2007 - November
Culture
For Padua with no rhetoric
Giovanni Umicini pays tribute to Padua, his adopted city, with a big photography exhibition. ‘Per Padova’ is open October 7 to January 13, 2008, at the Civic Museum on Piazza del Santo, Padua, presented by the City of Padua in collaboration with the National Center of Photography.
Padua could not find a more passionate cantor than Giovanni Umicini. In his seemingly three-dimensional black & white timeless photographs the Tuscan artist captures a Padua that is glowing with an inner light, almost magical. But then Padua is a bit magical. Just look at the Palazzo della Ragione with its hull-like roof whose design was inspired by the Scorpio Constellation, the zodiac sign under which the city was founded, and embellished by frescoes depicting tarot cards and the zodiac. Umicini, who is not a Padua native (the photographer, an exponent of the New Humanism, was born in Florence in the 1930s), has been very successful in capturing with his street snapshots the soul of the a city, the deep sense of solitude that can be detected in a look, the cadenza of a mood at the exact moment it changes. Full Story
Culture
“The Wedding at Cana”: a miracle reproduced
A meticulously rendered facsimile of Veronese’s painting “The Wedding at Cana” is back after 210 years of absence at the Palladian Refectory at the old Benedictine monastery on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore.
A facsimile that does not reinstates historical justice. Back at the Palladian Refectory on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore is a copy of the famous painting The Wedding at Cana, stolen by the French in 1797. The unveiling of the new facsimile opened the exhibition “The Miracle at Cana: Originality Through Reproduction,” organized by the Institute of Art History at the Giorgio Cini Foundation and by the Madrid Factum Arte Atelier. The exhibition, which was open September 15 to 30, is to reopen on October 12 (through December 16, 2007). Full Story
Hot autumn for professional photography
Photography lovers and semi-professionals represent an extremely important market segment, about 31% in Italy and on the rise also in the U.S. The leading makers of photographic equipment are out to win it over. Here is the latest from Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Sony.
D3 and D300: two fixed points in the house of Nikon
Nikon does not compete with rival Canon by counting resolution megapixels, but prefers to focus on speed and flexibility.
Eight years after the release of the D1 camera, Nikon’s ambition is clear: revolutionize professional photography. The two new arrivals from Nikon, D3 and its younger sister the D300, offer more than 12 megapixels (less than the EOS-1, rival Canon’s flagship camera, but more than enough for any use) and the new FX-format CMOS sensor. That is virtually equal to a 35mm film quality. A real change in strategy for the Japanese producer, which so far has focused on smaller-scale sensors, but a change that does not entail abandoning the old lenses, which are still compatible. Full Story
Culture
Lou Reed the Transformer
Our journey across the American music scene continues with an alternative rock icon, the sulfurous Lou Reed, an all-round artist who made ambiguity his banner, and urban alienation his way of life. Unabashed. Calling out from the wild side.
If Andy Warhol had not wanted to start a band that would celebrate his mentor-talent scout role then perhaps Lou Reed, born Lewis Allen Reed in 1942 in Freeport (Long Island), NY, would have never put together the Velvet Underground and would have remained an obscure rock ’n’ roll musician.
But destiny had something in store for the restless Lou. Born into a Jewish well-to-do middle class family, young Lewis was brought up like any other good Jewish boy. He read a lot, learned to play the piano, but like many other boys his age was literally swept away on the rock ’n’ roll wave and was drawn to the electric guitar. Lewis, who now went by the name of Lou, was a very special young man, a living oxymoron. An introvert who at the same time was also totally uninhibited, he scandalized people with his provocative behavior, demonstrating openly his homosexual tendencies. Full Story
Culture
New from Philip Roth
With Exit Ghost, Philip Roth’s new book (soon out in its Italian translation, published by Einaudi), the author of last year’s Everyman provides an X-Ray scan of a man at the end of the line of his manliness and authorship. Roth’s alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman, plays dice with life. And shoots his last bullets, under the sheets and between the lines.
