Conferences and Seminars – Fondazione Giorgio Cini

Democracy and Pandemics

The Fondazione Giorgio Cini has always had a vocation for dialogue between the humanities and sciences, and is recognised as a place for reflection on global issues.
With the symposium Global Health in the Age of AI: Charting a Course for Ethical Implementation and Societal Benefit, organised last November, it renewed this commitment, inaugurating a new cycle of international meet ings to facilitate the identification of solutions to rise to contemporary challenges.

This year, the symposium Democracy and Pandemics aims to explore how democracies can address the challenges posed by pandemics, approaching the topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. The symposium brings together experts from medicine, economics, politics, sociology, philosophy and law to develop comprehensive and sustainable solutions.

The event underlines the importance of international collaboration, and aims to offer concrete reflections to minimise the human and economic damage of future health crises.

Throughout its history, Venice has been ravaged by dramatic epidemics. Votive basilicas such as the ‘Salute’ and the ‘Redentore’ are traces of this. However, Venice has always been able to react, developing rules and structures to prevent and contain its pandemics. It is no coincidence that words like ‘lazarette’ and ‘quarantine’ originated here in Venice. We will also offer an account of this activity of the Republic, with a series of cultural events organised by the Foundation’s Institutes, ranging from historical narratives to artistic recollections, from theatre to concerts.

Seminar Singing in the air, with masks

From 3 to 5 March, the seminar Singing in the air, with masks, organised in collaboration with Isabelle Moindrot and Giulia Filacanapa, professors at the Théâtre Performance et Societé of the Université Paris 8 and the École Universitaire de Recherche ArTeC – Nanterre, will be held at the Institute of Theatre and Opera.

The seminar, a follow-up chapter to the Singing in the pool seminar hosted last year, focuses on the discovery and study of the theatrical mask, with particular reference to the aerial environment. The students attend a lecture on the history of theatrical scenography by the director, Professor Maria Ida Biggi, who gives them an overview of the research carried out by important scenographers. In addition, the students present can view sketches, masks and preparatory materials relating to some of the productions of set designer Santuzza Calì, whose entire documentary archive is preserved at the Institute.

Workshop with Marco Angius and the soloists of the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto

With his threefold activity as composer, conductor and theorist, Pierre Boulez profoundly influenced twentieth-century musical thought.

On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of his birth, a workshop in the Research- Led Performance cycle focusing on conducting orchestral ensembles is offered. The programme, coordinated by Marco Angius, includes four compositions that reflect Boulez’s sound world: Anton Webern’s Symphony op. 21, Edgard Varèse’s Octandre, Pierre Boulez’s Mémoriale, and Niccolò Castiglioni’s Tropi. Eight young conductors who have shown interest and aptitude for the repertoire in question are to be selected through a call for applications. Practical sessions alternate with theoretical sessions held by Pietro Cavallotti, Paolo Dal Molin, Massimiliano Locanto and Francisco Rocca.

The workshop ends with a concert on 7 March, at 6 p.m., in the Sala degli Arazzi of the Foundation, at the conclusion of a three-day workshop focused on conducting orchestral ensembles, within the Research-led Performance cycle.

The concert programme includes performances of pieces by Niccolò Castiglioni, Tropi (1959, for chamber ensemble), Pierre Boulez, Mémoriale (1985, for solo flute and eight instruments), Edgard Varèse, Octandre (1923, for eight instruments) and Anton Webern, Sinfonia op. 21 (1928).

Concert | 6 p.m.

Eye on Music | Audiovisual Ethnomusicology Projects

Seminar and screening of ethnomusicological films curated by Giovanni Giuriati, Marco Lutzu and Simone Tarsitani

The seminar and film screening are part of a broader initiative called Sguardi Musicali – Audiovisual Ethnomusicology Projects, launched in 2018 by the Intercultural Institute of Comparative Music Studies of Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice with the aim of promoting training and production support activities in the field of audiovisual ethnomusicology.

This year’s edition includes a seminar in the morning for Ca’ Foscari Venice University students on the theme of dialogic ethnomusicology, with the participation of anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, filmmakers and musicians. In the afternoon, there will be a presentation of three documentary films, including the film made by the winner of the 2023 Carpitella Grant in its world premiere.

Seminar* | h 11:00 – 13:00

Dialogic Ethnomusicology. Interactions between researchers, filmmakers and musicians

With the participation of:

Valentina Bonifacio, Ca’ Foscari University Venice

Giovanni De Zorzi, Ca’ Foscari University Venice

Ofer Gazit, Ca’ Foscari University Venice

Giovanni Giuriati, Giorgio Cini Foundation, Venice

Marco Lutzu, University of Cagliari

Diego Pani, Carpitella Grant 2023, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Antonio Migheli, Su Cuncordu ‘e su Rosàriu di Santu Lussurgiu

Simone Tarsitani, Durham University

*Seminar open to university students

Screenings | h 15:00 – 18:00

Sardinian Music

by Georges Luneau in collaboration with Bernard Lortat-Jacob (1990) | 28 min

Sardinian Masters’ Talk

by Marco Lutzu and Ignazio Macchiarella (2016) | 23 min

premiered in the presence of the director and the singers:

Mantènnere: guarding the sacred sound

by Diego Pani (2024) | 55 min

The Aesthetics of Esoteric Practices: Materialities, Performances, Senses

This conference focuses on the aesthetics of esoteric practices through materialities, performances, and the senses. It aims to explore the extent to which esoteric practices are socially and culturally constructed and effective because they are practiced, performed, sensorily perceived and embodied by participants as practitioners as well as spectators. The conference evolves around aesthetics as the relations between esoteric practices, the practicing individual and their social and cultural environment.

