Students Blog

Monday, December 4 – from 12.30 to 1.30 pm, room 1G

Canzoni al crocicchio (Songs at the crossroads)

Gerardo Balestrieri is a singer-songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist.
He graduated at L’Orientale University of Naples discussing a thesis about syncretism and spirituality in Brasilian music. Artist tout court, he published six albums.
He was invited to many editions of the Italian songwriting contest Premio Tenco, where he reached the finals several times and was awarded with the prize Second Album of the Year in 2007, 2009 and 2013.
He held concerts all over Europe and did a long live tour in California along with the Fishtank Ensemble, with whom he recorded an album in Los Angeles. His artistic cooperations include great names, such as the Iranian songwriter Mosheen Namjoo, the famous Italian quick-change artist Arturo Brachetti and the French group Les Madeleines.
With his veiled and mature lyrics and his deep voice, Gerardo Balestrieri is a complete songwriter. His style is a stunning mix of jazz, swing, contagious rythms, gypsy echoes, Greek style, French atmosphere, twitst and South America.

The concert has been organized for the students of the Italian for Foreigners courses.

All students and faculty are warmly invited to participate.

Visit Gerardo Balestrieri’s official Facebook page

Monday, November 27 – 5 pm – room 9A

After being forgotten in a highway café during a bus trip, a housewife decides to start a new life by herself in Venice.

Directed by: Silvio Soldini                              Starring: Licia Maglietta and Bruno Ganz
Release date:  1999                                           Genre: Comedy
Running time: 114 minutes                            Language: Italian with English subtitles

Tuesday, November 21

The second most important Venetian celebration (after the Redentore) will take place on next Tuesday, November 21: the Feast of Madonna della Salute (our Lady of Good Health).

This celebration is particularly felt by the Venetian people: it commemorates the miraculous ending of a virulent plague epidemics occurred in 1630, event which led the Doge to thank the Virgin Mary by ordering the construction of a magnificent votive temple.

The ex voto is the 1687 baroque church, designed by Baldassarre Longhena,  that we can still see nowadays. A temporary boat bridge is constructed every year to bring the pilgrims to the church,  connecting Santa Maria del Giglio with S.M. della Salute.
A hallmark of this festival is the presence of many colourful and sugar scented stalls located in the proximity of the cathedral
selling balloons for children and cotton candy, toffee apples, chocolate coated strawberries and many more delicacies for all those wishing to feel like a child again.

Students attending F1701 History of Venice and 1707 Intercultural Communication, will enjoy Festa della Salute accompanied by Professor Romania, after having visited the Jewish Museum.

However this celebration is open to all the people who want to go, enjoy it!

Tuesday, November 21 

The visit is reserved to the students enrolled in:

F1701 History of Venice
F1704 Art and Architecture in Renaissance Venice
F1705 The Imaginary City
F1707 Intercultural Communication
F1714 Globalization, Ethics Welfare and Human Rights
F1722 How to Begin Thinking

Due to the high number of participants, they will be divided in three groups as follow:

10 am: F1704

11 am: F1705 F1722 F1714

12 pm: F1707 e F1701

The detailed lists with the names of the students belonging to each slot will be distributed via Moodle.

Meeting point is in front of the museum 10 minutes before the time of entrance.

The visit consists on a guided tour to 3 synagogues and the entrance to the Jewish Museum.

Some information about the museum:

The Jewish Museum of Venice is situated in the  Campo of the Ghetto Novo, between the two most ancient Venetian synagogues. It is a little but very rich museum founded in 1953 by the Jewish Community of Venice.

The precious objects shown to public, are important examples of goldsmith and textile manufacture made between the 16th and the 19th centuries.

The museum is built in two areas, the first one devoted to the cycle of Jewish festivities and to objects used for liturgy, the latter- planned with a greater educational approach- deals with the history of Venetian Jews through images and objects.

Monday, November 20 – 5 pm – room 9A

Mimi is a Sicilian dockworker who inadvertently becomes embroiled in an increasingly complicated array of personal conflicts. When he loses his job after voting against a Mafia kingpin in an allegedly secret election, Mimi leaves his wife to find new work.

He moves to Turin, where he engages in an affair with a Communist organizer. Soon Mimi finds himself juggling two demanding relationships while plotting to take revenge against the corrupt forces that ruined his life.

Directed by: Lina Wertmuller                        Starring: Mariangela Melato and Giancarlo Giannini
Release date:  1972                                           Genre: Comedy, Drama
Running time: 125 minutes                            Language: Italian with English subtitles

Friday, November 17

Ethnographic Cafè – antropology of Art at La Biennale di Venezia

from 3 pm to 5 pm – Sale d’Armi C, Arsenale

Title: One artwork – many perspectives: approaches to the Italian Pavilion

This activity is part of the course F1713 Identity Heritage and Globalization. Attendance open to VIU students and professors owning a Biennale entrance ticket.

Each year VIU organizes a tour of the exhibition and a related seminar inside the Biennale spaces.

This semester students of the VIU course Identity Heritage and Globalization together with Prof Natalie Goeltenboth will shed light on the Italian Pavilion: the diversity of VIU students coming from all parts of the world and from different fields of study will be used as an advantage to approach the Italian Pavilion from different points of view.

The public is very welcome to join and contribute to the discussion.

Monday, November 13 – 5 pm – room 9A

Friday, November 10, 2017

Meeting Point: 12 pm in front of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

N.B. The visit is part of  Prof. Paolieri’s  Supplementary Art Course: Introduction to Italian Renaissance Painting.

Program
12 pm – meeting at Piazza della Signoria, in front of the entrance of Palazzo Vecchio
                visit to the center of Florence with Prof. Paolieri
12.15 pm – guided visit to Uffizi Gallery

Uffizi entrance tickets: sponsored by VIU for all students attending the Supplementary Art Course.

Transport:  Students must arranged on their own the journey to and from Florence. You may check both Trenitalia and Italo’s websites if you want to go by train, in alternative you can take a look for buses like Flixbus or shared cars like Bla Bla Car.

Friday, October 27, 2017

Meeting Point: 9.10 am, San Servolo (boat stop)

Program:
9.10 am Departure with pivate boat from San Servolo Island
10.45 am Malamocco
11.15 am Mose Barrier system
11.30 am Pellestrina
12.15 pm Museum of the South Lagoon
13.30 pm San Pietro in volta
14 pm Ca’ Roman
15.50 pm San Servolo

(You need to bring along a packed lunch)

The visit is compulsory for students enrolled in:
F1701 History of Venice (Prof. Pes)
F1720 Critical Food Studies (Prof. Thompson)

The visit will include a preparatory lesson on Wednesday, October 25 at 5 pm

Some Info
Mose barriers consist of flap gates, installed in the bottom of the inlets, that allow to separate temporary the lagoon from the sea during an event of high tide. They are part of a project intended to protect the city of Venice and the Venetian Lagoon from flooding, through an integrated system consisting of rows of mobile gates installed at the Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia inlets that are able to temporarily isolate the Venetian Lagoon from the Adriatic Sea during high tides.

Find more info in the MOSE Website