Ideology in Stone
How Fascism Re-Monumentalized Rome By Alessandro Cassin
Regimes fall, architecture remains. It enriches the study of history as an objective and time resistant benchmark.
Throughout
the centuries totalitarian regimes have erected monumental architecture
to showcase their power and intimidate the population. Most Twentieth
Century dictators attempted to emulate Imperial Rome as "the" model for
monumentality. Hitler, for one, encouraged Albert Speer toward an aesthetic of
exaggerated- if stripped- Roman classicism. Berlin was rebuilt as a Welthauptstadt
(World Capital) with Rome as an ideal. The same scenario reoccurred,
with national variations, from Communist to African dictatorships.
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Fall Programs
See program overview
Nov. 3 | Purely Italian
Nov 4 | Boris Pahor's Necropolis: A Slovenian Story
Centro Primo Levi and the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation in Milan co-sponsor with New York University, the Center for Jewish History, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Italian Cultural Institute, and PEN America a series of programs taking a new look at Fascist racial policies. Read
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The Italian Jewish World
Explore Italian Jewish studies and culture in Italy, Israel, and the Americas. The weekly and monthly features of CPL include: Printed Matter by Alessandro Cassin, The Centaur by Franco Baldasso, Books, and Academia.
To know more about Primo Levi and his work visit Centro Internazionale di Studi Primo Levi in Turin.
Find out more on our homepage.
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October 26 and 28 | Annual Symposium
A Post-colonial Perspective on Primo Levi
Program | Press kit
Since its first publication in 1947, Levi's best known book, If This is a Man, has been translated in 24 languages, with a circulation of twelve million copies. From Arabic and Farsi to Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean, Levi's writings have become a powerful grammar for the exploration of the global world and the human condition.
Each year, the theme of the International Symposium takes as its starting point the analysis of a particular translation of Primo Levi's books. Scholars from different fields approach Levi from new geographical, linguistic, and cultural perspectives and the analysis of Levi's insights in these untapped contexts creates the premise for new reflection on his work while breaking the barriers to which Auschwitz -- the core of Levi's thought - often remains confined.
The 2010 symposium brings together scholars and practitioners in the humanities and scientific fields to re-examine the work of Primo Levi within the frame of post-colonial discourse. Discussions of some of Levi's key concepts such as "survival" and "gray zone" will be departure points for a debate on justice, witness testimony, and the political use of memory.
The program opens with a panel of preeminent intellectuals who have challenged the relation between the "West and the Rest," including Mahmood Mamdani (author of Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror), Marc Nichanian (author of Writers of Disaster: Armenian Literature in the Twentieth Century) and Gayatri Spivak (author of Can the Subaltern Speak?).
It continues with the exploration of the cultural relevance of Levi's work in Japan and Korea. Levi was among the few international intellectuals who, sixty-five years ago, in the wake of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, opened the discussion on the technological means of mass destruction. Through the years, since the publication of his memoir in Japan, the book has also become a paradigmatic text for the unspoken memory of the discriminated Korean minority living in the country. Speakers on this topic include Marco Belpoliti (curator of the film Primo Levi's Journey) and John Treat (author of Writing Ground Zero: Japanese Literature and the Atomic Bomb). Moderator: Carol Gluck (author of Thinking with the Past: Japan and Modern History).
A panel of Primo Levi's experts entitled "After the Survivor" will discuss Levi's text within the larger context proposed by the symposium. Speakers include Gil Anidjar (author of The Jew, the Arab: a History of the Enemy), Uri Cohen (author of Survival: Senses of Death between the World Wars in Italy and Palestine), Manuela Consonni (author of Resistance and Shoah), and Robert Gordon (author of Outrageous Fortune: Primo Levi, Luck and the Shoah).
PROGRAM
Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue, NYC. Admission is free. Reservations are recommended at 212-517-ASIA (2742)
OCTOBER 26
5:00 pm | Mahmood Mamdani, Marc Nichanian, Gayatri Spivak. Discussants: Uri Cohen, Gil Anidjar, Manuela Consonni
8:00 pm | GALA CONCERT
The Transparency of the Word. Multimedia performance (US Premiere). Music by Andrea Liberovici, text by Emilio Jona freely based on Primo Levi's writings. Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne conducted by Lorraine Vaillaincourt
OCTOBER 28
After the Survivor
5:00 pm | Gil Anidjar, Uri Cohen, Manuela Consonni, Robert Gordon
7:00 | In Translation: Japan and Korea
Marco Belpoliti, John Treat, Carol Gluck
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 The Transparency of the Word:
A Multimedia Performance by Andrea Liberovici
As a tribute to Levi's keen interest in the arts, the Primo Levi Center has established inaugural gala concerts that feature the music of an international composers whose work was inspired by or dedicated to Primo Levi. This year the Center presents the American premiere of Andrea Liberovici's The Transparency of the Word, a multimedia work which will be performed by the renowned Nouvel Ensemble Moderne conducted by Lorraine Vaillancourt. Mr. Liberovici is known for his eclectic collaborations that range from the poet Eduardo Sanguineti to the filmmaker Peter Greenway. The text is by Primo Levi's long time colleague and friend Emilio Jona and it is accompanied by a multimedia installation by the Italian shadow-theater company Teatro d'Ombre. The work explores the possibility of a dialogue with the world of shadows. Liberovici, who works extensively in multimedia writes: "I wanted to place the audience in a state of heightened attention. One is following elusive thoughts while inside the music". The text, projected on tulle backgrounds, as if springing out of the music, is structured in nine chapters/poems. Each one of the first eight originates from key words taken from a specific work of Primo Levi. The ninth text is a poem dedicated to Levi. On stage the work proceeds along parallel performing planes in which texts, sound, music and "shadow theater" unfold. The music performed by the nine-piece ensemble is inspired both rhythmically and melodically by the "cantillare" practice, a form of reciting/singing the bible that precedes psalmody. There is also an "electronic music" aspect, drawing from the French musique concrete tradition, an assemblage of raw sonic material. Lastly, behind the orchestra, Controluce Teatro D'Ombre will create "visual allusions" through Shadow Theater. The Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM), based in Montreal, Canada, is one of the world's premier contemporary classical music groups. Founded by Lorraine Vaillancourt, the ensemble's conductor and pianist, last year NEM celebrated its 20th anniversary. Le NEM will also appear at the Americas Society on October 27th with a program featuring Franco Donatoni, Serge Garant, Pierre Boulez, and Mauricio Kagel. |
Centro Primo Levi Thanks:
The Viterbi Family Foundation, the Cahnman Foundation,
Dr. Claude Ghez who supports the Gala Concert in memory of Nella Treves, the David Berg Foundation.
Additional support is granted by Lavazza USA and Mediterranean Shipping. Travel for the speakers is provided by Alitalia USA. Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne is supported by the Qu�bec Government Office in New York. The program is held in partnership and with the support of the Institute of Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University.
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