The event is organized jointly by Fondazione Giorgio Cini (Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations and Spiritualities), DFG-funded Center for Advanced Studies “Alternative Rationalities and Esoteric Practices from a Global Perspective” (CAS-E) at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Center for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents at the University of Amsterdam, and the Research Network for the Study of Esoteric Practices (RENSEP).

The event will be enriched by a Piano Concert organized by the Institute of Music.

Download the program of the conference here.

Admission is free upon registration on Eventbrite:

– Conference registration (12-13-14 November)
– Concert registration (13 November at 6 pm)

For questions about availability, please contact: civilta.comparate@cini.it

Lucio Fontana: Origins and Imagination

The symposium, a collaboration between the Fondazione Giorgio Cini Institute of Art History and the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, with the support of Intesa Sanpaolo, will be held on December 5th and 6th on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice.

Lucio Fontana’s vital and inventive work extends and develops over a wide span of time from the 1920s to the end of the 1960s. A career studded with constant experimentation that placed him, from the very beginning, among the pioneers of contemporary art.

In the History of Art of recent decades, the centrality of his figure and work has increasingly emerged, and the new studies, multiple exhibitions and publications dedicated to him have thus been able to restore, especially to new generations of scholars, but also to a wider public, the variety and coherent continuity of his entire creative career. The international conference Lucio Fontana: Origins and Imagination, promoted by the Giorgio Cini Foundation Institute of Art History and the Lucio Fontana Foundation, intends for the first time to take stock of recent and ongoing studies, as well as to promote, at this significant and rich moment, a discussion between scholars who have dealt directly with the artist or whose in-depth studies have touched on Fontana themes that are useful for offering new readings and avenues of investigation: from those more strictly historical-artistic to research concerning the material and conservation aspects of the works.

Over the course of the two days of study, scheduled for 5 and 6 December 2024, there will be the opportunity to explore the imagery and context within which Lucio Fontana’s activity developed, as well as aspects, moments and themes pertinent to his research and critical reception in Italy and abroad.

The futurist roots of his work, the relationship with the sculpture of his contemporaries, the very early creative phase strained between Italy and Argentina, are some of the investigative paths that will be tackled and that will probe the reasons for the author’s current position. A section of the symposium will also be devoted to an in-depth examination of case studies: exhibitions, selected from among the many, that have contributed to building Fontana’s fortune or to promoting particular aspects of his creative parabola, reaffirming his role as a pioneer and the vitality of his research.

The symposium also highlights the interest shown by the Giorgio Cini Foundation in the Italian-Argentine master, the protagonist of several in-depth events hosted and promoted by the Venetian institution: the Exhibition of Drawings and Graphic Works by Lucio Fontana in 1972; the 2014 conference Figurative Art and Abstract Art. 1954 – 2014 and the scholarship Lucio Fontana, Argentinean period: monuments projects and works announced in 2022 once again in close synergy with the Fondazione Lucio Fontana, which confirms its increasing commitment to supporting and encouraging scientific projects on the artist.

5 – 6 December | Admission free subject to availability

Download the program

Join the live streaming on the Giorgio Cini Foundation YouTube channel

5 December 2024

6 December 2024

Workshop Research-led Performance | Composer – Instrument – Performer | Violoncello Solo in the Second Half of the 20th Century

This workshop is part of the Research-led Performance series, one of the most popular and esteemed activities at the Institute for Music since its inaugural edition in 2016.

Our guest lecturer for 2024 is Lucas Fels, cellist of the Arditti String Quartet and professor at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. A masterful musician, Fels combines his expertise with a keen interest in philological aspects and theoretical reflection. The workshop will focus on works for solo cello by Italian composers, with particular attention to the collections preserved at the Institute for Music. The following compositions will be studied:

Luigi Dallapiccola, Ciaccona, Intermezzo e Adagio (1945);
Renato de Grandis, Serenata seconda (1970);
Giacomo Manzoni, Freedom (2001);
Ernesto Rubin de Cervin, Omaggi (2002).

The workshop is aimed at young cellists with a strong ability to understand and interpret research and experimental music. The program includes both practical and theoretical sessions, as well as a final concert featuring performances by a select group of workshop participants. The practical sessions will be led by Lucas Fels, while the theoretical sessions, open to the public, will be given by musicologists Gianmario Borio (Director of the Institute of Music and Professor at the University of Pavia), Francisco Rocca (scientific collaborator at the Institute of Music) and Francesca Scigliuzzo (doctoral student at the University of Udine) they will address various aspects of the works being studied. Giacomo Manzoni’s participation is expected.

