WHAZHOT · MADE IN FLO' · ONLY IN FLO' · DISCOUNT COUPONS
sections
Booking
.
culture
.
Cow parade - creative fun Artistic cows in Florence city centre
[Susan Glasspool]
Were you not expecting to see colourful painted cows standing around in the city centre? Nor were the Florentines either! Well they had been warned, but admittedly it is quite a shock to the eye when you rarely see the genuine article grazing in the fields nowadays...CowParade, the largest public exhibition of art in the world, comes to Italy for the very first time and has chosen Florence as the setting for this great artistic and social event of international importance.
A herd of colourful painted cows will invade the streets, squares and public gardens of Florence - not easy in the cradle of the Renaissance - offering an entertaining open-air performance for tourists and the locals alike. It will in fact provide an incredible view of world art and Florentine culture. The idea behind this original show - created by the famous Swiss sculptor Pascal Knapps - is to excite people’s curiosity, make them laugh, but also reflect. Knowing the Florentines, we can expect some really amusing comments! The fact that the public can touch, look at and discuss these art works is a way of encouraging understanding and familiarisation as well as lessening their effect as symbolic totems normally limited to just a few experts. It will also bring more people into the city centre itself.
This year’s edition is the first time that famous artists will exhibit side by side with young emerging artists. The cows, three-dimensional and life-size, are made of glass fibre and will be placed in popular and frequented sites in the city.
The artists come from various schools of art and design, the Academies of Fine Arts and art clubs, as well as individual entries, and have been approved by a committee headed by Gian Luca Marziani, art critic and gallery owner. The best 70 projects are painted on 3 different breeds of cow, the Muccasu, the Muccabruca and the Muccagiù (Standing Cow, Grazing Cow and Sitting Cow), about 220cm long and 140cm high.
One of the objectives of CowParade Florence 2005 is to raise funds for the Meyer Children’s Hospital in Florence. In fact the cows will be sold by public auction by Sotheby's and the profits donated to the hospital. The cows can also be adopted or sponsored! Grandi Stazioni (Large Stations) advertises the show by placing cows in the station squares and the ticket halls of the Santa Maria Novella station as well as those in Milan (Central), Venice Santa Lucia and Rome Termini so as to attract visitors to the Florence CowParade.
This year for the first time there will also be a Baby CowParade, an international event and dedicated to children. 10 calves will be available for the children at the Meyer Playroom to personalise as they like, with the help of the artists involved in the Meyer project. Their efforts will be on display in Piazza Ghiberti.
MORE
http://www.cowparade.it