CELEBRATING ITALIAN CULTURE &
ITS IMPACT THROUGHOUT TIME
All day Seminar - Saturday, April 13, 2013
10 to 11 AM
Modernity, Machines and Motor Oil: Italian Futurist Art and Ideals In February 1909, F.T. Marinetti broadcast the birth of Futurism. This aesthetic
movement called for a sharp break with the art of the past. “We want to destroy
all the museums, libraries and academies,” Marinetti wrote. “We want to free this
country from its stinking gangrene: professors, archeologists, tour guides…”
Modernity, machines and motor oil —not Renaissance masters— inspired this
generation of writers and artists. This illustrated lecture explores the ideas and
artwork created by Italian Futurists.
An illustrated lecture by Christopher Atwood, PhD candidate in Italian Studies at
UC Berkeley
11 to 12 AM
The Innovations of Italian C inema - From Neorealism in the 1940's Italian
directors like Rossellini, Fellini, Antonioni, Wertmuller and others have
transformed the language of cinema. With a selection of clips we will highlight
the ways in which Italians have reshaped the art form and our perception of reality.
Steven Kovacs is professor of cinema at SF State and an award-winning producer
and director of features and documentaries.
12 Noon to 1PM
Design as Culture in Postwar Italy - This lecture explores the emergence of
Italian design in the 1950s. It focuses on the case of Olivetti and its distinctive
“style”. Why did design came to play such a important role at the dawn of the
“economic miracle”? And why did new technologies have to be carefully
designed? We shall try to answer these questions through a brief survey of iconic
Olivetti products and images.
An illustrated lecture by Professor Massimo Mazzotti, who teaches History of
Science at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also the Director of the
Office for History of Science and Technology at UC Berkeley.
Filippo Marinetti
Federico Fellini
1 to 2 PM
Lunch Break – lunch provided
2 to 3 PM
Luigi Pirandello and the Making of Modern Italian Literature - This talk
profiles one of Italy’s most successful modern writers, Luigi Pirandello (18671936). Pirandello was a prolific dramatist, novelist, short-story writer, and poet
whose works can be seen as catapulting Italian literature into the 20 th century both
thematically and stylistically. This lecture highlights ways in which Pirandello’s
corpus both continues and breaks with traditional Italian literary culture through its
focus on questions of identity, reality versus illusion, and madness. .
An illustrated lecture by Leslie Elwell, PhD candidate in Italian Studies at UC
Berkeley
3 to 4 PM
Camillo Olivetti
Luigi Pirandello
Reception
$45 MUSEO MEMBERS / $65 NON-MEMBERS (INCLUDES LUNCH AND RECEPTION)
SPACE IS LIMITED – RESERVE EARLY!
REGISTRATION FORM
Please make checks payable to the Museo ItaloAmericano, and send with this form to:
Museo ItaloAmericano, Fort Mason Center – Building C, San Francisco, CA 94123

Please reserve _________ places at the Seminar at $45 per person (Museo Members)/ $65 per person (Non-Members)
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