With Putin’s war against Ukraine escalating, governments around the world are now being forced to take definite positions regarding the conflict. The Italian stance, for what it’s worth, is, on the surface, one of unanimous condemnation. Mario Draghi has stated in no uncertain terms that he supports sanctions, and will offer aid in keeping with the NATO line. This was not a given. Earlier in this crisis, Italy was in fact relatively mute. After all, the country has close economic ties to Russia, exporting consumer goods like leather and wine and importing chemicals and natural gas (to the tune of 40% of the national supply). Disruption will have consequences. And it’s not just the economy. Jacopo Iacoboni has published a good primer about Italy’s political reputation as ‘Putin’s biggest European friend’ which makes for an uncomfortable read. In it, he points out that members of all of Italy’s major parties, from the PD to the Lega, have close links to Russian oligarchs’ ‘dark money’; and leaving that aside, many public figures here are just plain stupid on the topic. Beppe Grillo, founder of the Five Star Movement, for example, was tweeting news from RT defending Putin’s position and condemning ‘Russophobia’ as recently as two days ago. The question is: how and to what extent will this conflict change things?

I know this is primarily an Italy-focused newsletter but it does seem myopic under the circumstances not to focus some more attention on the people of Ukraine who are standing up to or fleeing one of the world’s most well-resourced armies. So I want to share some links. International donors are raising funds to support the Ukranian resistance as part of the Save Life Foundation. These funds are not only used for weapons, but also to support the soldiers helping civilians escape; both in the form of information and call-centre assistance or by rescuing those trapped under rubble. Amc France-Ukraine, meanwhile, have been providing medical and charity aid in the country’s border areas since 2014. Now they’re helping gather supplies for hospitals and schools in the places worst affected by the shellings. Finally, given the amount of dodgy news floating about, I want to share an interview between Gerard Toal and David Broder, Jacobin’s Europe editor, which to me at least seems to be one of the most nuanced pieces contextualising the crisis. It was published two days ago, but the historical overview goes far beyond most of the stuff you’ll read elsewhere. Personally, I found it useful in making some sense of the chaos that’s unfolding.
Moving on for now: the Guardian published a powerful photography feature last week, looking at communities of nomadic shepherds living in the Italian Dolomites. Bruno Zanzottera, the reporter, and anthropologist Elena Dak spent a year following Alice, Fabio and their baby boy, Martin as they went about their annual routine. By summer, the family takes their flock to the highest mountains to graze along the pastures. In winter, they return to live in a caravan in the foothills wherever farmers will allow them to stay. I was struck by this passage: that the couple “have no plans to start selling their meat directly to consumers. It would be too complicated… They prefer to live in the countryside and mountains, far from crowds, and are happy to have a trader take care of the marketing and sale of their sheep.” Check out the full piece here for more insight into their world, and some truly epic images.
Arts and culture: other forms of beauty
Today marks the opening of one of the most highly-anticipated art exhibitions of 2022 so far in Italy. Anicka Yi the Korean-American multi-media practitioner has selected twenty installations –produced between 2010 and the present day - to go on display in Milan’s Pirelli HangarBicocca under the name ‘Metaspore’. I’ve been following Yi’s work since I first came across it, at the Venice Biennale in 2019. She has a quite unique ability, I think, to capture complex philosophical ideas about subjects as diverse as non-human intelligence, cultural ecosystems and gender politics within forms that are not just intellectual but which strive to reflect and establish new aesthetic norms. I’ll be heading over to the exhibition as soon as I can. It runs until 24 July, and you can get tickets here.
A couple of weeks ago I was asked to write a short piece for Art Review on the topic of the four day working week, and the impact the measure could have on the cultural sector and society as a whole. Well, if you’re interested in my take it’s just been published and you can read it here. I’ve been thinking about this topic for a while now, and particularly the pros and cons of such an initiative as compared with other proposals for economic reform, like the artist’s basic income, or universal basic services. Here, I try and make the case that the four-day working week has a few advantages that go beyond a mere emergency stop-gap for creative workers. It could, for example, help develop a new ethos around work in general, even decentring it as the defining activity of our lives and identities, or more concretely, offer a basis for re-establishing collective bargaining power for freelancers. Read to the end for a quick but hopefully thought-provoking analysis of the shortcomings of the ‘60s and ‘70s counterculture movements, and lessons I think we need to learn for the future.
Recipe of the week: Passatelli with parmesan cream and prosciutto di parma
This is a heavy, fatty, extremely salty dish that’s also delicious and quick to make; the kind of meal best enjoyed at the end of a long day of errands when you really want to blob out. Passatelli are long, thin dumplings from the hills around Bologna which you can make in five minutes using a potato ricer. The texture is a little grainier than pasta, but the added flavouring of nutmeg and lemon peel more than makes up for it in my view. I followed Michele Casadei Massari’s guidance when I made these the other day, first cooking the noodles in chicken stock before mixing them through the decadent cheese sauce and topping with ham. Serve with a glass or three of Lambrusco or Pignoletto for the full Emilian experience.
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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