Il Salotto della Sfinge
A cultural festival of the theme equality
August 29th – September 1st 2019
Villa San Michele
The festival is called the Sphinx’s salon in tribute to the villa’s famous symbol, the three thousand year old Egyptian sphinx. The idea behind the manifestation is to promote contemporary Italian and Swedish culture by creating a meeting point for artists, writers, film directors, activists and journalists from both countries. The theme is equality in a broad sense: gender equality, sexual and religious rights, everyone’s equal right before the law. Here are some insights from the program:
Our first guest is the famous Swedish artist and illustrator Liselotte Watkins with per exhibition Sbiadito, inspired by Villa San Michele and the women in Axel Munthe’s life. The exhibition will be held in the villa’s sculpture loggia from August 29 to September 20.
Cesare Cunaccia will open the second day of the festival, August 30, presenting his new book Capri Dolce Vita published by Assouline. This beautiful coffee table book tells the tale of the island of Capri through illustrations, vintage photos, poetry, art and fashion. Old pictures of Villa San Michele are featured in the book.
Swedish soccer player Lisa Ek will follow the same evening. Lisa Ek works in both Sweden and Italy to give newly arrived migrants a chance to be integrated in society, using soccer as a vehicle. With Lisa we will also talk about women’s soccer.
Italian film director Alessio Cremonini will talk about his movie Sulla mia pelle (On my skin) which is available on Netflix in most countries. The film is about a well known court case in Italy and has won several awards.
The author Anton Emilio Krogh will present his new book Non si può fermare l’estate. With his first book, Krogh travelled around Italian schools, talking about LGBTQ issues.
Our guests also include Cinzia Leone, who recently won the Rapallo Prize as Female Writer of the Year. Her book Ti rubo la vita raises questions about tolerance, equality and the search for religious identity.
Here is the entire program :
29/8 19.00 Vernissage Sbiadito Liselotte Watkins
20.00 Book presentation Ti rubo la vita by Cinzia Leone
30/8 19.00 Book presentation Capri Dolce Vita by Cesare Cunaccia, ex Vouge Italia
20.00 Conversation on stage about fotboll for integration and equality with Lisa Ek, swedish soccer player and TV commentator
31/8 19.00 Book presentation Non si può fermare l’estate by Anton Emilio Krogh
20.00 Discussion on stage about the movie Sulla mia pelle with the movie director Alessio Cremonini
1/9 19.00 Discussion on stage about the movie Aspromonte, la terra degli ultimi with the director Mimmo Calopresti
20.00 The well known actor Renato Carpentieri meets the audience and recites well known pieces from literature and theatre about equality
Flyer