Tag Archive: emilia romagna


VEGAN CAKES – NOT SO NAUGHTY AND STILL NICE

Filed under: Good causes, Health and fitness, Italy — Leave a comment
June 16, 2013

The winning entry.

Victoria reigns!

It’s perhaps understandable that many vegan books and cooking classes focus mainly on the nutritional aspects on the diet.

Above all, they aim to convince doubters that you can still eat (and live) ethically and healthily after cutting out animal-based products.

The fact that this lifestyle requires a lot of self-discipline means that many regard practitioners as the dietary equivalent of flagellants; deliberately torturing themselves because of their radical beliefs.

All the more important therefore to show that vegans recognise the importance of comfort food; something you eat primarily with pleasure in mind.

This is why in the inaugural cake competition held at the village of Sorrivioli di Roncofreddo near Cesena in Emilia-Romagna was such a welcome event. Continue reading →

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ROUNDABOUTS I HAVE KNOWN

Filed under: Italy, Modern Art, Photography — Leave a comment
June 15, 2013

A bit early to be thinking of Christmas presents, I know, but I’m toying with the idea of creating a calendar of my home town of Cesena in Emilia-Romagna with a photo of a different roundabout for every month.

These would be two of the twelve – one is dedicated after  Maria Callas, the other has an idealised country scene.

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WHY FREEDOM IN ITALY IS BAR-SHAPED

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June 8, 2013

Man is born free and everywhere he is drinking coffee in chains like Starbucks and Costa.

With a checkered history of philistine and fascist leaders, Italy may struggle to convince you that it is the land of liberty; but when it comes to the aesthetics of caffeine and cake consumption, it is a country where an independent spirit still reigns supreme.

Here, the high streets are not dominated by the standardised coffee shop brands but has bars with an identity as individual as the people who run them. They are emblems of emancipation in a sea of uniformity.

The best pride themselves on an attention to detail that is truly heartwarming in these drab times.

The bearded utopian, William Morris, once wrote that you should “have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”. The finest Italian bars transfer this philosophy out of the domestic setting with a confident choice of furnishing, decor and lighting which effortlessly manages to marry functionality with  elegance.

The economy may be in free fall, but there is something consoling in the thought that these coffee bars will be the last to hit the ground. Continue reading →

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YOGA IN THE PARK

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June 7, 2013

This was a civilised (and healthy) way to end a busy working week. The local council in my home town of Cesena in Emilia-Romagna have sponsored a series of free initiatives to encourage people to get out and engage in gentle physical activity. They have proved very popular.

You can do tai chi, go on organised walks and tonight I joined about 150 others for an hour and a half of light yoga.

Getting my ageing limbs into some of the poses was nigh on impossible,  but since there were all ages and sizes I didn’t feel embarrassed. A very relaxing way to spend a warm evening.

It’s officially summer!

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ITALIAN ART & CULTURE UNDER FASCISM

Filed under: Italy, Modern Art, Politics — Leave a comment
April 1, 2013

novecentoBeing the nearest city to Benito Mussolini’s birthplace in Predappio, Forlì in Emilia-Romagna has the dubious honour of being forever guilty by association with the infamous Fascist dictator.

This makes it a fitting location for an exhibition of art and life in Italy between the world wars.

Novecento (the 1900s) in the elegant San Domenico gallery, is a comprehensive journey back to a period of time from 1918 up to 1943, the year of Mussolini’s death.

A reminder of the town’s past is on the stand near the ticket office. A leaflet, translated into English, invites visitors to explore the ‘Routes of modern architecture in the Fascist era Forlì’.

The political aberrations of Il Duce’s reign are most evident in the first rooms. It shows how the artistic movements of Futurism and Cubism and the propaganda of the times were eerily in synch with one another.

You sense the pride and spirit of optimism in works that celebrate a heightened sense of nationalism.

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A sedate image from the Fascist era : Felice Casorati’s ‘Ragazza in Colina’ (1929)

With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to reflect how quickly such triumphalism can lead to the political aberration of totalitarianism.

The ambitious exhibition seeks to show how all aspects of life were touched by the ideology of this era with a comprehensive display of paintings, sculptures, architecture and fashions. The highlights for me were works by Felice Casorati, Giorgio de Chirico and Mario Sironi.

The aim here is focused on culture rather than politics but since creative expression never occurs in a vacuum you can’t view the works without reflecting on the oppressive system the artists lived under.

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