Latest news with #AlessandroGiuli
Russia Today
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Star Russian conductor's concert in Italy canceled
A concert in Italy by renowned Russian conductor Valery Gergiev has been canceled following pressure from Brussels and supporters of Ukraine, ANSA news agency reports, citing the organizers. Gergiev, one of Russia's most acclaimed musicians, was set to perform at the Un'Estate da RE festival in Caserta on July 27 with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Salerno. On Monday, the Royal Palace of Caserta's management announced the cancelation. No official reason was given, but the move followed backlash from EU officials, Ukrainian communities, and Kiev supporters after the concert was first announced. Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli welcomed the decision to cancel the performance, saying it reflects 'common sense and moral responsibility aimed at protecting the values of the free world.' Gergiev has faced criticism for refusing to denounce Russia's military operation against the Kiev regime, resulting in his dismissal from the Munich Philharmonic and bans across the West since 2022. Last month, European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno called for him to be replaced in the concert. This followed calls to cancel Gergiev's concert from Ukraine supporters across the EU. Local media reported plans by Ukrainians and Russian opposition groups to stage demonstrations on the night of the performance. A number of officials, including Campania Governor Vincenzo De Luca, however, defended the decision to host Gergiev, arguing that culture should remain separate from politics. In a Facebook post over the weekend, De Luca condemned attempts to silence artists while Western officials 'do nothing' to advance peace in Ukraine. 'Should we silence all musicians, conductors, sopranos, athletes, and sportsmen?... This would be absurd and intolerable… Do you really think that these demagogic attitudes help build peace? It's exactly the opposite,' De Luca said. 'Discrimination does not serve peace… The best way to open a dialogue, to bring us closer to peace, is to bring people together, not set up walls.' Gergiev has not yet commented. He is among numerous Russian artists whose performances in the West have been canceled over the Ukraine conflict. Moscow has condemned the bans as Russophobic censorship.
CNN
24-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Arnaldo Pomodoro, whose bronze spheres decorate prominent public spaces around the world, dies at 98
Arnaldo Pomodoro, one of Italy's most prominent contemporary artists whose bronze spheres decorate iconic public spaces from the Vatican to the United Nations, has died at age 98, his foundation said Monday. Pomodoro died at home in Milan on Sunday, the eve of his 99th birthday, according to a statement from Carlotta Montebello, director general of the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation. Pomodoro's massive spheres are instantly recognizable: shiny, smooth bronze globes with clawed out interiors that Pomodoro has said referred to the superficial perfection of exteriors and the troubled complexity of interiors. In a note of condolences, Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said Pomodoro's 'wounded' spheres 'speak to us today of the fragility and complexity of the human and the world.' The Vatican's sphere, which occupies a central place in the Pigna courtyard of the Vatican Museums, features an internal mechanism that rotates with the wind. 'In my work I see the cracks, the eroded parts, the destructive potential that emerges from our time of disillusionment,' the Vatican quoted Pomodoro as saying about its sphere. The United Nations in New York received a 3.3-meter (10 foot, eight inch) diameter 'Sphere Within Sphere' sculpture as a gift from Italy in 1996. The UN sphere refers to the coming of the new millennium, the UN said: 'a smooth exterior womb erupted by complex interior forms,' and 'a promise for the rebirth of a less troubled and destructive world,' Pomodoro said of it. Other spheres are located at museums around the world and outside the Italian foreign ministry, which has the original work that Pomodoro created in 1966 for the Montreal Expo that began his monumental sculpture project. Pomodoro was born in Montefeltro, Italy, on June 23, 1926. In addition to his spheres, he designed theatrical sets, land projects and machines. He had multiple retrospectives and taught at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and Mills College, according to his biography on the foundation website.
