Florence, Christmas illuminations in the sign of Dante and artist trees

The traditional appointment with F-Light, the Florence Light Festival, returns to Florence, this year dedicated to Dante and the journey from the dark forest to light: Sight. In this time of pandemic, light is not meant to be just an ephemeral decoration of urban space, but a metaphor and a vision of the future to which we entrust our hope.

Promoted by the City of Florence and organized by MUS.E, under the artistic direction of Sergio Risaliti, F-Light Sight will be held from Dec. 8, 2020 to Jan. 6, 2021 and will give new light to urban spaces through videomapping, projections, lightshows and art installations.

The event, realized thanks to the contribution of the Chamber of Commerce of Florence, with the support of Terna Spa and the support of CONAD and MUKKI, will involve numerous spaces in the Tuscan capital: from the main squares to Ponte Vecchio, from Forte Belvedere to medieval towers and gates, from Palazzo Medici Riccardi to the Museo Novecento, as well as the neighborhoods outside the historic center. A special tribute will be dedicated to hospital facilities.

The protagonist of the event will therefore be light, a source of universal energy and a visual metaphor for rebirth. Two videomapping will animate Palazzo Medici Riccardi (curated by MBVision) and Ponte Vecchio, transforming their surfaces into a canvas. Ponte Vecchio will in fact be “frescoed” with a series of geometric or figurative images and excerpts of verses from Dante’s poem, thanks to the light installation The other side of the life curated by Sergio Risaliti and created by The Fake Factory. The Chamber of Commerce building will have a new face thanks to colored light games and projections, again inspired by Dante’s verses, while the Museo Novecento will welcome a light installation by Claire Fontaine on its façade (curated by Paola Ugolini and Sergio Risaliti, from Dec. 12 to March 11). “We are with you in the night,” the inscription that will be read on the facade of the museum, is intended to give citizens a message of sharing and solidarity.

Also this year, as part of Three artist trees, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Mimmo Paladino and Domenico Bianchi will create their artist Christmas trees, true site-specific works. These will be placed in Piazza Gino Bartali, Piazza Santo Spirito and Piazza Santa Maria Novella, respectively.

The permanent lighting system of Piazza Indipendenza and its statues will then be inaugurated during the Festival, thanks to Silfi Spa. New permanent lighting will also be lit on Via Calzaiuoli and other streets and squares in the heart of the city. There are also numerous symbolic places that will be lit with dynamic colored illuminations for the duration of the festival: among them, for the first time, Forte Belvedere with a specially designed scenography. Scenic colored light displays, again by Silfi Spa, will also be lit for the Poggi Ramps basin, the Loggia of the Istituto degli Innocenti, the Tower of San Niccolò, the Mint Tower and the historic Florentine Gates: Porta alla Croce, Porta al Prato, Porta Romana, Porta San Gallo and Porta San Frediano.

F-Light venues also include Piazza SS. Annunziata (with art projection by Bright Festival), Via Tornabuoni (curated by Confcommercio) and Piazza San Firenze.

F-Light will also go out of the historic center, touching all four suburbs, with an artist’s luminaria that will be installed at different points: for Q2, Piazza delle Cure, the Artemio Franchi Stadium and Piazza Niccolò Tommaseo in Settignano; for Q3, Piazza Gino Bartali in Favinana and Piazza Niccolò Acciaiuoli in Galluzzo; in Q4, Piazza dell’Isolotto and Piazza Paolo Uccello; and for Q5 finally, Le Piagge - Viper Theatre and San Donato Park in Novoli.

To pay homage to the city’s hospital facilities, three light beams, made in collaboration with Silfi Spa, will be projected skyward on an evening near Christmas. The light installation, entitled The Beacons of Resistance. Faith, Hope, Charity, will symbolically start from Piazza della Repubblica, the Florence Baptistery and in the vicinity of Santa Maria Nuova Hospital.

“This Christmas,” said Mayor Dario Nardella, “will be different than ever, more sober, more intimate, more reflective, but we would not want it to lack hope for the future and for a rebirth after this damn virus. That is why we have confirmed the Christmas initiatives with light as a unifying and hopeful element despite the pandemic. That is why we will also light up Florentine hospitals throughout the holiday season with ad hoc illuminations. Without gatherings, without crowds, Florence keeps its lights on and sends a message of closeness, respect and hope to citizens at the end of a very difficult year.”

“With theaters, cinemas, museums and other places of culture and entertainment closed,” added Councillor for Culture Tommaso Sacchi, “the City Council does not intend, however, to retreat on the front of aid to the world of culture and shifts, the first city in Italy to carry out an operation of this kind and of this economic magnitude, the center of gravity of production to digital. We will now evaluate the proposals that have arrived from Florentine associations, entities and cultural realities and that will be usable online, in full security for all citizens, with economic aid that will be a form of relief for a sector hard hit by the economic consequences of the pandemic.”

"F-Light Sight will be a special edition this year, designed with respect for the feelings and emotions that involve us all and make us sharers also in the suffering and anguish of others," concluded Festival artistic curator Sergio Risaliti. “We cannot deny that we all need to see a light to guide us in this dark forest, when the straight path of progress seems lost.”

Ph.Credit Nicola Neri

Florence, Christmas illuminations in the sign of Dante and artist trees

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