Call for applications for 8 cellists with scholarships

Download WorkshopVioloncelloBandoING_DEF (dec)

Application deadline: 25 October 2024

Expats-Foresti. Foreigners in Venice in the Modern Age. A Fluctating Population

The Institute for the History of the Venetian State and Society in collaboration with the Deputazione per la Storia Patria per le Venezie, the RiVe Study Center of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage of Ca’ Foscari University Venice and the Groupe de Recherche d’Histoire of the Université de Rouen Normandie is proposing a conference dedicated to foreigners in Venice in the modern age.

The program sees a rich harvest of papers, divided into four thematic sessions and spread over three days, two of which are at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

The sessions cover Nations/Communities/Esilii (with Elisa Andretta, José Pardo Tomas, Isabella Cecchini, Alessia Ceccarelli, Katerina B. Korrè, Igor Melani, Alana Mailes); Religious Alterities/Dissensions (with Magnus Ressel, Mario Infelise, Rachele Scuro, Marija Andrić, Bruno Pomara Saverino); the Structures/Institutions/Interactions (with Jean-François Chauvard, Rosa Salzberg, Sandra Toffolo, Massimo Galtarossa, Teresa Bernardi, Francesco Zambonin); the Biographies (with Claudia Terribile, Flavio Rurale, Despina Vlassi, Vittorio Mandelli).

The speakers come from a variety of universities and research institutions: University of Udine, CNRS Paris, CSIC Barcelona, CNR-ISEM Rome, University of Rome-La Sapienza, University of Patras, University of Florence, Trinity College Cambridge, Universität Bremen, University Ca’ Foscari Venice, Istorijski institut Beograd, Universitat de València, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, University of Trento, University of St Andrews, University of Padua.

Vetro e Arti Decorative alla Biennale di Venezia. 1912–1930

In conjunction with the exhibition at Le Stanze del Vetro on the presence of Murano art at the Venice Biennale from the start of the twentieth century, the Glass Study Centre brings together glass historians and experts to explore various aspects of this extraordinary event. At the centre of the conference are not only the key figures of Venetian glass art and the critical
success of some of the most iconic works, but also the choice of colours and shapes made by the likes of Hans Stoltenberg Lerche, Teodoro Wolf Ferrari, Guido Balsamo Stella and Vittorio Zecchin.

h 9:30am | Free entry until capacity is reached
Download the program

Tomaso Buzzi, the Architect of Vittorio Cini

Valerio Terraroli, professor at the University of Verona and one of the leading scholars of the work of the brilliant and visionary architect Tomaso Buzzi from Lombardy, will speak at a conference held at the Castle of Monselice at 11:00 AM. During the lecture, he will discuss the special relationship between Tomaso Buzzi and Vittorio Cini. He will particularly focus on the work done for the Villa di Montericco, the Gallery of Palazzo Cini in Venice, and another prominent historical residence owned by Cini: the monumental complex of the Castle of Monselice and Villa Duodo Balbi Valier, for which the archive of the Institute of Art History preserves “thoughts,” designs, and original sketches.

The bond between Vittorio Cini and the brilliant and visionary architect Tomaso Buzzi (1900-1981), once described as “the most cultured of architects”, was a long-standing and affectionate one, originating from Buzzi’s established friendship with Count Cini from the 1930s, when the architect worked on the interior design of Cini’s Villa di Montericco in Monselice (1938-1942). These were the years of Tomaso Buzzi’s full professional success in the field of private architecture: he was a cultured designer, a respectful restorer, and a refined creator of homes and gardens for the rising bourgeoisie and the most progressive aristocracy. He became a sensitive arbiter of elegance, capable of blending sophisticated historicism—rich with antique references and ‘style’ setting with the Novecento and Art Deco influences of 1920s Milan. Among his many clients, the elite of the economy, politics, culture, and intellectual circles, many had ties to Vittorio Cini through business, friendship, intellectual relations, and collecting: from the Volpi di Misurata family to the antique dealer Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, from Minister Giovanni Gentile to the bibliophile and scholar Tammaro de Marinis. For Cini, Tomaso Buzzi was the architect of choice, able to give form to the desires for renewal expressed in numerous residences. In the early 1940s, alongside the furnishing and arrangement of the Villa di Rimini, Buzzi began his first interventions to modernize and update Cini’s residence on the Grand Canal, Palazzo Cini. This path culminated between 1956 and 1958 with the creation of the neoclassical oval drawing room, designed to scenographically display the 18th-century Cozzi porcelain service, and the famous spiral staircase.

The harmonious relationship between Buzzi and Count Cini, and with the Foundation established in 1951 on San Giorgio Island, led the architect to donate 138 drawings to the Cini Foundation. These included capricci, views, phantasmagorias, scenes of Venetian fêtes, ceremonies, and concerts, recently exhibited in the 2021 show Venezia è tutta d’oro. Tomaso Buzzi: disegni “fantastici” (1948–1976), curated by Valerio Terraroli, held in the evocative spaces of the Longhena Library, marking forty years since the passing of this key figure in modern Italian taste.

11:00 AM | Download the invitation.