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| ITALIAN MINISTRY OF CULTURE, UFFIZI AND LUCCA COMICS & GAMES COMBINE TO FOSTER THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMICS WORLDWIDE |
| 52 self-portraits of some of the most talented comic book artists on the Italian scene will enter the collection of the Uffizi Galleries, Italy. The works – created with different techniques, formats and styles – will be presented at Lucca Comics & Games 2021 from October 8 to November 1 as part of the “Fumetti nei musei | Gli autoritratti degli Uffizi” (Comics in the Museums | Self-portraits of the Uffizi) exhibition, curated by Mattia Morandi and Chiara Palmieri. The exhibition is an inititative between the Uffizi Galleries and Lucca Crea to foster the development and promotion of comics in Italy and abroad. The initiative will also see one of the portraits, selected by the Uffizi and the Ministry of Culture, going on display in the self-portrait collection of the Florentine Museum. The new cluster of self-portraits of contemporary Italian comics will add a new dimension to the collection of self-portraits of the Uffizi Gallery – the richest and most prestigious in the world. These works will be exhibited in the new rooms dedicated to self-portraits that will open in the coming months on the second floor of the Vasarian Museum. The agreement also sees the participation of the Uffizi and the Ministry of Culture in the selection of the Master of Comics within Lucca Comics Awards at Lucca Comics & Games and the entrance, every year, of the winner artwork into the self-portrait collection of the Florentine museum. The agreement will have an initial two-year duration at the outset and within its scope, a variety of shared initiatives may be undertaken in addition to exhibitions, events, cultural productions, creative, educational and scientific partnerships and much more. |
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| The works that will be on display in Lucca have been generously donated by the artists who participated in Fumetti nei Musei, the project conceived by the Ministry of Culture. “Thanks to the artists for this important donation, which represents a further evolution of a path of valorization of contemporary comics that was born around the ambitious project Fumetti nei Musei. This new fund is an important innovation for the Italian contemporary art scene: the Uffizi thus becomes one of the first museums of classical art to bet on the vitality and creative force of the ninth art,” says the Italian Minister of Culture, Dario Franceschini. “With this unprecedented, innovative alliance between the Uffizi and Lucca Comics, one of the most important comic events in the world, the goal is to reiterate a key concept: culture is pop and to effectively reach as many people as possible. The agreement we are presenting today is the first of its kind in the world: I am convinced that it will give rise to great results and will be the forerunner to many other ‘crossovers’ that will bear fruit in terms of ideas, creativity and inspiration for the future,” comments the Director of the Uffizi, Eike Schmidt. Francesca Fazzi, President of Lucca Crea, adds “Even the most difficult edition of Lucca Comics & Games has generated exciting results. The presence of Eike Schmidt at Lucca Comics & Games in 2020 marked the start of a collaboration, which today takes concrete form in an initiative that will bring, every year, the Master of Comics crowned in Lucca to the Uffizi Galleries. It is a great recognition for the Festival and for all Italian comics“. Her words are reinforced by Emanuele Vietina, Director of Lucca Comics & Games. INFORMATION: www.luccacomicsandgames.com www.fumettineimusei.it www.luccacomicsawards.com FB & IG: @luccacomicsandgames; TW: @LuccaCandG |
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| From left: Eike Schmidt (Gallerie Uffizi Director), Emanuele Vietina (Lucca Comics & Games CEO), Alessandro Tambellini (Major of the City of Lucca) and Francesca Fazzi (Lucca Crea President) |
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Tag Archives: Luccan Comics and Games
Lucca Comics & Games festival takes place from October 29th to November 1st in Lucca, Italy
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| To re-behold the stars: light is the claim of the 55th year of Lucca Comics & Games festival happening in person from 29th October to 1st of November 2021 in Italy. This year Italy is honouring Dante Alighieri, the poet and philospher, by celebrating the 700th anniversary of his death and Dante’s Divine Comedy sets the tone for the returning festival – a community event that not only produced culture but creates a place where people can share experiences by occupying and interacting with and within a unique and monumental city. Light is the synthesis of this new Lucca Comics & Games, which signals a passage from dark to light, and paves a road to a new kind of normal. Visitors will go back to meeting creators of universes that have been an integral part of the festival – comics, games, storytelling, modern mythologies and big and small industries represented in these worlds. “Lucca Comics & Games is a unique cross-media event dedicated to pop culture, cosplay and comics held in a medieval Tuscan town. Before the pandemic, each year more than 250,000 fans walked through our city walls to immerse