Skip to main content

EMIGRATION VS. IMMIGRATION: A MEMORY OF ITALY IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR

the flyer of uno, nessuno, seicentomila



Understand a bit of Italian? This is the night to figure out how much regarding a topic that seems a bit removed but actually isn't at all.  Italy entered the first world war exactly a hundred years ago on the 24th of May 1915. 600'000 Italian soldiers died during the war. Many of them were 'Italians' born in Brasil or Argentina who traveled to Europe as young men to fight for a country they had never put foot on before. 150'000 of Italy's soldiers in the first world war had been born in Brazil, Argentina and other countries their parents had had to migrate to for a better future abroad. An important fact to consider when we read the daily headlines regarding todays incessantly growing immigration to Italy and Europe via Lybia. 

'La storia quasi vera del milite ignoto' is told by Emilio Franzina, the writer of the book with the same title, which tells the story of a young soldier born in Brasil to Italian parents of Venetian heritage. 

In case your Italian isn't quite there yet, just come for the musical interludes by the extremly talented four musicians and singer Sabrina Turri of Hotel Rif and for the beautiful ambiance in Siena's teatro dei Rozzi.  

LA STORIA QUASI VERA DEL MILITE IGNOTO WITH HOTEL RIF
MAY 24, 2015 - 9 pm. 
Teatro dei Rozzi, piazza Indipendenza 15, Siena. Entrance is for free. 

If you want to catch Hotel Rif on a lighter note visit Montalcino on Wednesday 27 for the band's sunset view concert in Sant'Angelo in Colle. 
Labels:
Location: Piazza Indipendenza, 15, 53100 Siena SI, Italy

Popular posts from this blog

BEST BIKE RENTAL IN SIENA

Villa Catignano: one of the many beautiful places an e-bike can get you to from Siena A few years ago, I interviewed an American writer , who during her month-long stay in Siena whizzed through the city on a bicycle. This was an unusual sight - vespas are the two-wheelers of choice in Siena's hilly town center, not bikes like in mostly flat Florence.  But the invention of e-bikes is about to change this. The city of Siena has installed an  electric bike sharing program which is functioning well. However, it's mostly aimed at locals and residents, as its set-up is a little complicated for visitors who only stay a couple of days in town. Hence, for tourists, the best bike rental options in Siena are with the privately owned shops which supply bycicles of every size and type for a day or two or an entire week.  Giulia from Julskitchen.com cycling through the hills of Siena Siena Bike Shop rents out racing bycicles, hybrid and e-bikes and is a great optio...
Read on...»

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes and paintings

From toddlers to octogenarians, when in Siena I schlepp everybody to see Ambrogio Lorenzetti's 'Buon Governo'. The long title of the painting is 'The Allegory of Good and Bad Government in the City and the Countryside' and it is exactly that - namely an accurate depiction of daily life in medieval Siena. The detailed and elegant fresco cycle is a rarity not just in regard to Lorenzetti's style and technique, but mainly due to its subject matter. In the 14th century, paintings and frescoes focus on stories and characters from the old and new testament and  not on the day-to-day tasks of builders and farmers.  Medieval Siena depicted on one of the walls of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's fresco cycle in the Palazzo Pubblico (©Wikipedia) And this is exactly why it's so much fun to spend some time in front of the fresco cycle in the  civic museum in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Whether its kids  - or meat lovers - looking for the famous Cinta Senese pig  ...
Read on...»

NINA ZILLI CONCERT IN PIAZZA DEL CAMPO

Whatever the exact financial situation of the city of Siena and its famous nearly broke bank - the fact that free concerts are back on Piazza del Campo is a promising sign! In the summer of 2012 ,   Patti Smith  sang 'People have the Power' on Piazza del Campo. The song and her fabulous concert in Siena feature in the book soundtrack - and hopefully also in the future film adaptation - of my memoir  Across the Big Blue Sea .  But while a spectacular full moon rose behind Torre del Mangia the night of Patti's concert, the city itself had just started its descent into a longlasting financial nightmare. The Monte dei Paschi bank -  founded in  1472 it is the world's oldest continually operating bank -  turned from  prodigy into Italy's problem child (more about this here ), and with the bank's debacle, the free concerts on Piazza del Campo had lost their main sponsor.  Nina may not be a world-star, but she's definitely one of th...
Read on...»