Sufism, a path of spiritual, mystic and esoteric purification in the Islamic world, has played a central role in the history of Islam as regards its artistic, philosophical, ethical and political developments.
In the Modern age, Sufism suffered a twofold attack: on one hand from “Islamic reformists” (Salafi and Wahabi), who consider Sufism to be a form of innovation and syncretism and, on the other, from “Modernists”, who see it as an archaic religious manifestation. Nonetheless, Sufism in the contemporary world shows great vitality: new brotherhoods have been founded and existing ones have acquired renewed energy. This revival of contemporary Sufism deserves further study, and that is why the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, with Francesco Piraino, director of the Centre for Comparative Studies of Civilisations and Spiritualities, in collaboration with Mark Sedgwick (University of Aarhus) decided to organize this international conference.
The themes to be addressed are: the new theological forms of Sufi, with a special focus on the relationship with the Other; policies of Sufism; and its cultural and religious influence on society. A second objective of the conference is to introduce some topics of Sufism and Islam to a wider audience. For this purpose, one of the invited speakers is Khaled Bentounes. A Sufi master in the Alawiyya brotherhood, he will deal with the relationship between Islam and Sufism.
Program Sufism Cini 2017
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Tiziano Terzani. Guardare i fiori da un cavallo in corsa
Edited by àlen Loreti
Rizzoli, Milan, 2014
Edited by Àlen Loreti and published by Rizzoli, this illustrated book provides an intimate portrait of the great Italian journalist, who died ten years ago, based on his personal documents preserved in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini. In fact Terzani’s library, the books that stimulated his thinking and travels, his personal archive, letters, some objects and photographs were presented by the Terzani family to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in 2012. Opening those books and browsing through his notes enables us to grasp his moods and to describe his world through his own words, images and memories of a lifetime. Starting from the proceedings at the conference entitled “Tiziano Terzani: portrait of a connoisseur”, held at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in May 2012, the book recounts his restless, insatiable curiosity and yearning for freedom. It is enhanced by various personal accounts and contributions concerning the man, writer, photographer and enthusiast of Asian culture and spirituality, including a text by his wife, Angela Staude.
Intended to complement the reflections on Cambodia, the photographic show installed in the exhibition spaces of the Manica Lunga Library – In Cambogia. Photographs from the Tiziano Terzani Archive – is curated by Angela Staude Terzani. The exhibition features the photographs taken by her husband Tiziano Terzani on a trip to Cambodia in 1980. The exhibition will run from 9 May to 2 June 2014. The photos provide a vision of the country between destruction and reconstruction, just as Onesta Carpenè must have seen it in those same years. The main focus is on Cambodia in the early 1980s, immediately after the end of the Khmer Rouge regime, when the country was still devastated by civil war and the liberating-occupying Vietnamese army. Most of the photos are previously unpublished. They have been selected from the Terzani Archive, now being installed in the Giorgio Cini Foundation, which in 2012 already received Terzani’s private library.
