreinsicilia.it www.Balarm.it

MEDICI GARDENS HOST MUSART FESTIVAL

The city of Florence launches its 2024 Musart Festival in the historic Medici Gardens of Pratolino, with a vast programme of concerts, exhibitions and other events, staged in the open spaces of the UNESCO listed gardens, now the property of the Metropolitan City of Florence. The vast area – the biggest landscaped park of Tuscany - comprises two formal “Italian Gardens” and a “Romantic Garden,” famous for their fountains and whimsical features, such as the “Giant of the Apennines” - a 14m-high sculpture of a colossal long-haired bearded man, the 16^th century work of Giambologna.

The Festival programme sparked off on the 17^th July with the evocative “the Pink Floyd Legend” starring the Orchestra of Tuscany. It runs until the 27^th July 2024 and includes a concert by the popular trio “Il Volo” on the 22^nd July, as well as an evocative “Dawn Concert” at 4.45 am featuring pianist and composer Patrizio Fariselli on the 27^th July. The documentary “33 Giri Italian Masters” by Sky Arte and the photographic exhibition “Because the Night” are also part of the programme.

The Musart Festival was previously held in the renaissance Piazza of the Santissima Annunziata in the heart of Florence. The move to the Medici Gardens of Pratolino will provide more spectator space, as well as promotion for the relatively little-known historic gardens, which are situated just a few kilometers outside the city.

Info: www.musartfestival.it www.facebook.com/MusArtFestival info@orgfirenze.it

AN ACTOR'S LIFE IN ANCIENT ROME

The Ara Pacis Museum in Rome, which encloses the Emperor Augustus' magnificent Altar of Peace, is staging a revealing exhibition on a lesser known aspect of life in classical Rome and ancient Greece: the entertainment world.

The carefully researched exhibition displays a selection of some 240 objects – some extremely rare - from museums, tombs and excavations in Greece, Rome and Etruria that give specialized insight into long ago life on the stage, the religious aspects connected with the theatre, the architecture of the amphitheatres and the kind of performances put on for the entertainment of the public.

Modern visitors too will be entertained and fascinated by the many multimedial creations illustrating the lives of the actors, their status in society, the type of dialogue used, the grotesque masks the performers wore, the situation of female performers (considered on the same level as prostitutes), as well as descriptions of the celebrated contemporary playwrights and their works and the sacred rituals which were at the theatre origins.

The exhibition is also designed to help visitors with various difficulties to enjoy the visit. These include multi-sensorial itineraries, tactile reproductions of exhibits, audio descriptions and guided tours, free of charge, for visitors with special needs.

“THEATRE, AUTHORS, ACTORS and the PUBLIC of ANCIENT ROME” is running until the 3^rd November 2024 in the ARA PACIS EXHIBITION AREA, Rome.

1000. STENHOUSE

Info: Tel. 060608 www.arapacis.it

ITALIAN CINEMA REVIVAL

Italian cinema is presently enjoying a revival with theatre audiences and international coverage similar to those enjoyed during the times of masters like Fellini, Bertolucci, Rossini etc. .

The present success was crowned at the recent Golden Globe nominations, voted by the Italian Foreign Press Association, and awarded in a glittering ceremony in the gardens of Villa Massimo, seat of the German Academy in Rome.

Uncontested winners of the top awards were two nonconventional films: Paola Cortellesi's international hit “C'e Ancora Domani” (“There's Still Tomorrow”) set in the grim years in Rome after WW11 and filmed (surprisingly) in black & white, and “Io, il Capitano” by Matteo Garrone, starring two young Senegalese actors who risk the perilous immigrants' journey to Italy over the desert and speak their own language (Wolof) throughout .

A long list of other prize winners involved many celebrated film makers, as well as actors and actresses, set designers and documentary producers. The prestigious 2024 Golden Globe for the Career was awarded to Monica Bellucci.

Info: www.stampaestera.org

ON THE ICEMAN'S TRACKS

The recently constructed Iceman Otzi Peak, a spectacular eagle's nest panoramic platform, perched on the summit of the Croda delle Comacchie overlooking the Giogo Alto glacier and the Similaun snow fields, is proving a great new attractions for visitors to the Alpine area of Bolzano. The winner of numerous architectural awards, the platform can be accessed via a short trek from the station of a new cable car, inaugurated in 2023 and linking the Glacier Hotel Gruward, which is situated at a height of 3,212m above the Val Senales. This valley was once the mountain pass marking the traditional transhumance route between Italy and Austria.

The nearby ArcheoPark Val Senales organizes “Otzi Glacier Tours” , guided excursions over the terrain where the oldest European mummy was found in 1991 and is now preserved in the Archeological Museum of Bolzano (Alto Adige). The mummy, popularly referred to as the Iceman Otzi, (named after the Otztal Alpine valley where he was discovered) belonged to a hunter of the Copper Age. Dating to some 5,300 years ago, his clothes and weapons were also intact. Scientific examinations of the body showed that he had died of an arrow wound in his shoulder. Recent DNA tests have revealed that he still lives on in a scattering of descendents alive today.

Info: Tel: +39.0473.662171 www.valsenales.com info@schnalstal.com

AMERIGO VESPUCCI ITALY'S TALL SHIP WORLD TOUR

The Amerigo Vespucci, Italy's iconic tall ship, acclaimed as “the most beautiful ship in the world” has reached the USA on its current world tour, which involves port calls in five continents during its two-year promotional voyage.

