(December 5, 2016) Wednesday, December 7 at 18.30, the director of the Italian Institute of culture in Lisbon, Luisa Violo, and the director of the National Palace of Ajuda, José Alberto Ribeiro, pre-inaugurate the exhibition “Festa Barocca” by the cultural Association “Invitation to Court”, with the support of the “Generali” foundation and with the cooperation of the music school of the Lisbon national Conservatory. This exhibition will inaugurated on January 19 at the Palácio Nacional da Ajuda, when it will be opened in its full version. The exhibition talks about the Italian culture as a tribute to Portugal, staged in a building that is the very symbol of the two cultures and that, built as a representative office of the Portuguese Royal Family, has welcomed and still welcomes today’s institutional parties and high-level ceremonies . For this event, an exhibition is presented with the key moments of the ceremonial of the old Italian Court festivities that, born in Italy during the Renaissance, took on even more spectacular features during the Baroque period. From Italy, the very concept of partying spread throughout Europe and then worldwide. In particular, with the arrival of the Court of Portugal in Brazil, various aspects of the European Festival became and are interpreted today in the great tradition of the Brazilian Carnival. The exhibition “Festa Barocca” illustrates and represents a different way of telling the Italian history, art and culture, through the reconstruction of the sumptuous clothes and the environment of the Italian courts in the Baroque period. Behind the idea, the overall coordination of the project and curator of the exhibition is Fausto Fornasari; realization of the exhibition: King Studio and Invitation to Court; general organization of the exhibition: Cultural Association Invitation to Court. For the occasion, the Piccolin’Ensemble group, formed by the pupils of EMCN – Escola de Música do Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa, headed by Professor Helena Raposo, will hold a concert of period music with pieces by Mazzocchi, Monteverdi, Rossi and Luzzaschi. (Red)
