From October, 21st to November, 2nd 2011, Genova will host the 9th edition of the Science Festival, this year entitled “150 e oltre” (meaning “150 years and above”) in order to pay homage to the anniversary of Italian unification.

As a matter of fact, the festival’s aim is to celebrate 150 years of national unification by with a wide array of hints, experiences and excellences of the recent past able to project knowledge into the future, into the next 150 years.

Far from just being a mere historical celebration, Genoa Science Festival is seeking

From 1st to 9th October 2011, 51st edition of Genoa International Boat Show will be held in the Ligurian capital to offer the best of seamanship world.

The exhibition areas of this edition will be the Pavilions C, D, S, Blue Pavilion, Mondoinvela Pavilion, new Marina, Marina Uno, Tensile Structure, yards and outdoor areas.

And now, let’s have a look at some numbers: 1,330 exhibitors coming from all over the globe, 2,000 boats on display (450 of which in the water) and over 450 new models.

Also this year, there will be many side events accompanying

The 8th edition of Festival della Mente – Europe 1st festival to be dedicated to creativity and creative processes – will come back in Sarzana from September, 2nd to 4th 2011.

As usual, in this year’s program we find a lot of original, interesting events for an audience which every year is getting larger and larger: just think that past editions of the festival were attended by about 40,000 people.

Such an original festival entirely devoted to culture and creativity will crowd again the streets of the historical center of Sarzana, a little medieval city

From Wednesday 3rd to Saturday 6th August 2011, the most expected summer event in Imperia will come back: Filmcaravan, the International Travelling Shorts Fest.

After the official presentation of Filmcaravan in Montecarlo on the observation platform of NI BOX, the event will begin as usual during the first week of August in the striking Piazza dei Corallini in Cervo (province of Imperia, Liguria Region).

The festival will start on 3rd August at 9.30 p.m. with the out-of-competition documentary film entitled Kawalek Lata, created by the Polish director Marta Minorowicz who won the great prize

On August, 7th 2011, the most beloved sport event in La Spezia will come back: the Palio del Golfo (the Rowing Race of the Gulf), which on its 86th edition, also this year will present many surprises, side events and shows.

The Palio of La Spezia, taking place every first Sunday of August in the waters in front of the promenade of the city (Morin), is a challenging rowing race among 13 fishing boats handmade by local craftsmen, created with peculiar features in order to make them faster in water.

Such a rowing race takes its origins from

On 24th and 25th July 2011, the great celebrations come back in the beautiful city of Levanto, in the province of La Spezia (Liguria Region): the 43rd edition of the Festival of the Sea.

The event is celebrated every year in honor of St Giacomo, the protector saint of the seafaring community. Initially, the event had a purely religious character, but soon it was integrated with the medieval birth of the Municipality of Levanto in 1230.

The most spectacular parts of the festival take place on 24th and 25th July (St Giacomo’s day), with historical processions, medieval tournaments, and the procession of the crucifixes and the statue of the Saint.

At nightfall the gulf sea is illuminated with ten thousand large candles with fireworks

The traditional competition among the 8-rowers galleons representing the ancient Italian Maritime Republics, Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa and Venice, this year will take place in Venice on Sunday June, 12th 2011.

As a matter of fact, such an event, born in 1955, every year takes place in one of the four cities that commemorate the most important historical happenings linked to their own city.

As usual, the race will be preceded by the renowned historical parade, during which each Republic will wear period clothes and proudly show in the streets of Venice the flags with the coat of arms of its own city,

From last March, 4th, two exhibitions have been being underway at Galleria d’Arte Moderna and Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti in Genoa (Region of Liguria) joined by the same theme: the Italian Unity, from Risorgimento to the New Century.

Such exhibitions show to the visitors some sections about Italy and the Savoy family, the great examples of the past used for educating and teaching history with painting, about Italian lifestyle between traditions and progress, conditions of childhood and Italy at work.

At the Museum of Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti there will be a space dedicated to the revolution of the en plein air painting with the great season of the Scuola dei Grigi

From last March, 17th – a very important date for Italy – at Reggia di Venaria (province of Turin) it is possible to marvel at sculptural and artistic treasures gathered for the exhibition La bella Italia. Arte e identità delle città capitali (The beautiful Italy. Art and identity of Italian capital Cities).

