Slow Art Day 2012 in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi

It’s that time again… for annual Slow Art Day! The date is Saturday April 28 2012, worldwide. In Florence, the event will be taking place at Palazzo Strozzi from 3-7pm.

Last year I co-organized Slow Art in Florence 2011 with Palazzo Strozzi’s education department and we had almost a hundred people show up! The year before, while smaller, was very successful - Slow Art Florence 2010 was held at the Church and Museum of Santa Croce. Both times, the approach was much appreciated, and the dialogue fruitful.

If you’re new to Slow Art, the concept is simple: people worldwide, on the same day, are encouraged to look at art SLOWLY! To do so, moderators in various cities devise various approaches. My approach has been to provide a list of things to look at within the exhibition space, and to also give a goodly amount of guidance as to what things you might want to consider for about 15 minutes. Organizers choose a small number of works on which participants concentrate for about 15 minutes each. Afterwards, there’s a group discussion.

This year I won’t be involved – I’ve passed on the torch to the talented ladies at Palazzo Strozzi – but encourage you to sign up! Discussion groups are available in either English or Italian and the event is free, you just pay a discounted (8 euro) museum entrance. The exhibit is “Americans in Florence” (see my review here) and discussion will be held in the courtyard.

If you’re not in Florence but still want to practise Slow Art, sign up in any of 88 participating cities (so far this year).

Sign up here for Slow Art Florence 2012.