Saturday night at Le Murate
This Saturday Jan 16 2010 is a very special PREVIEW night at Le Murate. If you’re in or near Florence, plan to swing by and check out this new space. Well, not so new space… let me explain.
Le Murate was, back in the Quattrocento, a nunnery for nuns under clausura – thus “murate”, something like “walled in”. For about 100 years, starting in 1883, it was the jail of the city of Florence.
When I first came to Florence as a student in 1999, I remember going to a nightclub that was set up in the main square of Le Murate, but the buildings themselves were in disuse. The city of Florence is now unveiling a stunning restoration of this large space. Starchitect Renzo Piano was involved, which is probably why the facade of the residential section that gives onto piazza madonna della neve is so wonderfully varied and full of life.
What’s it going to be? From late Spring onwards, Le Murate is going to be one of the centres for art and contemporary culture in the city. The programme is yet to be decided, but the idea is that there will be at least bi-weekly cultural offerings which might range from literary discussion, music, experimental theatre… whatever. Furthermore, there are two large spaces dedicated to important projects: The SUC, Spazio Urbano Contemporaneo, is a sort of art gallery that is not an art gallery; the Smart Dissidents 2.0 project, on the other hand, houses political activists and dissident bloggers that are not welcome in their home countries. Thus Le Murate moves from an area of imprisonment to one of Liberty.
On Saturday 16/01/2010, from 6pm to midnight, there will be an evening preview of the cultural events to come, including spontaneous performances, music, and fashion displays. I will be there with H-Art’s Social Media Team. Please stop by the social media space (marked A on the Murate map that you’ll see when you get there) and come send a tweet for Florence. Follow Le Murate on Twitter and tweet, from there or from home, with the hashtag #murate. If you’d like to keep on top of the event via facebook, please become a fan of le murate on facebook.
FOR MORE INFO: The website www.lemurate.comune.fi.it is only in Italian because the event on the 16th is primarily for residents, but the space speaks all languages so please do stop by and take a peek.
BARCAMP: there will also be the second Barcamp for Florence held on Jan 16th at Le Murate from 2pm to 6pm. To sign up for the barcamp sign up on the wiki http://barcamp.org/palazzovecchio and contact Chiara Belli as per the instructions there.
