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the Renaissance City reborn Fabbrica Europa. The Tent(h) Year
[Maddalena Delli]
Fabbrica Europa is back in town with its yearly festival held from May 2nd to 31st at the Stazione Leopolda.The project started back in 1994 with the aim to set up in Florence a permanent workshop and interactive meeting place for artists from all over Europe - although the Renaissance City, with the physical and intellectual "burden" of its overwhelming past, was neither an obvious nor an easy place for such an enterprise.
Newly organized a few months ago into a Foundation, ten years on Fabbrica Europa is now firmly established as one of the most interesting international events of contemporary arts.
This year's festival draws inspiration from a statement by one of Italy's leading 20th C. architects, Giovanni Michelucci (b. Pistoia, 1891; d. Florence, 1991), who stood for the notion of "cittŕ-tenda" (tent-city) against that of "cittŕ-carcere" (jail-city). In short, he argued that a city should stretch and adjust to welcome and accommodate different needs and "guests", rather than limiting them with a rigid structure.
This year's decor of the Stazione Leopolda has been entrusted to English designer Nigel Coates, who fittingly thinks architecture should pull together the normal world while providing "windows for the imagination". Sometimes described as Britain's "bad boy of architecture", Coates has been able to turn his visionary ideas into reality with major buildings in Japan and the UK, and is best known for designs including the British Pavillion Expo in Lisbon, and the giant "Body Zone" sculpture for the Milennium Dome in London.
Over four weeks, Fabbrica Europa will host a huge number of events " far too varied and extensive for us to list them here, but you can check our events section for a detailed and constantly updated program.
There will be visual and performing arts including dance shows, concerts, dj sets (see separate article on this subject), workshops and theater with artists from all corners of the globe: from France to Norway, from the States to the Nederlands, from Canada to Senegal, from Brazil to Belgium.
Admission prices for individual events will range between 8 and 12 Euros, but there are discounts for students with proof of identity. For more info you can call 055.2638480 or check www.fabbricaeuropa.net/
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http://www.fabbricaeuropa.net