Refugee week 20-26 June in UK

 A series of exciting and interesting events will take place this year during the Refugee Week (20-26 June 2016). The RW is organized and managed by Counterpoint Arts.
Find all details here.

Don't miss the launch of the RW at Southbank Centre on the 19th of June.

The theme of this year RW is WELCOME.

Don't miss this event I have organized: a double screening by director Luca Vullo on Italian emigration (before and after) at University of Westminster on the 25th of May, 6pm.

The Department of Languages and Cultures of the University of Westminster is pleased to present the screening of two documentaries by Italian filmmaker Luca Vullo, followed by a discussion with the director.

From Sulphur to Coal (52’, 2008) A documentary on the historical emigration of thousands of miners and their families from Italy to Belgium at the end of World War II following the 1946 Italo-Belgian Agreement. Labourers sold for coal's sacks between economic interests, human rights crushed and occupational safety non existent.

AND

Influx - Europe is moving* (15’, 2015) London has never attracted so many Italians as in the last few years. In a period when European immigration is continuously debated in politics, INFLUX, through the perspective of well-established Italian immigrants offers an emotional self-analysis that reveals the strengths and weaknesses of Italians, showing the uniqueness of their mentality as well as their contradictions.

*This is a preview of the full version that will  be released in London cinemas in June 2016. 

The screenings will be followed by a Q&A with the director Luca Vullo and prof. Nicola Mai (University of Kingston). Some of he people interviewed for the documentary Influx will also be present.

The event will be chaired by Dr Federica Mazzara (University of Westminster). For further information please contact: f.mazzara@westminster.ac.uk

All details here. Please note registration is required!

Performing Borders_Conversation on art | crossings | europe (30 March 2016)

Another exciting event soon happening in London!

Performing borders: Conversation on art | crossings | europe is an open dialogue on how artists, researchers and art organisations can use their practices and projects to respond to and challenge the borders of Europe and their shifting meanings.

Guest speakers include: Lois Keidan (Co-Director of the Live Art Development Agency), Sophie Nield (Senior Lecturer in Drama at the Royal Holloway University of London), Juliet Steyn (Co-editor of ‘Breaching Borders: Art, Migrants and the Metaphor of Waste’), Marilena Zaroulia and Philip Hager (Co-Founders of the Inside/Outside Europe Research Network) will present their own perspectives and engage in a discussion on the role of live and visual art in the flux reality of Europe and its proliferating and increasingly heterogeneous borders. 

All those interested in citizenship, crossing borders, and experimental art practices are welcome to bring their own ideas and experiences to the conversation.

All details bout the event here.  
The organizer is my freind Alessandra Cianetti, Co-director of Something Human. 

Check out her blog as well!

Talk "In-Depth" at the Mosaic Room gallery in London_Wednesday 16 March 2016

Tomorrow a panel discussion on the aesthetics and politics of representations of the sea in contemporary culture will take place at the Mosaic Rooms [Tower House, 226 Cromwell Road, London SW5 0SW].
The panel will consider the contemporary use of the ocean as a space to signify and symbolise wider issues, from migration to labour politics, to climate change, and reflect on the language that accompanies its depiction.
This event is very promising. Find more details here.

Italian Studies Journal_(Cultural Studies) Specal issue on Lampedusa

Dear all,
I am very pleased to announce the publication of a special issue of Italian Studies on Lampedusa. The issue contains articles by myslef, Lorenzo Rinelli, Tina Catania, Giacomo Orsini, Knut De Swert, Laura Schacht and Andrea Masini. It is edited by Luciano Baracco. It's the first interdisciplininary collection of essays completely dedicated to the issue of migration and Lampedusa. Enjoy it.
Link to the journal issue.
Link to my article.

Migrations Europa Exchange - 16-18 February 2016

When dance meets migration!
Migrations Europa Exchange starts soon. Don't miss it, book your tickets!

Platforma festival - De Montford University, Leicester 5-6 November 2015

Can't wait to join this very promising festival on aesthetics and migration.  There are a series of workshops that revolve around several aspects of art and refugees. Here a very detailed programme. Make sure you book your ticket.