Austria – “Terra Amica”: the art, fashion and music of contemporary Italy

The art, fashion, and music of contemporary Italy directly in Vienna. The “Terra Amica” interdisciplinary project inspired by Gioachino Rossini and organised by Jacopo Celona and Melanie Zefferino, will kick off on Thursday, 12 January. The project intends to offer food for thought on the Italian culture, as expressed in the language of music and visual, performing and applied arts, past and present. “The project is articulated in the solo show by artist Franca Pisani (Editor’s note: open to the public until 9 February), the performance-fashion show of emerging designers and the world debut of the concert with music by Daniele Carnini performed by the Imago Sonora Ensemble and directed by M° Andrea Ceraso: this multidisciplinary project defines Italy as a Nation-friend of the arts but also of the people who find themselves being migrants in times of war,” reads a post on the Website of the Italian Cultural Institute in Vienna, which helped organising the event promoted by the Florence Biennale. However, “Terra Amica” is also the “cavatina by Ilo” from Act I of Zelmira by Gioachino Rossini, which made its debut at the Theater am Kärntnertor on 13 April 1822. That same year architect Karl Ehrmann finished the construction of the palace commissioned by Philipp von Sternberg, which became the seat of the Italian Cultural Institute first in 1934 and later from 1948 to date. “Terra Amica” is a project designed to celebrate the palace while drawing inspiration from Gioacchino Rossini’s opera as the link between Vienna and the Italian cities engaged in a fruitful dialogue between different forms of art.