themselves in a world of fantasy. Our organisation has worked very close with government to implement safety rules. We are delighted to be able to open our gates again after a year of darkness. “Thence we came forth to re-behold the stars” is the last line in Dante’s Inferno. To me it means a new beginning and the hope that we will again be able to embrace our imagination and experience an unforgettable live event.” says Emanuele Vietina, Director of Lucca Comics & Games. THE FESTIVAL RECONQUERS THE CITY Lucca Comics & Games returns to the heart of Lucca, Italy, offering the public the chance to find the most beloved publishers and exhibitors in historical areas and in places to (re)discover: the central core of comics will remain Piazza Napoleone. The iconic pavilion has is coming back together with Palazzo Ducale and the historical spaces of the Palazzetto dello Sport, where the festival was held until 2005 and returns this year for the first time in 15 years. The world of gaming will be housed in the Real Collegio and in the Cavallerizza area Japan World will conquer the large spaces of the Polo Fiere di Lucca. The Music & Cosplay area will be hosted in the San Francesco complex. All these worlds will be increasingly interconnected within the Festival: visitors will be invited to travel from one to the other, to enrich their passions and rediscover the pleasure of being in Lucca. LIGHT The theme of Light will visually accompany the Festival experience with contemporary Italian illustrator Paolo Barbieri, creating the distinctive image of Lucca Comics & Games poster. In the year of Dante’s celebrations, he creates the poetic vision that links Lucca Comics & Games to Dante’s journey with Virgil through the darkness of Hell. The artist visually tells the story of the Festival’s adventurous journey, with its colourful paraphernalia of cosplayers, dragons and spaceships married to the literary and mythological forces that live in Dante’s poetry. Paolo Barbieri says “I decided to draw a road suspended in the sky that leads us towards Dante who, opening his red robe, reveals a fantastic Lucca opening up to receive the Festival. This grassy road, suspended in the midst of other flying rocks leads to the realm of fantasy with Lucca understood as a true door of the Imagination which I have tried to recreate in my own way to convey the sense of wonder in Dante’s myth.” COSPLAY WITHIN VILLA BOTTINI Suspended between theatrical performance and costume craftsmanship, the cosplay world finds its home within the evocative Villa Bottini, an architectural masterpiece of Lucca. The frescoed rooms and the garden will host some of the most interesting communities, including Assassin’s Creed Cosplay, Terre di Mezzo Cosplayer, Ghostbuster Italia, Avengers / X-Men and 501 Italica Rebel/Legion Empisa. There will also be space for medieval fantasy, steampunk, the post-apocalyptic world of The Walking Dead, the universe of Harry Potter and the magic of Disney. Dozens of characters will come to life, animating Villa Cosplay, with professional photoshoots, workshops and wardrobe services, to enjoy the Festival in complete safety. The San Francesco Auditorium will host the long-awaited Cosplay Competition on Saturday 30 October: backstage interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and lots of fun for what has always been considered one of the unmissable events of Lucca Comics and Games. INFORMATION: Official site www.luccacomicsandgames.com FB & IG: @luccacomicsandgames; TW: @LuccaCandG |
Lucca 2019 breaks records with guest appearances from Star Trek: Picard & The Witcher cast
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The 53rd edition of Lucca Comics & Games festival has now come to an end, with a record 270,000 tickets sold.
Every year, the festival transforms the medieval Italian town of Lucca into the cradle of pop culture, gathering a growing number of comics, board games, video games, fiction and fantasy art, animation, cinema and TV series fans over 5 days. Lucca Comics & Games consolidated its position as the premiere pop culture festival in the western world, with over 1,600 activities including meetings, tournaments, workshops, and live performances; more than 4,000 autograph sessions; 1,500 gaming stations with tens of thousands of sessions played; 16 concerts and musical performances; two theatre shows produced by the festival and over 1,000 speakers including 180 international guests.
The beating heart of the festival are guests from all over the world, who year after year enrich the program. Master Hiroiko Araki told the Italian public the genesis of his most famous work, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Rokuda Noboru, Emil Ferris, Don Rosa and Chris Claremont were some of the many international guests who came to Lucca this year.
RPGs had an imposing presence this year. Fans of all ages played Dungeons & Dragons in a real Dungeon underneath the ancient walls of Lucca. D&D Epic, the largest themed event ever held in Europe took place, with 180 players and 30 Dungeon Masters who played the largest simultaneous D&D session in the continent. Some of the most passionate players of Dungeons & Dragons in the world, such as the actor Joe Manganiello, came to Lucca to play in this unique setting. Two of the most famous Magic: The Gathering illustrators, John Avon and Melissa Benson, were also in attendance .