CNN
24-06-2025
- General
- CNN
Arnaldo Pomodoro, whose bronze spheres decorate prominent public spaces around the world, dies at 98
Arnaldo Pomodoro, one of Italy's most prominent contemporary artists whose bronze spheres decorate iconic public spaces from the Vatican to the United Nations, has died at age 98, his foundation said Monday. Pomodoro died at home in Milan on Sunday, the eve of his 99th birthday, according to a statement from Carlotta Montebello, director general of the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation. Pomodoro's massive spheres are instantly recognizable: shiny, smooth bronze globes with clawed out interiors that Pomodoro has said referred to the superficial perfection of exteriors and the troubled complexity of interiors. In a note of condolences, Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said Pomodoro's 'wounded' spheres 'speak to us today of the fragility and complexity of the human and the world.' The Vatican's sphere, which occupies a central place in the Pigna courtyard of the Vatican Museums, features an internal mechanism that rotates with the wind. 'In my work I see the cracks, the eroded parts, the destructive potential that emerges from our time of disillusionment,' the Vatican quoted Pomodoro as saying about its sphere. The United Nations in New York received a 3.3-meter (10 foot, eight inch) diameter 'Sphere Within Sphere' sculpture as a gift from Italy in 1996. The UN sphere refers to the coming of the new millennium, the UN said: 'a smooth exterior womb erupted by complex interior forms,' and 'a promise for the rebirth of a less troubled and destructive world,' Pomodoro said of it. Other spheres are located at museums around the world and outside the Italian foreign ministry, which has the original work that Pomodoro created in 1966 for the Montreal Expo that began his monumental sculpture project. Pomodoro was born in Montefeltro, Italy, on June 23, 1926. In addition to his spheres, he designed theatrical sets, land projects and machines. He had multiple retrospectives and taught at Stanford University, the University of California at Berkeley and Mills College, according to his biography on the foundation website.
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Florence finally to be rid of notorious 60-metre crane after two decades
A giant crane that has blighted the skyline of Florence for almost 20 years is finally to be removed. The controversial structure, described as 'a metal monster', has stood in the centre of the Tuscan capital since 2006, when it was installed in a square opposite the Uffizi Galleries – famous for sublime artworks of the Italian renaissance – and tasked with doing the heavy lifting of materials during the initial phase of the museum's ongoing expansion. At more than 60 metres tall and visible from miles away, the crane was used less and less as the construction works dragged on, but there it remained despite numerous attempts to have it removed over its incongruity with the Florence landscape. Over time, the crane not only became a target of mockery, with an Instagram account set up for this purpose, but also the ultimate symbol of Italy's notoriously sluggish bureaucracy. The main thing holding back the crane's removal has been the huge cost but also the permissions required from the various levels of authority. But after some of the city's entrepreneurs responded to an appeal by the Uffizi's exasperated director, Simone Verde, and clubbed together to cover the bill, the dismantling of the crane will finally begin on 16 June, culminating in a celebration on the terrace of the galleries' Loggia dei Lanzi on 21 June. Such is the importance of the occasion, the event will also be attended by Italy's culture minister, Alessandro Giuli. 'Florence has been waiting for this moment for a long time,' said Verde. 'The metal monster is being removed and Florence's dazzling beauty can finally return intact and unviolated.' Verde added that the 'havoc' caused by the crane had been weighing on the city for far too long, and that he hoped the momentous occasion would mark the beginning of the end of 'this cursed construction site'. Part of the total €180,000 (£152,000) cost will also be used to replace the crane with a less invasive and more sustainable hoist, allowing the works to finally be completed without sullying the city's aesthetics. 'This operation confirms that good administration can triumph despite everything,' said Verde. 'It also testifies that the Uffizi has the capacity to be a model for cultural efficiency and a true flag for Italy in the world.'
The Independent
22-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
US and Italy launch new effort to find remains of soldiers who went missing during WWII
The U.S. has launched a partnership with Italian authorities in order to renew efforts to recover the remains of American soldiers who went missing during World War II. In a post on social media, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said that the new pact 'reflects values shared' between the two nations. 'This will formalize & facilitate our efforts to search for & recover Americans missing from WWII throughout Italy & it reflects values shared between our countries,' the DPAA said. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Rome on Tuesday by Luigi La Rocca, the head of Italy's Department for Heritage Protection, and Kelly McKeague, the director of DPAA. "The right to research and remember those dead during the war is now combined with the protection of the archaeological heritage for which the Ministry of Culture is responsible," Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said on Tuesday, CBS reported. Giuli said the agreement was a further step in "our decade-long cooperation with the U.S. agency for prisoners of war and missing in action, as a tribute to those who sacrificed their lives to contribute to our freedom." The recovery of the remains will be facilitated in compliance with archaeological regulations, according to Italy's Ministry of Culture. Around 72,000 American service members still remain unaccounted for from the war around the world, according to DPAA. Though the exact number that died in Italy is difficult to know, the peninsula was the site of multiple battles from 1943 to 1945, after America entered the fight. Since efforts were renewed in the 1970s, the remains of nearly 1,000 Americans who died in World War II have been identified. Earlier this year, the remains of a soldier who went missing in action during an aquatic operation in Italy, were recovered. U.S. Army Pfc. Robert L. Bryant, 23, was assigned to Company B, in the 4th Ranger Battalion, as part of a group known as Darby's Rangers, according to the DPAA. The battalion was trained by Colonel William Darby, and was active in areas including Italy, northern Africa and the Middle East.
