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The event ‘Terra Amica. Art, Fashion and Music of Contemporary Italy in Vienna’, at the Italian Cultural Institute of the Austrian capital (Palais Sternberg, Ungargasse 43 A, 1030 Wien).

An interdisciplinary event promoted by the Florence Biennale, Florence's International Biennale of Contemporary Art, ‘Terra Amica’ is a project conceived in tune with the history of the host institution and its venue.

A project inspired by Gioachino Rossini's opera as a trait d'union between Vienna and Italy in a fruitful dialogue between the expressions celebrated in the initiative - art, fashion and music - between past and present.

The choice of Franca Pisani as the protagonist of the exhibition ‘Visioni d'Arie’, a personal exhibition of paintings and sculptures inspired by the work of Gioachino Rossini, beyond the proven artistic value of the Tuscan artist, is due to her ability to interweave the languages of the visual arts with poetry, hence the word and metrics common to music, but also to combine a conceptual approach with experimentation in techniques and materials.

The result of an experimental approach is also the world premiere concert by Imago Sonora Ensemble, a Roman group directed for the occasion by maestro Dimitri Scarlato, with music by Rossini, Morricone, Scarlato, Trecozzi and Verlingeri. Entitled Superstiti. Rossini meets the contemporary, the concert pays homage to tradition by inviting us to meditate on the relationship between past and present through a comparison between ancient modes (languages, instruments, structures of thought and sound) and new interpretations.

And then fashion. The common thread of ‘Terra Amica’ also runs through the ‘Abiti ad Arte’ fashion show with sartorial creations by emerging designers Roberta Bellavista, Adriana Bucutea, Sara Carlino, Valentina D'Angelo, Luigina Epifani, Federica Gatto, Ana Maria Ghetea, Nadia Gorjan and Leonardo Ligorio. These fashion designers share a passion for fine materials and workmanship, but also a taste for accessories and precious details: Swarovski crystals, embroidery, appliqué inserts and silk thread trimmings covered in noble metal leaf whose gleams evoke the gold among the thousand colours of Gustav Klimt's paintings. The fashion show will end with a performance by Franca Pisani accompanied by models wearing her sculpture-hats.

Closing the event, on 9 February 2017, at 7 p.m., is a conference entitled ‘Art and Music of Italy between Past and Present’, which will seal the ideal multidisciplinary path of ‘Terra Amica’ by offering insights into Italian culture as expressed in the languages of music and the visual, performing and applied arts of yesterday and today. All this with a special focus on the cultural suggestions that have given rise to a virtuous dialogue between various Italian cities of art and Vienna.

PROGRAMME

VERNISSAGE: Thursday, 12 January 2017

19:00 - Greeting by the Representative of the Italian Cultural Institute in Vienna.

Greeting by the Director of the Florence Biennale, Jacopo Celona, and

Presentation of the event withMelanie Zefferino, Curator of the Florence Biennale.

7.15 p.m. - Superstiti. Rossini meets the contemporary

Music by Rossini, Morricone, Scarlato, Trecozzi, Verlingeri performed by Imago Sonora Ensemble, conducted by maestro Dimitri Scarlato.

8.15 p.m. - Presentation of ‘Visioni d'Arie’, a personal exhibition by Franca Pisani.

Greeting by the artist and speech by the curator, Melanie Zefferino.

20.30 - Inaugural Cocktail offered by the Italian Cultural Institute with tasting of wines from

from the Artimino Estate (Carmignano, Prato)

21.00 - ‘Abiti ad Arte’ (Artful Dresses)

Fashion show with sartorial creations by emerging designers Roberta Bellavista, Adriana Bucutea, Sara Carlino, Valentina D'Angelo, Luigina Epifani, Federica Gatto, Ana Maria Ghetea, Nadia Gorjan and Leonardo Ligorio worn by models.

Directed by Michele Casto. Coordination by Giovanni Iovene and Valentina Lanzoni.

Performance by Franca Pisani with her sculpture-hats worn by models.

22.00 - Acknowledgements at the close of the evening.

FINISSAGE: Thursday, 9 February 2017

19:00 - Greeting by the Representative of the Italian Cultural Institute in Vienna.

Greeting by the Director of the Florence Biennale, Jacopo Celona.

19:15 - Conference ‘Art and Music of Italy between Past and Present’.

Moderator: Jacopo Celona, Director of the Florence Biennale.

Speakers and interventions:

- Daniele Carnini, Editorial Coordinator of the Rossini Foundation,

‘Vienna and Rossini’.

- Melanie Zefferino, art and theatre historian and curator,

‘The Opera of Figurative Comedians from Florence to Venice to Vienna’.

- Adrian E. Hollaender, scholar and musicologist,

‘Rossini's Belcanto at the Vienna State Opera’.

20:30 - Closing greetings for the event.