In the Movie Area, Amazon Prime Video came to Lucca for the first time with international star Sir Patrick Stewart, who took the stage at the historic Teatro del Giglio to announce Picard’s return to Star Trek fans and get inducted into Lucca’s Walk of Fame.
Netflix was back to Lucca to present their new original series The Witcher based on the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. The festival audience was able to watch the world premiere of the trailer and meet, in addition to the author of the famous saga, the showrunner of the series Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and the leading actresses Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan, as well being treated to three never before seen clips.
Piazza Anfiteatro was “taken over” by the Netflix TV Series Money Heist. Among the guests: Joonas Suotamo, the Finnish actor who plays Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; Rebecca Sugar, creator of the cult series Cartoon Network, Steven Universe; As always, there were plenty of Italian premieres: from Terminator: Dark Fate to Zombieland: Double Tap and the much awaited Sky series His Dark Materials.
Video gaming took over some of the most historic parts of the city. At Baluardo San Regolo, Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was celebrated. At Casermetta San Donato, it was time for heroic deeds thanks to Square Enix and Marvel’s Avengers. Fans were able to meet Scott Amos, Crystal Dynamics Executive Producer, and Valerio Schiti, well-known Marvel Comics artist.
Borderlands 3 was the protagonist of unforgettable activities such as the cosplay parade led by Leon Chiro, a world-famous cosplayer. For the first time in the history of the event, Ferrari created a program of intense racing sessions on legendary circuits, such as Imola, Spa and Silverstone. In the evocative setting of the eSports Cathedral many competed in e-sport tournaments, including Brawl Stars and League of Legends, in addition to the Quake Pro League, featuring some of the best players in the world. At the Esport Palace (formerly Cavallerizza) the adrenaline rushes of the Logitech G Challenge were celebrated, a competition that offered a coveted place for the European finals on November 9th in Cologne, and the exciting Gillette Bomber Cup, an official Fortnite Tournament won by the excellent Filoakai. Nintendo came with a double pavilion dedicated to upcoming titles, and Bandai Namco Entertainment gave fans the opportunity to try one of the most anticipated titles of the moment: Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot.
Fantasy literature was one of the stars of the festival, italian authors such Licia Troisi and Paolo Barbieri joined international master Bruce Sterling, creator with William Gibson of cyberpunk. Also present were the duo of authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, known as James SA Corey, famous for the saga The Expanse.
Cosplayers took over the town with parades, competitions and rallies. Red Bull brought their Red Bull Cosplay Garage at Baluardo Santa Croce. Among the most popular moments were Zombie Walk parade, the official Marvel Cosplay Italy rally, and the Rat-Man themed parade, dedicated to the character created by Italian artist Leo Ortolani.
At the Junior area, thousands of kids participated in game sessions, imaginative LEGO® constructions (Hidden Side) and meeting with the authors of the their favorite works such as Thomas Astruc, creator and director of the animated TV series Miraculous. Teatro Junior was highly appreciated, a theatrical project featuring titles for children. Workshops and meetings with the Panini author, guided visits to the exhibitions and special initiatives completed the program.
The now iconic Japan Town, was also featured this year, the district in the wonderful historical center of Lucca dedicated entirely to Japanese art and culture was, as always taken over by protagonist of numerous meetings dedicated to Japan: exhibitions, events, food tasting, and initiatives dedicated to the discovery of Japanese culture and traditions.
World Premiere of ‘The Witcher’ trailer to launch at Lucca Comics And Games 2019
0Lucca Comics & Games Festival is back. The largest convention of its kind in Europe, and second largest in the world after Comiket (Tokyo), Lucca Comics & Games brings together fan communities from the worlds of comics, games, TV series, film, illustration, art and fiction. A massive event in the pop culture calendar, the 2018 edition saw an amazing 793,818 admissions. 2019 is the 53rd year since its inception, with exhibitions running from October 12th. The main festival all set in the ancient walled city of Lucca, Italy, will begin from October 30th through to November 3rd.
Some of the headline exhibitions, showcases and guests this year include a trailer world premiere of Netflix’s next original production and tv series The Witcher. Stars from the Netflix Original production Anya Chalotra and Freya Allan are attending, as well as writer of the eponymous bestseller, Andrzej Sapkowski. Producer and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich will be in attendance. Netflix’s Money Heist, the best performing non-English language series on the platform, will occupy one of Lucca’s main squares.
