Florence’s ‘Eredità delle Donne’ Festival

This week brings Florence’s L’Eredità delle Donne (The Legacy of Women), a festival devoted to the celebration and empowerment of women, whose contributions have been historically overlooked. By incorporating a variety of media, the initiative’s series of events seeks to disseminate a philosophy around the city and engage with the public, creating an atmosphere of inclusivity during its three-day run.

Oct. 4, 5, 6: L’EREDITA’ DELLE DONNE, festival highlighting women’s contributions to the arts and culture in general. Various venues.  Free admission, with registration for events on the website.

Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, the final member in the long Medici family lineage, has been chosen as the mascot for the feminist festival. Anna Maria Lusia deserves all the credit for the access we have to Florence’s cultural patrimony today — it was her wish that her family’s private art collection be put into public hands. Her legacy as an outspoken, decisive individual inspires  this year’s events of L’Eredità delle Donne.

The Gucci Garden invites visitors for a free festival preview on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7 pm in Piazza della Signoria, 10. During the preview, the Gucci Garden bookstore will host a conversation with Mariuccia Casadio, art consultant for Vogue Italia; Maria Luisa Frisa, curator of the Gucci Garden Galleria; and Alessandra Mammì, art historian and journalist. Coinciding with the presentation, the Gucci Garden Galleria Cinema will host a screening of “Appendice per una supplica” (1972), by Ketty La Rocca, one of the first contemporary art videos ever created.

Festivities will kick off on Friday, Oct. 4 at the Teatro della Pergola (via della Pergola, 12/32) with a panel at 9 pm entitled “La città delle donne” (The City of Women), which hopes to spark dialogue around the notion of how cities would be if they were conceptualized by today’s female leaders. The conversation will be mediated by Serena Dandini, director of L’Eredità delle Donne, and will include female entrepreneurs, architects, and other professionals. The discourse will undoubtedly be powerful, as it interrogates our city’s past and present under the roof of one of its most historical buildings.

50 Shades of Pink is a rather cliché-sounding title for the empowering conference scheduled for October 5 and 6, designed an international, summit-style encounter featuring some of the most prominent woman figures of our age. Topics will range from science to politics and sports; all conversations will be oriented towards the future of females in these fields.

50 Shades of Pink, much of which will take place at the Pergola, opens with journalist Concita De Gregorio, who will present “Canzone per Carol” (A Song for Carol) on Saturday, Oct. 5, in memory of the late artist Carol Rama (10:30 am). Livia Firth, the co-founder and creative director of Eco-Age (an agency with the aim of raising the awareness of international brands regarding ethics and environmental sustainability), will speak about the negative impact of today’s changing climate at 11 am. A panel, comprising writers Licia Troisi and Teresa Ciabatti, along with Ivana Bartoletti (who chairs the Women Changing Politics network), will examine the different forms of representation of women—from Pinocchio’s Fairy with the Turquoise Hair to Barbie, through advertising and fashion to the feminine world of the future—at noon.

The afternoon program on Saturday, Oct. 5, will begin at 2:30 pm with Nobel prize scientists, highlighting “Female Excellence in a Male World” featuring astronomer Sandra Savaglio and astrophysicist Elisabetta Baracchini. At 3:30 pm, the sports journalist Ilaria D’Amico will moderate “Who said that Females Don’t Score?” with famous woman in sports field, including Novella Calligaris, Maurizia Cacciatori and Diana Bianchedi. Later the same day, Miriam Toews, Canadian author and vocal critic of domestic violence, will dialogue with stand-up comic Geppi Cucciari at 4:45 pm. All of the above events are scheduled at the Teatro della Pergola.

The theatre will also host “Vieni Avanti Cretina!” (Up Front, Idiot!), a theater performance in stand-up comedy style on Oct. 5 at 9 pm. Every participant will be female, with a famous Italian actress among them: Lucia Poli.

Woman in music will be a major part of L’Eredità delle Donne. The first Palestinian woman DJ, Sama Abdulhadi, will perform for free at Manifattura Tabacchi (Friday, Oct. 4 at 10 pm, via delle Cascine 33). At the same location, music journalist Pierfrancesco Pacoda will explain “What do Women Talk about When They Talk about Music?” with representatives of groundbreaking Italian music: Nada, La Rappresentante di Lista and Margherita Vicario (Saturday, Oct. 5 at 6 pm).

Always at the Pergola Theatre, visitors will get an opportunity to meet and ask questions of guests from all around the world who specialize in different fields on Sunday, Oct. 6. The discussion panel for “Women’s Rights are the Rights of All” (10 am) includes Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR); Lina Ben Mhenni, among the first women to report on the Arab Spring through her blog “A Tunisian girl;” and Marta Dillon, the Argentinian founder of grassroots feminist movement Ni Una Menos. This event, like so many others within the festival, will encourage the public to take an unshrinking look at some of the most pressing issues women face today.

The Literary Cafe component of the festival consists of 16 encounters spread out among the historical bookshops of the city. Valeria Parrella and Carla Cucchiarelli will be among the (female, of course) guests invited.

Florence’s stunning Synagogue (Via Luigi Carlo Farini, 4) and Hebrew Museum (Via Luigi Carlo Farini, 4) also be in the spotlight: during the three days the festival is in session, the landmark will open to display items that represent the female experience of Judaism — a narrative that is often overshadowed by the male experience. On a similar note of bringing females to the forefront, L’Eredita delle Donne include a performance showcasing the value and accomplishments of influential women whose legacies have been overshadowed by their husbands’ fame: Donne nell’Ombra (Women in the Shadows). The show will take place outside of Florence’s borders, in the small town of Fucecchio.

The project is made possible by collaboration with several organizations, such as Rai Radio 3, Estate Fiorentina, and the Scuola Holden. The fashion company Gucci is the partner of this year’s edition of the festival — women have proven time and again how much they like Gucci, and now the luxury brand has the chance to return the affection. The website, which also includes an interesting blog, can be referenced for updates. (emma hempstead & mary filatova)