Women of a certain age who try anything to keep young make us smile with affection. But when a celebrated 70-year-old writer, an intellectual powerhouse, is out to find his long-gone youth at all costs, ignoring his prostate and incontinence problems in his failed attempt to seduce a young married woman with literary ambitions, he cannot but make himself look ridiculous. Full Story
Dossier
Science Schools? Italy scrambling to patch up
Facing the alarming disinterest of Italian students in scientific ‘vocations’ and the nearly zero appeal of mathematics, physics and other scientific fields, universities are rushing to the rescue. Thanks to tuition incentives and rising professional opportunities, Italy could regain its place among European scientific and technological leaders.
How many students can you find in science schools in Italy? Well, just a bit more than spaghetti in sushi. Meaning, almost none. This is the sad and alarming news, the result of a study conducted a couple of years ago by the European Union. A report that in a way provided answers to two additional fundamental questions: why has Italy fallen so far behind on heavy industrialization; and, especially, why should Italian companies be forced to hire technical personnel, specifically engineers, from other Euro-area countries? Until five years ago, the situation had appeared beyond hope. Full Story
Venetian Itinerary
Fairytale lodge
The Casone da Caccia (hunters’ lodge) in the Zappa Valley looks as if it were a set for a Nordic fairytale. This eccentric building in the southern Lagoon, built in the early 20th century, transforms this part of the Venice Lagoon into an Amsterdam canal.
The roundish outline of the roof. The graceful and slender observation tower. The refined interior. The magnificent colors of the large windows. These are some of the elements that make the Casone in the Zappa Valley one of the most exciting and enjoyable “discoveries” for anyone traveling around the southern Venice Lagoon, either aboard a boat or on a bicycle. Well, this Casone is nothing like the usual casoni, or buildings where fishermen and hunters would find shelter in the cold winter nights, when darkness or fog would prevent them from going back home to Pellestrina, Chioggia or Venice, where they would sell their catch. Full Story
Dossier
Italy: 10 in communications, 4 in development
The only way Italy can develop is through science education, in compulsory schools and universities. Development requires engineers, physicists, biologists and chemists. Time to turn the Beautiful Country from a land of communicators to a pool of scientific minds.
“And they go on communicating. Communicating what? What do they have to communicate about? The Italian economy needs engineers, physicists, biologists and chemists; while our youngsters rush en masse to enroll in communication science courses. But if you don’t produce, don’t conduct research, don’t develop technologies, what exactly are you going to communicate about?”
It was sometime in March 2006, with Italy at the height of the election campaign, when then premier candidate Romano Prodi stated in a meeting dedicated to the future of the Italian economy his pro-science education manifesto during the great boom of enrollments in communication science departments. Full Story
Culture
The Italian gallery owner who reinvented art in America
Born a hundred years ago in Italy, Leo Castelli had an extraordinary influence on contemporary art and left his indelible mark on 20th century New York.
“Leo Castelli was a truly elegant man, too well-dressed. The rest is art history.” That is what a childhood friend, Gillo Dorfles, wrote in the introduction to a biography of the Italian-American art dealer written by Alan Jones and recently published by Castelvecchi, in celebration of his 100th birthday.
A description that captures Leo Castelli’s importance and influence on the art scene of his time, but also the man’s charisma: a true ‘mover and shaker,’ wielding power but genuinely passionate about his art. Full Story
Current Affairs
Temporary and flexible employment, but in compliance with welfare policies
Incentives to employers offering ‘per project jobs’ as well as ‘jobs on call,’ the emblems of perpetual temporary employment, are likely to be the first to lose current governments incentives. These are some of the corrective measures to affect the labor market as stipulated in the Welfare Protocol presented by Minister of Labor Cesare Damiano to unions and employers and described in an exclusive interview with our magazine.
The Minister of Labor Cesare Damiano sees the future of Italian workers as moderately flexible but not eternally temporary. A scenario that must be built considering both the needs of employers and those of employees. In this context, the minister has recently circulated a new Welfare Protocol that was approved by all unions and employers, except for a single, but significant Niet from CGIL-FIOM, the CGIL union branch representing factory workers. But the approval of the welfare package by the three main unions is likely to lead to important changes in work conditions for temporary workers – whom Minister Damiano wishes to see progressively hired permanently. Full Story
