Notes on 'Berlusconi day'
Plus, a communal living experiment and Matteo Garrone's new film
Last weekend the national committee of Forza Italia, the ‘liberal centre right’ partner in the governing coalition, organized a small festival in Paestum, near Naples, to celebrate the life and legacy of the party’s founder Silvio Berlusconi. ‘Berlusconi Day’ which took place on 29 September, in the shadows of the Ancient Greek Temple of Athena, was billed as a full blown festival with music, dance, celebrities, TV personalities and political representatives. It was conceived as a ‘narrative spectacle’, something to root the party in its history and excite the voters ahead of next year’s EU elections. Obviously, the branding grabbed headlines. But the reality was a low key affair. The crowd was three thousand strong. Not bad, but far short of the numbers that congregated to see Berlusconi speak just a decade ago. Likewise, while there were some notable delegates - such as the trade union leader Luigi Sbarra - this moment hardly represented a paradigm shift in the right’s relationship with organized Labour. And then there were the logistical hitches. In the weeks leading up to the gathering, journalists were drooling over the prospect of a life sized hologram of Berlusconi himself which was rumoured to be in the works to make an appearance. In the end, despite the hype, no such hologram appeared. As the organizers handed out key rings and tacky merch to those assembled, the crowd could only ask one thing. “Where is the hologram? Where is the hologram?” The official response, in true postmodern fashion, perfectly captured the absurdity of the moment: “It doesn’t exist, there’s no such thing. The hologram never existed.”
A couple of years ago, an ex colleague of mine from openDemocracy, Benjamin Ramm, set out to open a collective living space in the Italian countryside where people from all walks of life could work, eat and create together. In 2022 the space finally opened, and by most accounts, from friends who’ve visited, it seems to be thriving. Situated in an old 30 room hotel in Emilia Romagna, the honeydew community aims to provide all people - though predominantly millennials (20-40) - with a solution to the alienation and isolation endemic to big city life. This week, the writer Alexander Hurst published a short feature in Guardian about the group. And while he only stayed in the hotel for a couple of days, his impressions are striking and well worth reading. As he writes: “even for those who don’t feel pulled as far as to pick up their lives to conjoin them with like-minded, community-oriented people, places like Honeydew offer a challenge and an inspiration for how we can create greater community in the places we already live.” To find out more about Honeydew, including how to visit, check out their website and Instagram page (@HoneydewCommunity).
Not up for communal living? Live alone? In a couple? In a flat share? Well, whatever your housing situation, this next link might provide some DIY inspiration. This might sound strange, but I’m a big fan of bathrooms (and particularly Italian bathrooms.) All too often, in most of the Western world, we treat the bathroom as a utilitarian space — to clean ourselves when we’re dirty. Yet bathrooms are much more than that! They’re places for relaxing, for bathing, for enjoying washing, for listening to music, for engaging in a little self care. Italian designers have long understood this fact, and they know how to translate it into practice. This week, during a mundane clean of my own bathroom, I came across a clickbaity type piece in Italics magazine about how to bring some flair to this much used but all too often neglected space. There are some pretty extravagant proposals here: an oval tub, a designer radiator. But don’t worry, there are plenty of more realisable tips for those on a budget that might prove handy if you’re planning a refurb anytime soon. So here’s the link.
Arts and culture: post-realism anyone?
The publishing house ‘And Other Stories’ has just released a new English edition of Michele Mari’s novel Tu, sanguinosa infanzia and that’s definitely cause for celebration! Translated by Brian Robert Moore, the book - ENG titleYou, Bleeding Chikdhood - is a Borgesian meta fictional twist on autobiography which wields elements of postmodern collage, surrealism and sci-fi to transform “mundane” reflections on adolescence into a hypercharged symbolic allegory. Technically speaking, the book is actually an interconnected short story collection. Mari explores the psychoanalytic underpinnings of his teenage letters; he transforms his childhood toys into symbolic totems; he remembers the playground he used to visit as a child as a terrifying den of monsters; he imagines a writing contest between eight of his favourite novelists (living and dead). And so on. Tu, sanguinosa infanzia was a cult classic when it was first released in 1997 and it’s since become a landmark of Italian contemporary fiction. This English translation is long overdue, so I’m personally really happy to see this finally accessible to a wider global audience. Buy the book straight from the publisher here.
Matteo Garrone, best known as the director of the critically acclaimed docudrama Gomorrah (2008), has a new fiction film out about the Mediterranean refugee crisis which is galvanising quite a buzz. Io Capitano [Me, Captain] follows two young adults, Seydou and Moussa, as they set out on a journey from Dakar, Senegal, towards Europe. This being Garrone, the film is deeply rooted in journalism, academic research, documentary and real life testimonies. And it’s likely to be a tough watch. According to the blurb we’ll follow the protagonists from their hometowns, through the desert, to detention camps in Libya, to non-seaworthy vessels on the Mediterranean, and finally to the hands of the border police in Southern Italy. I admit, I often struggle to understand why anyone would want to make fiction about a humanitarian emergency that is still unfolding in such a terrible manner. But if any Italian filmmaker can make this worthwhile and politically useful it has to be Garrone. If you happen to be in or around Florence I’ll be watching this next weekend at the new Teatro di Fiesole — so come join me! If not, the international release is expected next month, so not long to wait.
Recipe: a vendemmia salad
It’s the start of October but it’s still 32 degrees here in Florence. Phew! The vegetation is withered, the grass is scorched and people here seem to be simultaneously joyful if rather worried. Nevertheless, piazza life goes on. This year, as every year, the local ragazzi are hard at work for the vendemmia [the grape harvest]. Generally, the vendemmia refers to the processing of grapes to make wine. But it’s also - of course - a time when table grapes are at their best. Given the warm weather, and the phenomenal produce, I thought I’d share a recipe for a Sicilian vendemmia salad, which, credit where it’s due, I discovered via Emiko Davies’s latest column in Corriere della Sera. The dish is both familiar and somewhat unusual; and as I don’t have a scanned copy some simple instructions will have to do: mix up tomatoes, grapes, red onion, green olives and cured anchovies in a bowl. Top with olive oil and a dash of vinegar to bring it all together, and there you go. It might sound a bit out there, but trust me - this is a perfect side dish for any kind of grilled or bbqs meats, or, even better, last week’s fried porcini.
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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