Hi everyone, I hope you had a good break and enjoyed some time-off over the past few weeks. After some pretty intensive Covid-era-xmas-travelling I spent the new year in self-isolation in (good) company flicking through (awful) Italian TV. The highlight - to put things in perspective - was the midnight broadcast of the Garfagnana amateur orchestra playing an out of tune rendition of Strauss’s Radetzky March which, while excruciating, was nevertheless more enjoyable than the alternative RAI TV special, and certainly beat last year’s lockdown offering of a priest dancing to an ABBA medley surrounded by showgirls in spangly bikinis. I’m not a big NYE person. No, no, no. Still, I felt it appropriate to mention the ‘festivities’ here as a punctuation mark, but mainly because it gives me an excuse to link to this incredible and utterly bizarre Russian comedy show which, every year, organises a capodanno satire targeted specifically at Italian trash TV. No, I have absolutely no idea why. But - questionable politics aside - I did enjoy watching “Giovanni Urganti”, “Lucia Ciabatta”, and “Anna e Anatolio Zozzi” performing retro 80s “Italian-style” hits in thick Russian accents, all for the enjoyment of a two million strong YouTube public, and I hope you will too.
The main Italy-related story you’re going to be hearing about in the news as the year gets going concerns the imminent change in Presidency. On 24 January, parliamentarians will vote on who will replace the incumbent leader Sergio Matarella when his term ends in February. The role of President in this country is largely symbolic: it is a “stabilising” presence which is supposed to maintain a deep connection with the history of the republic. Yet it’s also a political position. The President has the obligation to “protect the constitution” and in this capacity they are also able to intervene in policy, with major caveats, during their term. Some analysts are speculating that the PM Mario Draghi will take over the mantle, though personally I think he’s more likely to encourage his supporters to endorse the economics minister Daniele Franco or the Justice minister Marta Cartabia for the sake of maintaining “stability.” Other commentators are speculating that Silvio Berlusconi stands a shot (!) though given the fragmentation of the right-wing parties this seems like clickbait to me. For now, frankly, the contest remains an open one and it’s worth remembering that there are many more viable candidates waiting in the wings. Don’t forget: this is the moment Romano Prodi, Pier Luigi Bersani and many others have been waiting for, for years on end…
This week residents of Italy were reminded once again of the close relationship between food and politics in national civic life as members of the government clashed with French and EU officials regarding a new nutrition labelling system known as NutriScore. The Nutri-Score ranking uses red-to-green traffic-light symbols to draw attention to particularly fatty and salty foods, and some French scientists are proposing it might form the basis for a standardised rule that could be implemented across the bloc. The Italian camp, for their part, are outraged, insisting - with some good reason - that the system is ‘blind’ and treats high quality and potentially healthy products such as parmesan and olive oil the same as, say, frozen oven chips and microwave pizza. The disagreement has now obtained a diplomatic significance: this week the Spanish government entered the fray to veto the proposal, while the roquefort cheese lobby (yes, you read that correctly) are organising public protests in France. For more details on the absurdly emotive rhetoric, and the European Commission’s actual proposals to tweak the traffic light system, check out this piece on POLITICO.
Arts and culture: some upcoming exhibitions
I’ve been poring over the arts pages the past few days to try and get my head around the year to come, and I have to say it’s looking promising. Three shows will be launching in Rome this spring to celebrate the life and work of Pier Paolo Pasolini; a welcome excuse, then, to re-read or re-watch his stuff if you needed one (Theorem is my tip on where to start for the uninitiated). Villa Borghese will be host to an exhibition of works by one of my favourite Baroque painters this February: Guido Reni. Milan, meanwhile, as ever, is the epicentre of contemporary art. Anicka Yi at the Milano Pirelli Hanger Bicocca is surely a ‘must’, and the Dolce & Gabbana retrospective at Palazzo Reale sounds decent too. If you’re into Liberty and Art Nouveau the Klimt exhibition, La Secessione e l’Italia, which follows the life of the Austrian artist, is ongoing at Museo di Roma, while in Florence, at Villa Bardini, you can still enjoy a retrospective dedicated to the local painter Galileo Chini which situates his work in the larger environment of European symbolism.
Painting isn’t the only art you can enjoy in Florence this midwinter. On 2 January the Palazzo Pitti opened up four new rooms which have never before been accessible to the public. The 17th Century Palatine Chapel and its surrounding chambers [see below], have now been fully restored and brought back to life by local artisans. The purpose of the space is to host the Medici’s collection of Russian icons, which is one of the biggest in Western Europe. The most exciting prospect for most visitors though, or so I imagine, will be the rooms themselves which are filled with trompe l'oeil columns, coffered ceilings and marble statues. According to Eike Schmidt, Director of the Uffizi, this is the first step in a larger project to open-up the entire ground floor of the Pitti, which is, apparently, filled with similarly sumptuous rooms. I’m a big fan of Schmidt, and reading this news I was transported back to 2020 when I had the honour of talking with him about his larger ambitions about what to do with the Medici collections. You can read more about his curatorial vision over at Art Review.
Recipe of the week: Gnocchi with spinach pesto and caramelised leeks
This is an unapologetically inauthentic, Italian-international dish that just so happens to be fantastic. It’s exactly the kind of thing to see-in January, I reckon, and pleasantly green after the past month’s indulgence. There are basically three steps: one, roast some leeks in the oven with olive oil and salt. Two: make a simple pesto, using walnut and spinach along with the basil just to mix things up. Three: boil up some shop bought gnocchi (the best you can find) and mix it all together. The most important thing here, at least to my mind, is the lemon juice which really helps cut through the nuts and starch, unites the flavours, and makes the whole dish as refreshing as it is nourishing. Here’s the link if you’re interested.
That’s it for this week - as ever I do hope you enjoyed this instalment. If you haven’t already, please do follow the ‘Week in Italy’ Facebook page, or my twitter, for a few extra links and easy-access to the substack archive. If this email was forwarded to you, or you’re accessing on the web and would like to receive further updates, you can subscribe using this link below. Thanks!
About Me
My name is Jamie Mackay (@JacMackay) and I’m an author, editor and translator based in Florence. I’ve been writing about Italy for a decade for international media including The Guardian, The Economist, Frieze, and Art Review. I launched ‘The Week in Italy’ to share a more direct and regular overview of the debates and dilemmas, innovations and crises that sometimes pass under the radar of our overcrowded news feeds.
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