VIGEVANO BIENNIAL

VIGEVANO BIENNIAL

Feb 10, 2024 | ART, ART, CULTURE, CULTURE

Vigevano Biennial: the very moment I saw the first video introducing it, I felt a great sense of gratitude.

Arianna Forni, the creator and curator of this artistic and cultural project, during the last interview explains that she was inspired while visiting an artist’s exhibition in Vigevano, and fell in love with the Sforza Castle after about 45 seconds.

I want to point out this not so much with pride, but to remind those who, like me, live there and sometimes do not consider its value that much.

Who is Arianna Forni? Her bio is very rich, but among the many things I like to mention in particular her blog: The Greatest Coat.

On her home page, you can also find R.E.M.‘s  Loosing my religion and to me this a sign.

Music aside, Arianna with her words takes us on an artistic journey through art and with art. 

Alongside Arianna Forni, artistic director of all the side events: musical and otherwise, an artist capable of embodying the perfect fusion of music and painting: Andrea Fumagalli, Andy. 

The Vigevano Biennial has the patronage of the Municipality of Vigevano and 

of the District of Pavia 

and will be held from

8 April to 31 May, so be warned.

In the meantime, I suggest you not to miss the artists’ presentations on the Biennale Vigevano whispers of arts social pages. 

AFMetastrategy produces a crescendo of stories containing calls for artists, calls for partners, calls for endorsement and presentations of all the artists who will participate.

Truly the Castello Sforzesco and the Piazza Ducale are the place where step by step the dream becomes reality, or rather, turns into Art.

PIAZZA DUCALE COVERED

PIAZZA DUCALE COVERED

Dec 2, 2023 | ITALY, WOMEN

I already told you about the Piazza Ducale in Vigevano: together we discovered the traces of Jewish presence, starting from the past to arrive at the present of the smart city version. 

We saw it as a coffee lounge but also as a setting for cosplayers of Star Wars characters.

I wish you wouldn’t miss the Piazza Ducale “covered” version.

Suggestive, isn’t it?

Impressive.

At dawn

and sunset of a whole day dedicated to sharing.

These beautiful coloured blankets are all made of four knitted or crocheted squares joined together by a red thread as a symbol of relationship and union.

For months, many women worked to make these blankets with multicoloured wool and lots of imagination.

Some alone, like Betty during convalescence, some in groups, like Carola’s mother during the weekly meetings based on chatting, knitting and good things to eat.

And more blankets arrived from all over Italy, answering the call of Viva Vittoria. 

Viva Vittoria is a relational work shared by women for women.

Knitting is understood as a metaphor for self-development and conveys a message of awareness: we are the creators of our own existence.

If we are able to bring about change in ourselves, change can also take place in society as a reflection.

The idea of bringing these blankets from moments of aggregation was born in Brescia in 2015 and the proceeds of the sale are used for charitable purposes.

In Vigevano, three thousand blankets were adopted in Piazza Ducale in a few hours, the sum collected will be donated to the association Kore alongside women victims of violence.

SMART CITY

SMART CITY

Sep 3, 2022 | ITALY, JOURNEY FROM MUG TO MUG, TECHNOLOGY

Smart City is a definition that recurs more and more often now.

Smart City is one of the main themes of civics hours in school.

But specifically how do you experience what smart offers in your city?

In your experience, can you tell of an actual improvement in the quality of your life, or is it all still ephemeral in your neck of the woods for now?

In the image I wanted to finally “offer” you a coffee in Piazza Ducale.

But the city of Vigevano offers many other experiences, including virtual ones.

On the City’s website you can check out a Vigevano Smart City dashboard with some options among which I would like to point out the live webcam. 

And when you decide to come and visit our ducal living room, you will have at your disposal these directions that offer the possibility of more information via QR code.

In the same vein, a “digital” bench was inaugurated.

Red, as red is the symbolic color against violence against women. 

The problem is that hand in hand should also be converted the education of citizens, who too often prove to be the exact opposite of smart.

A marker mark was enough to make the QR code illegible.

This tiny stroke actually emblematically represents a great trait that sets us apart, and likewise reveals the weakness on which what should be the future rests ….

1522

1522

Nov 25, 2021 | ITALY, WOMEN

In the picture red shoes in Vigevano where various initiatives were organized on the occasion of the international day for the elimination of violence against women. 

The theme of the 2021 campaign is #OrangeTheWorld.
Orange is the color to represent a brighter future free from violence against women and girls, if you want you can share the gif or a personal picture of yourself with this color.

All very nice, but ten years have passed since Europe adopted the Istanbul Convention and in essence the situation is only getting worse.

The number of victims is terrifying, just as following the cases in the daily news leaves us stricken in the face of stories from which, to say the least, hallucinating circumstances emerge.

This is why I find it important to spread the number 1522 to contact the anti-violence line and I liked the idea of some stores to add it to the receipt, bags etc.

In case it is not possible to call, you can start a chat directly from the site. 

There are also many local associations that are a valid and efficient aid in the area.

The point where the mechanism jams is another and responds to the sad refrain “the laws are there, the difficult thing is to apply them.”

So I would say that since in recent days it has been amply demonstrated that, when the state really wants, in real time it carries out its intent, it would really be the case not to use two weights and two measures.

As my son’s teacher says “there are sons and stepchildren” or stepdaughters in this case, because we are all the same but some keep being more equal.

JEWISH PRESENCES IN VIGEVANO IN REMOTE AND RECENT HISTORY

JEWISH PRESENCES IN VIGEVANO IN REMOTE AND RECENT HISTORY

Jul 6, 2021 | BOOKS, CULTURE

 

Sunday the 4th of July in the beautiful setting in the courtyard of Palazzo Merula in Vigevano  where, among other things, there is the municipal historical archive, Ermanno Boccalari‘s book was presented: Jewish presence in Vigevano in remote and recent history part of a special series “Leading roles” edited by Astrolabio and Punto & Virgola. 

The author has carried out a precise and meticulous research which reveals the first testimonies of Jewish bankers in 1400 during the period of the Visconti Sforza duchy and which embraces all types sector.

We were therefore able to hear stories of doctors as well as architects, and for example we learned that the first recipe of a typical local product actually comes from a kosher preparation.

The all-round excursus also included the seventh art: with a quote dedicated to Il maestro di Vigevano by Elio Petri, as regards the wife of the master played by Alberto Sordi, or actress Claire Bloom.

Wikipedia gives us an image with a cup of coffee on the table of one of the Cafe in Piazza Ducale.

Speaking of Piazza Ducale: have you ever noticed the star of David on the cobblestones in front of the Cathedral?

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