August 17, 2023, 7:00pm – Salone Culturale:
Dream, Legend, Art and Faith: Two Contrasting Traditions
The Dante Alighieri Society of Ottawa and the National Congress of Italian-Canadians are pleased to invite you to a special presentation by Prof. Fabrizio Lupo (Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo).
Prof. Fabrizio Lupo, scenographer, author and director with a particular interest in popular traditions and puppet theatre, teaches “Teatro della Festa” at the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo. For 400 years, every year, in mid July, the city of Palermo celebrates its Saint Patron, Rosalia [Santa Rosalia], on the longest stage in the world, the Cassaro, an Arab name for the road that connects the old port with the Palace of the Normans. The Festino, born in the Baroque era, is one of the oldest festivals in Europe and in this presentation prof. Lupo will relate the celebration of the life of the Santa Pellegrina with the stories narrated in the traditional “Opera dei Pupi“. Two similar medieval traditions, but opposite in contents: one of war, the puppets, and one of peace, the Festino. The symbol of the Festino for the Palermitans has always been the Triumphal Chariot, and prof. Lupo has dedicated himself for many years to the creation of devotional and allegorical floats, curating curating “Luminarie” [an italian traditional street illumination], as well as devising directions for operas, various events and popular festivals. As a curiosity, prof. Lupo told us that George Evelyn Hutchinson, father of modern ecology, visiting Mount Pellegrino in the middle of the last century, proposed St. Rosalia as the patroness of Biodiversity, the “new” science that teaches how all animal and plants species and organisms work together to maintain balance and support life. Since last March 2023, prof. Lupo founded the MU.SA.R [Museo Santa Rosalia], a body of the Academy of Fine Arts in Palermo intended to disseminate naturalistic, devotional, and artistic itineraries dedicated to the Patroness of Palermo.
Centro Storico Italo-Canadese – Italian-Canadian Historical Centre
1026 Baseline Road, Ottawa
Doors open at 6:30 pm. Free parking on-site.
This event has taken place and is now closed.