Agorà
permanent sound installation
OPENArchival Platform
Literature and Human sciences
Professor of Sociology at New York University in Florence
Angelica Pesarini is Professor of Sociology at New York University in Florence where she teaches “Black Italia”, a course dedicated to the analysis of the intersections of race, gender and citizenship in Italy. She holds a Ph.d. in Sociology and Gender Studies in England and worked as a professor of Gender, Race and Sexuality at Lancaster University before returning to Italy in 2017. Pesarini’s research focuses on the performativity of race in colonial and post-colonial Italy and the racialisation of contemporary Italian political discourse. Pesarini has previously investigated the relationships between gender identity and economic activities in some Roma communities living in Rome, analyzing risk strategies, survival and opportunity in the context of male child prostitution in Rome. She has published several academic essays and participated in various collective publications.
Angelica Pesarini is Professor of Sociology at New York University in Florence where she teaches “Black Italia”, a course dedicated to the analysis of the intersections of race, gender and citizenship in Italy. She holds a Ph.d. in Sociology and Gender Studies in England and worked as a professor of Gender, Race and Sexuality at Lancaster University before returning to Italy in 2017. Pesarini’s research focuses on the performativity of race in colonial and post-colonial Italy and the racialisation of contemporary Italian political discourse. Pesarini has previously investigated the relationships between gender identity and economic activities in some Roma communities living in Rome, analyzing risk strategies, survival and opportunity in the context of male child prostitution in Rome. She has published several academic essays and participated in various collective publications.
Volum III
Launched in 2018 Black Archive Alliance is a research and training project that aims to highlight investigations rooted in documents that reflect the realities and histories of African populations, and of the African diaspora and their representation in public and private archives and collections in the Italian context.
The first edition created a virtual map of this archival presence in the city of Florence with a catalog that aims to support future research and provide alternative perspectives. The second edition was also carried out in Florence by international students from various disciplines and institutions, tutored by a group of local researchers and scholars. The third edition, presented as part of BHMF 2021 in this exhibition, was born from a collaboration between five Afro- descendant researchers working in different fields and the artists of the first edition of YGBI Research Residency. Working in pairs, through an experimental approach based on dialogue and exchange, th
Launched in 2018 Black Archive Alliance is a research and training project that aims to highlight investigations rooted in documents that reflect the realities and histories of African populations, and of the African diaspora and their representation in public and private archives and collections in the Italian context.
The first edition created a virtual map of this archival presence in the city of Florence with a catalog that aims to support future research and provide alternative perspectives. The second edition was also carried out in Florence by international students from various disciplines and institutions, tutored by a group of local researchers and scholars. The third edition, presented as part of BHMF 2021 in this exhibition, was born from a collaboration between five Afro- descendant researchers working in different fields and the artists of the first edition of YGBI Research Residency. Working in pairs, through an experimental approach based on dialogue and exchange, they have explored tangible and intangible archives rooted in Italy. Providing contextualization and a wider reflection on the art works produced by the YGBI members, the project is intended to reflect on alternative ways of activating and presenting archive-based research, beyond the academic realm.
The full texts produced by the researchers will be featured in the latest Archive Journal publication, developed in collaboration with Archive Books and launched 24 February at 5pm. As part of this exhibition opening, we are presenting our collaboration with Postcolonial Italy, which introduces their mapping project inserted within our space and exhibition.
Curated by BHMF with Alessandra Ferrini
In collaboration with Archive Books, Museo MA*GA and Villa Romana
MAD Murate Art District _Emeroteca
Researchers: Simao Amista, Jessica Sartiani, Angelica Pesarini, Jordan Anderson, Patrick Joel Tatcheda Yonkeu
Anthropologist and doctor
Simao Amista is an anthropologist and doctor of Italian-Afro-Brazilian descent. A scholar of African and Afro-descendent religions and spiritual philosophies, he has been working for years in the field of hospitality and education.
Simao Amista is an anthropologist and doctor of Italian-Afro-Brazilian descent. A scholar of African and Afro-descendent religions and spiritual philosophies, he has been working for years in the field of hospitality and education.
Giornalista di moda e cultura e direttore creativo
Patrick Joël Tatcheda Yonkeu was born in Cameroon in 1985, lives and works in Bologna. He moved to Italy in 2009 where he obtained a scholarship for the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and obtained a Master’s degree in Visual Arts in 2016 with a research project on the theme of Zen in the arts. His interest in metaphysics remains the basis of his practice, which concerns the relationship between human beings and nature and our place in the universe, and he searches for forms of spirituality more suitable for our times. His research is based on the idea of existence as a harmonious flow whose balance must be preserved and often refers to themes of life and death, the visible and the invisible and energy in its infinite forms. He deepens this research through numerous collaborations between Africa and Italy and by creating seminars on intercultural painting with schools and associations in Emilia-Romagna.
