Festival in its sixth edition

Art Nouveau Week' returns from 8 to 14 July: Palermo leads the way

The leitmotif for 2024 is happiness, a theme that will be developed through a busy programme of guided tours, conferences and grand tours

4 July 2024

4' min read

From 8 to 14 July the Art Nouveau Week returns, the international week dedicated to the cultural and artistic current of the early twentieth century in its most varied expressions. In thissixth edition, the activities are promoted and partly organised by the Associazione Italia Liberty and curated by Andrea Speziali together with a highly respected scientific and honorary committee. The leitmotif of the 2024 edition is happiness, a theme that will be developed thanks to a dense programme of guided tours, conferences and grand tours..

In Palermo, the leading city of this edition, in addition to the guided tours scheduled in the mornings on Thursday 11, Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 July to discover buildings with modernist decorations, there is also a cycle of conferences entitled 'Architecture and the Arts in Palermo during the Art Nouveau period' divided into three days in different locations: from the famous and exclusive Hôtel Villa Igiea (12 July at 3.30 p.m.) to the hall of the Confcommercio headquarters that sponsored the festival (10 July at 3.30 p.m.) to the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum (13 July at 9.30 a.m.).

The guided tours in the cities involved in the Festival in Italy and Europe will include access to some 100 buildings accessible to the public that are not usually accessible. In Catania, an extraordinary appointment at Villa Ardizzone - Spazio Liberty, which opens its gates to the public on Tuesday 9 July at 7 pm and on Thursday 11 July at 7 pm with a guided tour inside the mansion owned by the Ardizzone family, which has exclusively granted this opportunity.

This year the Civic Museums of Monza for Thursday 11 July, the anniversary of the birth of the Lombard architect Giuseppe Sommaruga, have planned a guided tour to discover the protagonists of an all-Monza floral style. Starting with the works on display in the museum, followed by a tour of the Liberty-style buildings in the city centre.

Milan turns out to be the capital of Art Nouveau for the works of Giuseppe Sommaruga, protagonist of the Modernist season in Italy. The itineraries organised by Italia Liberty in collaboration with Scoprire Milano offer guides arch. Marta Candiani, arch. Monica Torri and art historian Boris Stupia, a visit to Palazzo Castiglioni with its recently restored façades that have regained their original materials and decoration, with the possibility of visiting the interiors, some of which have remained original; a walk through examples of Art Nouveau architecture for the tertiary and commercial sectors in the city centre, the Central Station between Art Nouveau and Deco, the ideal city of Crespi d'Adda between historicism and Art Nouveau, Casa Campanini with a visit to the entrance hall, courtyard and staircase, and finally the S. Teresa pharmacy and Villa Romeo Faccanoni.Teresa and Villa Romeo Faccanoni by Sommaruga with numerous residential buildings between historicism, eclecticism and Art Nouveau in the Porta Vercellina area.

At Aquila, the appointment to discover Art Nouveau art continues with six events, organised by Sara Santella, including the usual walks at the monumental cemetery and in the historic centre, the collaboration with the historic Bar Nurzia and other local organisations, conferences on cinema and women in the Belle Époque, and the Art Nouveau-inspired thematic cocktail.

In Puglia there are guided tours led by the guide Maria Elena Toto to get a closer look at the examples of the floral season that decorated the city of Bari with stones and paintings.

In Savona, guided tours and openings to the public managed by Kalatà continue after a thorough conservative restoration of Villa Zanelli in Savona, which after twenty years of decay is once again shining like a phoenix.

In Sardinia, with the hope of enhancing every social and cultural aspect of Art Nouveau, the Quiteria Cultural Association, in agreement with Italia Liberty, is proposing three unusual appointments in Sassari: the opening event is dedicated to fashion and female creativity in Italy between Art Nouveau and Déco and will explore the artistic and social path of two protagonists of Made in Italy, the fashion designer and activist Rosa Genoni and the creative Luisa Spagnoli. The second appointment will take place at the city's Monumental Cemetery and will be a cultural walk to rediscover the most prestigious Art Nouveau funeral monuments, their history and the artistic characteristics that distinguish them.

The last meeting will be dedicated to literature: in the splendid setting of the historic Monserrato Park, the cultural association Quiteria will offer the opportunity to listen to and/or read selected excerpts from Italian and international literature of the Liberty period. The meeting will take place at sunset, will be characterised by a themed setting and participants will have to comply with a dress code: all those taking part, even mere spectators, will have to wear white clothes. All events will be free admission.

In Rimini there will be guided tours during the week to discover Art Nouveau, such as Agostino di Duccio's sculptures on the Malatesta Temple, a veritable mausoleum. Musician angels and cherubs silhouetted against the blue background, drawn by elastic and melodious lines, inspired by a suave hedonism, seem to have been made on purpose to be translated into majolica or frescoes for the decoration of spas or large hotels in the Belle Époque. It is precisely Art Nouveau that is associated with what the French call the 'Coup de fouet', a distinctive character of Art Nouveau, the primacy of a whiplash, sinuous, whimsical, nervous or lashing line that we find in several examples common to works by Mucha, Guimard, Klimt, Bistolfi and many other authors whose works will be shown by guides from all over Europe during the festival.

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