British Institute archives on exhibition in Madrid

British Institute Archivist Alyson Price went to Spain in November to attend the opening of an Edward Gordon Craig exhibition in Spain:

Last week I went to Madrid for the opening of an exhibition on Edward Gordon Craig at La Casa Encendida. The exhibition, 'Edward Gordon Craig. Space as Spectacle', shows very clearly why Craig is counted the most influential theatre designer of the twentieth century. Craig didn't put on many plays (the exhibition has some of the designs for his revolutionary production of 'Hamlet' with Stanislavsky staged in Moscow in 1912) but his ideas spread through his magazines, particularly 'The Mask' which Craig published in Florence over the first three decades of the twentieth century.

The British Institute lent 42 items to the exhibition and these were displayed alongside loans from the Archivio Contemporaneo of the Gabinetto Vieusseux in Florence, the Theatre Museum in Vienna, UCLA in California and the Bibliotèque Nationale in Paris which supplied most of the material. The show is spread over three large rooms, one of which is devoted to Craig's use of stairs in his set designs and this includes interactive material (the Casa Encendida works a lot with children as well as the child in all of us) and Craig's own voice taken from interviews done in the fifties for the BBC.

Our collection was given to us by Dorothy Nevile Lees who collaborated with Craig on 'The Mask'; she painstakingly built up the collection over years, donating it piece by piece to the British Institute. It was very moving to see the material she collected, that we have taken care of, now displayed in an exhibition devoted to the man she loved. The opening was well attended and with a public very different from the one I see at openings in Florence - and you have probably guessed that the food on offer was the best of local tapas.

La Casa Encendida is on the south side of the city, in walking distance of the Prado, the Reina Sofia and the Thyssen-Bornemisza. In fact, in the Reina Sofia there's a connection with Craig - a photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron of Craig's mother, Ellen Terry.

Massa Marittima

Today Ann has been preparing all the information about our Summer School which we organize in Massa Marittima, Tuscany each year and this year will take place from the 1st to 15th August.

Ann writes:

The beautiful medieval hill town of Massa Marittima in the heart of the Maremma area of Tuscany is the setting each year for the British Institute of Florence summer school. Considered as a gem of the Middle Ages for its beauty and the significance of the buildings, this well-preserved hill town is historical for being a free commune in the 13th Century.

I participated in the Summer School last year and couldn’t believe how this part of Tuscany is surprisingly still little known to mass tourism.

Surrounded by dense luxuriant woods, with ancient fortresses, churches and castles, many dating back to the Middle Ages, Massa Marittima is only twenty minutes from the Tuscan coast. It is within easy reach of many places of interest, including the ruined Cistercian abbey at San Galgano and the Maremma nature park, and it is little more than an hour from the historic city of Siena.

The Institute’s Summer School offers a complete immersion into Italian language and culture. Every weekday morning there are intensive Italian language classes at different levels. Whatever their level, participants are encouraged to communicate in Italian from the very first day. The experienced team of Italian language teachers uses an interactive method aimed at developing confidence in the spoken language and broadening knowledge of day-to-day Italian life.

In addition every day there will be an opportunity to experience more about all things Italian. Participants will learn about and taste Tuscan wines and local food delicacies. This year they will learn the art of making home made pasta, find out about the production of olive oil and especially how to taste it. We are also arranging a visit to the ancient seaside town of nearby Castiglione della Pescaia.

Our Summer School is timed to coincide with Massa Marittima’s famous open-air opera festival, which takes place in the Piazza Garibaldi, a tour de force of medieval city planning. This year we shall enjoy Puccini’s Tosca and Donizetti’s Don Pasquale performed against a backdrop of the magnificent Cathedral, one of the finest religious buildings in Tuscany.

The Balestra del Girafalco takes place on the 2nd Sunday in August each year and will provide a spectacular introduction to the second week of the Summer School. This famous competition is a historical re-enactment with 150 participants in historical costumes, representing the three districts into which Massa Marittima is divided. The contest consists of a crossbow competition with eight archers from each district each seeking to pierce the heart of the “corniolo”, the heart of the gerfalcon, the bird of prey that symbolically represents the enemy.

We will also be joining the locals to celebrate San Lorenzo’s feast day on August 10th with Calici di Stelle - the night of falling stars and take part in the traditional nighttime wine festival in the streets of Massa Marittima and sample locally produced wines and olive oils.

The classes are held at Massa’s old seminary building right at the top of the hill with beautiful views over the surrounding countryside. The whole course was tremendous fun with a really interesting group from the UK, the US, Germany and Japan.

More information will be on our website in the next few days but if you would like to register your interest early email info@britishinstitute.it

I am very much looking forward to returning this year.

Ann Alexander
19th November 2009

This is the first in a series of posts by Ann Alexander who is here with us in Florence at the British Institute this week 17 November 2009. She's got lots to say about us! - April

My name is Ann Alexander and I would like to introduce you to The British Institute of Florence blog. In case you have never heard of it, The British Institute of Florence (or “bif” for short) is a cultural institute in Florence, Italy with the aim of promoting Anglo-Italian understanding, teaching English and Italian languages and History of Art, and running a lending Library of English books to illustrate British and Italian literature, art, history and music. It is also the oldest overseas British cultural institute in the world.

The Institute was set up in late 1917, towards the end of the First World War, by a group of Anglo-Italian scholars, intellectuals and public figures who were keen to create a cultural centre in the city of Florence and to counter the anti-British propaganda of the time.

You can read more about its history on the Institute’s website but one thing learned from wikipedia I never knew was that apparently D.H. Lawrence went into the British Institute one day, upset by the then Director’s Fascist leanings, and shouted 'This is the Anti-British Institute'. He was forcibly ejected!

Based in two separate buildings in the historic centre of beautiful Florence in the heart of Tuscany, the British Institute today offers a wide range of courses throughout the year including Italian for non-Italian speakers, English for Italians and fascinating courses on the History of Art - and where better to be based?

I first became aware of bif when I decided last year that I wanted to spend a month in Italy learning Italian. Not knowing where to start I turned to the Internet and after some searching decided that I wanted to spend my month in Florence or Siena. I just couldn’t believe the number of courses which were on offer but I soon whittled my list down and after a half hour on the phone with Juliet at the Institute I decided that the British Institute in Florence was the place for me.

I shall write more about my trip another day but suffice it to say that I had a wonderful time. I became immersed in my Italian classes. As their style of teaching Italian is to speak only Italian and the first phrases I learned were “Come si dice? – How do you say it?” and “Che significa?- What does it mean?”. I discovered Florence and I completely fell in love with Italy and everything Italian.

This year I attended their summer school in Massa Marittima, a beautiful hill town in the Maremma district of Tuscany – much more about that to follow.

I spend my working life now mainly doing Consultancy in Business Development and Communications (more about me on my website) and as my very first foreign project I am delighted to be involved with the British Institute.