moflo-your online guide to Florence

Where: The British Institute Library, Lungarno Guicciardini 9, 50125, Firenze. MAP \ Website

N.B You do not have to have a library membership to attend the cultural events 

Wednesday 17 September at 18.00
Janet Morgan
Agatha Christie: hidden techniques of an Impressionist
A look at the life and times of the world's greatest mystery writer and Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, through the eyes of her official biographer Janet Morgan, whose other books include the four-volume edition of the Crossman diaries, the authorised biography of Edwina Mountbatten, and The Secrets of Rue St Roch.

Wednesday 24 September at 18.00
Sarah Dunant
It always helps to have the odd dead body: the art of writing murderously good fiction
Sarah Dunant, award-winning crime novelist, now writing international best selling novels set in renaissance Italy, looks at how great plots make great page-turners, and how with a little love and a lot of research one can turn dry facts into rich fiction.

Wednesday 1 October at 18.00
The Mary Foreman Concert
A recital on the pianoforte by Clare Hammond
To mark the restoration of our Bechstein mezzacoda, made possible through the generous support of Mrs Mary Foreman, the outstanding young British pianist Clare Hammond will play music by Schubert, Scriabin, Brahms and Liszt. A keyboard finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in 2004 and a winner of all the major prizes at the University of Cambridge, where she obtained a double first in music, Clare is currently studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Wednesday 8 October at 18.00
Anthony Kenny
Has modern philosophy improved on Plato and Aristotle?
Anthony Kenny has recently published a four-volume history of philosophy from Thales to Derrida (Oxford University Press, 2004-7). Reflecting on what he has learnt from this experience he will address the question: Is philosophy a progressive discipline, like the natural sciences, or do philosophical classics have a perennial value, like great works of literature? One of Britain's most brilliant philosophers, Sir Anthony Kenny is currently President of the Royal Institute of Philosophy and has formerly been President of the British Academy, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford and Master of Balliol College Oxford. He has written more than forty books, not counting the many he has edited, translated and jointly authored.

Thursday 16 October at 18.00 (Please note the change of day)
Robin Butler
The British constitution: evolution and extinction
Speaking as a former secretary of the British Cabinet, Lord Butler will show how the unwritten British constitution has evolved to a point where Cabinet government no longer applies and too much power may have shifted to a small number of people. Lord Butler's long and distinguished career includes serving as Private Secretary to five prime ministers, heading the Home Civil Service for ten years and chairing the enquiry into the use of intelligence in the lead up to the Iraq war. He has recently retired as Master of University College Oxford.

Wednesday 22 October at 18.00
Martino Traxler
There's no business like crime business
Drug trafficking, money laundering, smuggling, illegal gambling and corruption are the bread and butter of organised crime in Italy. In his talk Dr Martino Traxler will consider the power and influence wielded by the criminal syndicates and the extent to which organised crime remains part of the established order in the areas which these syndicates control. Dr Traxler has taught in New York, Ohio and Georgia and is currently teaching in Florence and Siena.

Wednesday 29 October at 18.00
Matthew Kneale
A reading from his novel English Passengers
"Big, brave and brilliant", English Passengers won the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2000. This ambitious and complex novel is narrated by twenty different characters and tells the story of a voyage to Tasmania in search of the Garden of Eden, and of the rapid decline of the Aborigines. Matthew Kneale was born in London and studied modern history at Oxford. His first novel, Mr Foreigner, was set in Japan and won a Somerset Maugham award. Sweet Thames, 1992, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

Wednesday 5 November at 18.00
David Walthall
A window on Tuscan folk music of today
Five years ago David Walthall presented at the British Institute a number of extraordinary field recordings he had made in Tuscany, and spoke with some nostalgia of a dying tradition. He now feels much more optimistic regarding the possibility of a genuine revival of Tuscan folk music, which continues to attract devoted young musicians, and in this he will outline his hopes for the future, while investigating some related anthropological issues. David Walthall is the Resident Director of the CET study abroad programme based in Siena.

Wednesday 12 November at 18.00
Paolo Pieri-Nerli
Palladio and his legacy
500 years after his birth, Palladio's influence on western architecture remains far-reaching. In this talk, Paolo Pieri-Nerli considers the work of this great Italian architect and the legacy of Palladianism which endures to the present day. Dr Pieri-Nerli is an architect and conservator practising in Florence. He specialises in architectural restoration and archaeological site conservation, cultural heritage management and valorisation.

Wednesday 19 November at 18.00
Luigi Serafini
Flights of fantasy: the Codex Serafinianus
To mark the publication of the eighth edition of the Codex Serafinianus, its creator reflects on the influence of the English tradition of fantasy literature on his work. Described as "one of the most inventive graphic works of the 20th century", the Codex is an encyclopaedia of an imaginary world, incorporating elements of the familiar, grotesque, absurd and impossible. Luigi Serafini is an artist and designer who has worked in the theatre and cinema, collaborating with Fellini on his final film La Voce della Luna as well as producing many works for public display; among the most recent a polychrome bronze sculpture for the Naples subway (Carpe Diem) and a swing between the border of Italy and Switzerland (Balançoire sans Frontières). In May 2007, the "ontological exhibition" Luna Parc Serafini was held at the Pavilion of Contemporary art in Milan.

Thursday 27 November at 18.00 (Please note the change of day)
Stephen Deuchar
Lights going on and off: the British and the Turner Prize
Stephen Deuchar, Chairman of this year's Turner Prize judges, discusses the diverse public responses to the annual Prize over the last couple of decades, exploring in particular how the media has tended to dramatise and sometimes sensationalise new developments in the world of contemporary art. How far does such a response coincide with the views of the British public, and does the Turner Prize really matter anyway? Stephen Deuchar is Director of Tate Britain, the national gallery of British art, where the four shortlisted artists are currently exhibiting their work. The winner will be announced in early December.

Wednesday 3 December at 18.00
Matteo Sansone
Giacomo Puccini, 1858-2008: the 150th anniversary of his birth
"No composer communicates more directly with an audience than Puccini. Indeed, for many years he has remained a victim of his own popularity; hence the resistance to his music in academic circles." So wrote the great English musicologist Julian Budden (1924-2007), who spent part of each year in Florence. His friend and colleague Matteo Sansone dedicates this 150th anniversary lecture to Budden's memory, and examines the well-known operas in terms of Puccini's remarkable feeling for the "stage picture".

Wednesday 10 December at 18.00
Mark Roberts
The young Milton: a Christmas talk, with mince pies
John Milton (1608-1674) is usually remembered as the blind and embittered author of Paradise Lost, who was characterised by Dr Johnson as "an acrimonious and surly republican". But in his university days at Christ's College Cambridge his red lips and flowing hair caused him to be known as "The Lady of Christ's", and his verse was sparkling and sensuous. As part of our week of celebration of the 400th anniversary of the poet's birth (to include a reading of books IX and X of Paradise Lost on Tuesday 9 December in the Library), Mark Roberts considers this early Milton, and especially his masque Comus and his well-known poem about Christmas. Mark Roberts is the Library and Cultural Advisor at the British Institute of Florence.

With thanks to Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, and all those who have supported our Annual Fund Appeal 2007-08.

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