Until September, 11th 2011, the greatest masters of Italian art with over 350 works which go form antiquity to the Italian Unity will be put on display in the wonderful scenarios of Citroniera and Scuderia Grande of Filippo Juvarra of the Reggia di Venaria.

The organization of such an exhibition was made by Luca Ronconi, Margherita Palli e Valentina Dellavia and with A.J. Weissbard (Lighting Design), in collaboration with Massimo Venegoni (Studio Dedalo).

An itinerary of 350 works coming from museums of Italy, all over the world and private collections, which goes from antiquity until 1861 – the year of Italian Unity – passing through the main “cultural capitals” before Unity: Turin, Florence, Rome, Milan, Venice, Genoa, Bologna, Parma, Modena, Naples and Palermo.

So, different traditions and cultures confront each other together with those artists who in the past represented them through their talent and natural genius: Giotto, Beato Angelico, Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo, Correggio, Bronzino, Tiziano, Veronese, Rubens, Tiepolo, Canova, Hayez, Parmigianino, Velazquez, Bernini and many others.

The exhibition portrays the various “Italies” that were called upon by history to turn into one. Italy is a country of “differences” and this must be seen as a further resource, an energy which join people.

Therefore, each capital has been represented by art works, documents and objects which are emblems able to tell and retrace the history of such different realities.

SECTIONS

The section dedicated to Rome presents about 50 works portraying the myths of archaic Rome, symbolized in the famous painting by Rubens “Romulus and Remus” and , to the protagonists of classical Rome with the portraits and the busts of Emperors and the reliefs of Trajan’s Column. In addition, works by Bernini and Antonio Canova.

Florence is the emblem of Italian language of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, it is the collections of the Medici family, the enlightened court of Lorenzo the Magnificent, it is the cradle of Renaissance with Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Donatello, the new astronomic science of Galileo and much more…Just come and see with your eyes!

The section devoted to Turin hosts works showing the long historic happenings of the dynasty of Savoy, religion, policy and the image of power, great printing projects and collections, and majestic architecture that celebrated, with Juvarra’s genius, the passage from Dukedom to Kingdom in 1713. The last canvasses are by Bossoli and Tetar van Elven and portray Turin as the protagonist of Renaissance.

Genoa, beautiful and rich city, retraces its golden age as the financial and artistic capital through about 30 works, among which we find canvasses by Rubens, Strozzi, Van Dyck and Veronese.

Artistic testimony of the various cultures of Palermo, between the Middle Ages and the Modern Era, with reference to the studies carried out during the Risorgimento by the local historian Michele Amari and with precious local artifacts and imported Islamic items, and the 19th century painting by Giacomo Conti depicting the court of Frederick II. The section ends on the theme of the Sicilian Vespers in a painting by Michele Rapisardi.

Naples, in the vivid images of the common people in the works by Cerquozzi, Giordano, Traversi, and Miola.

Bologna, the second seat of the Papal State, presents here the remarkable painting tradition of the Courts along the Po river in the works by Correggio and Dossi, together with works by Guercino, Fontana, Bagnocavallo, Ludovico e Annibale Carracci.

From the area of the Emilia region, a specific section of the exhibition focuses on important works of art that exemplify the prestigious collections of the ancient duchies of Parma and Modena.

Milan, its great role in history and a widely recognized artistic, political, and economic center. Here we find an important selection of works illustrating the main events in Lombard history, highlighting its two-fold vocation as a center for intellectual as well as entrepreneurial fervor: Leonardo da Vinci and Donato Bramante; in addition, the world-famous famous Kiss by Francesco Hayez, symbol of the heroism of the Five Days that marked the start of the Risorgimento.

Finally, Venice is presented through the mirror image of its myth, celebrated in art across the centuries. The section represents the icons of the Republic, with portraits by Titian and the Lion of Saint Mark by Carpaccio, alternate with famous views of the city by Canaletto and nostalgic paintings by Guardi, and re-emerge in the hues of Tiepolo and the sculptures by Canova.

You can’t miss such a great exhibition, you have time until September, 11th 2011. Reggia di Venaria waits for you near Turin!

Further information about events in Turin are available on the guide About Turin.

From 27th to 30th May, the 2011 edition of Slow Fish, the fair dedicated to the “sustainable” fish, arrives in Genoa, in collaboration with Slow Food, Salone Internazionale del Gusto of Turin and Regione Liguria.

So, from Friday 27th to Monday 30th May, the Pavilion B of Fiera di Genoa will host once again many stalls