Born and raised in Kingston Jamaica, Jordan Anderson is a fashion and cultur
Patrick Joël Tatcheda Yonkeu was born in Cameroon in 1985, lives and works in Bologna. He moved to Italy in 2009 where he obtained a scholarship for the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and obtained a Master’s degree in Visual Arts in 2016 with a research project on the theme of Zen in the arts. His interest in metaphysics remains the basis of his practice, which concerns the relationship between human beings and nature and our place in the universe, and he searches for forms of spirituality more suitable for our times. His research is based on the idea of existence as a harmonious flow whose balance must be preserved and often refers to themes of life and death, the visible and the invisible and energy in its infinite forms. He deepens this research through numerous collaborations between Africa and Italy and by creating seminars on intercultural painting with schools and associations in Emilia-Romagna.
Born and raised in Kingston Jamaica, Jordan Anderson is a fashion and culture journalist & creative director who is currently based in Milan. His work often magnifies & explores political themes in and outside the fashion industry including race, gender, sexuality, identity & cultural ethics. He contributes to a variety of publications including Document Journal, Teen Vogue, Vogue Italia, The Face and is currently online editor & editor-at-large for Twin Magazine and nss magazine respectively.
Coffee trainer and coffee expert
Jessica Sartiani is a Florentine coffee trainer and coffee expert. With an Italian father and a mother who is half Filipino and half African-American, it is from her origins that her journey as a woman of coffee starts. As someone trained, operative and attentive to the recent sub-cultures of coffee, she started her work in one of the pioneer coffee shops of this selected product, Ditta Artigianale, ten years ago, studying and discovering all the work that precedes the service in the coffee shop, giving importance to the producing countries. Her experience evolved with the opening of the first Speciality coffee in Italy, dealing with the training of baristas and customers. She has participated in various competitions such as the Brewers cup, to improve her contact with the public and enrich her background, and has been part of training projects in Honduras, Lithuania and several local coffee start-ups.
Jessica Sartiani is a Florentine coffee trainer and coffee expert. With an Italian father and a mother who is half Filipino and half African-American, it is from her origins that her journey as a woman of coffee starts. As someone trained, operative and attentive to the recent sub-cultures of coffee, she started her work in one of the pioneer coffee shops of this selected product, Ditta Artigianale, ten years ago, studying and discovering all the work that precedes the service in the coffee shop, giving importance to the producing countries. Her experience evolved with the opening of the first Speciality coffee in Italy, dealing with the training of baristas and customers. She has participated in various competitions such as the Brewers cup, to improve her contact with the public and enrich her background, and has been part of training projects in Honduras, Lithuania and several local coffee start-ups.
Un progetto di produzione continua di reading sulla cultura civile | Teatro dell'Elce
Lighthouse, un progetto di produzione continua di reading sulla cultura civile, si sposta sul web. “Noi ritorneremo!” è l’intestazione di un volantino distribuito dai soldati tedeschi per le strade di Firenze il 6 agosto 1944, pochi giorni prima di lasciare la città, scacciati dall’insurrezione dei fiorentini e dall’incalzare degli alleati. Se è vero che la Storia non consentì ai nazisti di dar seguito a quella minaccia, la sua eco sinistra risuona come monito per tutti coloro che pensano che la libertà sia uno stato acquisito e permanente.
Al racconto vibrante tratto dal resoconto di Carlo Francovich si intrecciano i video originali realizzati presso Murate Art District e in esterno notte per le strade della città di Firenze: le trame video ampliano le risonanze associative della parola e del suono, lo spazio diviene materia poetica per l’evento stesso. Un percorso dal tramonto all’alba per le strade vuote del coprifuoco, la vicenda di un’occupazione, una lotta e
Lighthouse, un progetto di produzione continua di reading sulla cultura civile, si sposta sul web. “Noi ritorneremo!” è l’intestazione di un volantino distribuito dai soldati tedeschi per le strade di Firenze il 6 agosto 1944, pochi giorni prima di lasciare la città, scacciati dall’insurrezione dei fiorentini e dall’incalzare degli alleati. Se è vero che la Storia non consentì ai nazisti di dar seguito a quella minaccia, la sua eco sinistra risuona come monito per tutti coloro che pensano che la libertà sia uno stato acquisito e permanente.
Al racconto vibrante tratto dal resoconto di Carlo Francovich si intrecciano i video originali realizzati presso Murate Art District e in esterno notte per le strade della città di Firenze: le trame video ampliano le risonanze associative della parola e del suono, lo spazio diviene materia poetica per l’evento stesso. Un percorso dal tramonto all’alba per le strade vuote del coprifuoco, la vicenda di un’occupazione, una lotta e una liberazione.
con Erik Haglund, Stefano Parigi, Carolina Pezzini, Monica Santoro
video Maria Montesi
regia Marco Di Costanzo
***
Il progetto Lighthouse
le risonanze associative della parola e del suono, gli spazi ospitanti divengono materia poetica dell’evento. Un percorso dal tramonto all’alba per le strade vuote del coprifuoco, la vicenda di un’occupazione, una lotta e una liberazione.