The three-masted full-rigged vessel, built in 1930 as a training ship for the Italian Naval Academy, left Genoa on the 1^st July 2023 and is expected back at La Spezia on the 11^th February 2025 after a journey of 40,000 miles, touching 30 ports in 27 countries. For this epic voyage she is carrying a crew of 264 men and women.

The aim of the present tour is to promote Italian manufacture and culture. The Amerigo Vespucci has already acted as an Ambassador for both UNESCO and UNICEF in the past. This time it will also be involved with the “Wheels on Waves” mission 2023-2025, with the catamaran “Spirito di Stella”, the first catamaran in the world built specifically to accommodate people with disabilities and dedicated to Italian military or civil ex-service men. These passengers and their carers will travel free of charge. The “Spirito di Stella” left Genoa together with the “Amerigo Vespucci” and plans to rendezvous with her in Darwin, Australia.

Info: www.marina.difesa.it/amerigo vespucci

MUSIC & ART AMONG TRULLI AND OLIVE GROVES

With the slogan “Puglia a Way of Life” Italy's latest most desirable tourist destination has launched a new promotional campaign aimed at attracting culture-seeking foreign visitors. At the moment, the south-east part of the Italian boot is mainly known for its whitewashed little towns with unique “trulli” houses and olive groves and is enjoying a boom in farmhouse and village holidays.

The region however, is now promoting other attractions, such as its formidable art and cultural heritage. The recent G7 meeting at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia (Brindisi) provided the inspiration for the ambitious exhibition in the nearby historic Norman Castle of Mesagne: “G7: Seven Centuries of Italian Art” featuring a selection of iconic paintings by the great masters of various epochs. The exhibition will run until the end of the year.

Another major event is the annual Festival of the Valle d'Istria at Martina Franca, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year. The oldest opera festival in southern Italy, it offers a prestigious programme, including Bellini;s “Norma”,“Aladino e la Lampada” (Aladdin and the Lamp) by contemporary composer Nina Rota and the rarely performed Handel's “Ariodante” with a concert of Beethoven's 9^th Symphony at the Ducal Palace.

An attractive addition to the Festival with the evocative name of “Il Canto degli Ulivi” (The Song of the Olives) features a series of summer concerts at various characteristic rural venues.

Info: Tel: +39/080.4805100 www.festivaldellvalleditria.it

Tel: Castello di Mesagne +39.0831.732285

ITALIAN ANTIQUITIES GO TO CHINA

“She Walks in Beauty – Women of the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire” is the theme title, taken from poem by Lord Byron, for a “first” showing in China of some 150 treasures from the collections of the Civic Museums of Roma Capitale. The exhibition opened on the 15^th June 2024 and will run until the 7^th October 2024 at the museum of Changsha, in the Hunan Province, visited by an average 15,000 people per day.

The exhibition opens with the celebrated sculpture of the veiled Roman matron from the Centrale Montemartini museum and introduces the role of women in Ancient Roman society. Other major exhibits include the 1^st century Sarcophagus of the Amazons, featuring scenes of the warrior women, a statue of the Empress Livia, influential wife of Augustus, and busts of various women who made their mark in Ancient Roman society, exhibited alongside the important discoveries from the local Chinese Mawaangdui tomb, dating back to the Han dynasty, and includes the mummified body of the noblewoman Dai, perfectly preserved after 2,200 years, that is part of the Changsha collection.

The exhibition is promoted by the Culture Department of Roma Capitale, Superintendency of Cultural Heritage and is sustained by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Institute of Culture at Peking. Afterwards the exhibition will be transferred to other major Chinese cities, such as Chengdu, Shenzhen and Shenyang.

The exhibition is part of the commemorations of the 700^th anniversary of the death of Marco Polo.

Info: PuntoeVirgola: info@studiopuntoevirgola.com Tel. +39.335.6303795

ISA, 1^st DOWN SYNDROME STYLIST TRIUMPHS IN ARICCIA

Palazzo Chigi of Ariccia (Castelli Romani, Rome), seat of 17^th century art patron Cardinal Flavio Chigi, nephew of Pope Alexander VII, was the opulent setting for the fashion show “Wings of Hope”, featuring the unique creations of young Guatemala stylist Isabella Springmuhl Tejada.

Isa was born in 1997 with Downs Syndrome, which hasn't, however, repressed her talent or her ambition. Despite being initially refused admission to study fashion due to her condition, she acquired a BA in Sciences and Letters and forged ahead, creating her own unique fashion brand “Down to Xjabelle,” inspired by the crafts and textiles of her native culture.

Her creations have been shown at a number of international events, including the International Fashion Showcase during the 2016 London Fashion Week, which led to her inclusion in the BBC list of 100 Women of the Year.

Isa hand-picks vintage authentic Guatemalan textiles and embroideries for her vibrant and colourful collections. Her models tend to be young, with neurotypical conditions or various disabilities, as part of her crusade to encourage acceptance and integration of “those who are different” into normal society and activities.

Info: Fondazione Giovanni Campaniello ETS: Tel. +39.0349.7812102

Museo Diocesano di Albano (RM): Tel. +39.06.93269490