***
“Noi ritorneremo!” tratto da “La resistenza a Firenze” di C. Francovich
“Noi ritorneremo!” è l’intestazione di un volantino distribuito dai soldati tedeschi per le strade di Firenze il 6 agosto 1944, pochi giorni prima di lasciare la città, scacciati dall’insurrezione dei fiorentini e dall’incalzare degli alleati. Se è vero che la Storia non consentì ai nazisti di dar seguito a quella minaccia, la sua eco sinistra risuona come monito per tutti coloro che pensano che la libertà sia uno stato acquisito e permanente. La vicenda della liberazione di Firenze tra il ’43 e il ’44 è il racconto della presa di coscienza, da parte di un popolo, della propria dignità e della conseguente scelta di combattere per ottenerla.
Available in:
Mira a fornire la scintilla fondamentale per la ricerca futura in questo campo per rimediare allo stato di amnesia che isola la presenza diasporica africana nella città e nel paese come fenomeno esclusivamente contemporaneo
Black Archive Alliance
Villa Romana in the context of Cantiere Toscana, in collaboration with BHMF
Objectives
Present archival materials in sites throughout the city broadening the access to the findings Highlight histories that have frequently been omitted from local memory Provide the foundational spark for future research in this field Remedy the state of amnesia that isolates African and African Diasporic presence in the city and country as an exclusively contemporary phenomenon Highlight the research and researchers who have already been doing this work Produce texts and photographic exhibition materials that can later be re-installed as educational resources.
Colonial Postcards and Landscape architecture
MAD Murate Art District (Emeroteca) 5:30 pm Presentation of the project dedicated to Colonial Postcards from Italian editors and Stamps from the Poste Italiane with the research of the Students of Angelica Pesarini’s Black Italia class at New York University Florence togethe
Black Archive Alliance
Villa Romana in the context of Cantiere Toscana, in collaboration with BHMF
Objectives
Present archival materials in sites throughout the city broadening the access to the findings Highlight histories that have frequently been omitted from local memory Provide the foundational spark for future research in this field Remedy the state of amnesia that isolates African and African Diasporic presence in the city and country as an exclusively contemporary phenomenon Highlight the research and researchers who have already been doing this work Produce texts and photographic exhibition materials that can later be re-installed as educational resources.
Colonial Postcards and Landscape architecture
MAD Murate Art District (Emeroteca) 5:30 pm Presentation of the project dedicated to Colonial Postcards from Italian editors and Stamps from the Poste Italiane with the research of the Students of Angelica Pesarini’s Black Italia class at New York University Florence together with the presentation of an artistic project dedicated to Colonial Botanical Gardens by Michele Dantini.
Landscape architecture. African city parks and botanical gardens by Michele Dantini
For Black Archive Alliance Michele Dantini presents a research rooted in various international archives that investigates African botanical gardens, their colonial conception and their meaning today. The history of African city parks and botanical gardens is interwoven with State political or social vicissitudes, colonization and de-colonization processes, the establishment of new nations, and, in varying ways, with the history of agriculture and the forest. Above all, it is interwoven with a fantasy that is deeply inscribed in the European colonial imagination, that of an African Eden designed for hunting and timeless emotions, and – with the norms, demarcations and prohibitions that led to the creation of natural parks and protected areas – made inaccessible to local populations.
Preparing a Recovery Plan
MAD Murate Art District6 pm
Preparing a Recovery Plan_Artist Screening of artists working with the archive as form and context with videos by: Lerato Shadi, Kevin Jerome Everson e Alessandra Ferrini (with presence of artists)
Sites/Sources/Projects
Biblioteca Marucelliana, Via Camillo Cavour, 43, 50129 Florence; 8.30 am – 6.30 pm
Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Piazza San Lorenzo 9, 50123 Florence; 9.30 am -1.30 pm
British Institute of Florence/ Harold Acton Library, Lungarno Guicciardini 9, 50125 Florence; 10 am – 6 pm
Mediateca Toscana, Via San Gallo 25, 50129 Florence; 10 am – 1 pm / 2 – 7 pm
Centro Studi La Pira, Via dei Pescioni 3, 50123 Florence, 9 am – 7 pm
Fondazione Santa Maria Nuova, Piazza Santa Maria Nuova 1, 50122 Florence; 10 am-1 pm / 3 – 7 pm
SACI/ Worthington Library, Palazzo dei Cartelloni, Via Sant Antonio 11, 50123 Florence; 9 am – 9 pm
Syracuse University Florence/ Syracuse Florence Library, Piazza Fra’ Girolamo Savonarola 15, 50132 Florence; 9 am -1.30 pm / 3 – 8 pm
The other spaces are visitable in their opening hours. We invite the public to pass by the sites to see the shows and collect the pages of the catalogue dedicated to each individual archive free of charge.
Villa Romana, as part of the Cantiere Toscana project, supported by the Region of Tuscany – Toscanaincontemporanea2018 and in collaboration with BHMF, is organizing a series of mini-exhibitions, tours and presentations based on private and public archives, collections and libraries throughout Florence with holdings that reflect the realities and histories of African and African Diasporic people and their representation. This series of shows from the 27th-29th of November creates a virtual map of this archival presence in the city. A resulting catalogue intends to assist future research while providing insight to people who visit the range of spaces dislocated throughout Florence and beyond with which we are in collaboration.