The Italian premieres of tentpole film releases Terminator: Dark Fate (20th Century Fox), which will open the festival, and Zombieland: Double Tap (Warner Bros. Entertainment Italia) will also be shown and accompanied by zombies invading the ancient city.
The underground dungeon, San Colombano, will be transformed for a Dungeons and Dragons tournament, in partnership with Wizards of the Coast. Actor Joe Manganiello (True Blood , How I Met Your Mother ), Scottish comedian Paul Foxcroft ( Cariad & Paul , Questing Time ), Richard Witther (D&D, Senior Art Director), Bill Benham (D&D Game Producer), Mark Hulmes and Kim Richards (two of the most important members of the British D&D community, better known as High Rollers) and many others will be taking part. In total 180 players and 30 Dungeon Masters will create the largest simultaneous D&D game that the Old Continent has ever seen.
A year after the death of William Goldman, Lucca Comics & Games will be honoring him by launching a special extended edition of The Princess Bride, including 100 new pages of adventure.
Bruce Sterling, one of the main exponents of cyberpunk, will be in Lucca discussing the future along with Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck, also known as James S.A.Corey, authors of The Expanse.
This year the Baluardo San Regolo will be the setting for the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare from Activision in a massive exhibition space.
The Gilette Cup Bomber, one of the biggest Fortnite tournaments, also returns for its second year along with free gaming sessions and a Meet & Greet with some of the icons of gaming including Cicciogamer89, J0K3r, Kekkobomba and Los Amigos.
Nintendo will be attending with Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and Luigi’s Mansion 3. Blizzard Entertainment titles World of Warcraft, Overwatch, StarCraft, Hearthstone, Diablo and Heroes of the Storm will also be present.
Bandi Namco Entertainment comes to Italy for the first time with some of its most important titles including Dragon Ball Z Kakarot, One Piece Pirate Warriors 4 and One Punch Man: A Hero Nobody Knows.
eSports fans can experience the fourth edition of the Italian eSports Open with 5 days full of content including tournaments, world finals and panels with exceptional guests in the evocative setting of the Auditorium San Romano, a former church medieval transformed for the occasion into Esports Cathedral.
2K Games will be activating the ‘Borderlands 3 Parade’, when all Borderlands fans will be summoned by one of the most famous cosplayers in the world, Leon Chiro, who will lead the group inside the city.
Sony Interactive Entertainment Italy offer visitors the chance to try PlayStation™ Now, the exclusive subscription service dedicated to video games and based on the cloud, with a catalog of over 700 games including great exclusives, blockbusters and experiences for the whole family,including God of War, Uncharted 4: End of a Thief and Bloodborne.
In an exclusive location, the Scuderia Ferrari will be celebrating its 90th anniversary with the exhibition of the Cover Art of the 2019 Formula 1 Championship. Visitors and aspiring pro gamers will also be able to interact with the Ferrari Driver Academy and find out about its recent entry into the eSport Championship.
Amazon will also be present via a massive 200sqm exhibition, called the Box of Passions. Amongst highlighting their products, they will also be paying homage to the late, great, Stan Lee.
Lucca Comics & Games stalwart Hasbro will be world premiering new lines of action figures, accessories and vehicles dedicated to the Star Wars saga and Marvel superheroes.
BECOMING HUMAN
Becoming Human is the theme chosen for this year and is wonderfully represented in the festival’s official poster, signed by celebrated graphic novelist, Barbara Baldi. Lucca Comics & Games are asking people to join the conversation about what being human means. They will be exploring the relationship between virtual and real, digital and analogue, sleep and wakefulness, flesh and metal, silicon and carbon and all that is possible within these realms.
The festival offers 6,000 gaming sessions at the eSports Cathedral and 12 art exhibitions divided between Palazzo Ducale, Palazzo Arnolfini and Piazza San Martino. Lucca Comics & Games embodies the heritage of Lucca – the walls, the squares, the historic buildings, the medieval alleys and the mysterious undergrounds. It welcomes the participants, the great sagas and all the event partners who together build a great community ready to live an unparalleled experience through a unique event.
Emanuele Vietina, Lucca Comics & Games Director says “The strength of a festival that every year brings together more than 750,000 people – one of the largest community events in the world – lies precisely in it’s ability to combine its’ historical heritage with the imagery of American superheroes, the big videogame franchises, the fantasy and sci-fi literary sagas, the TV series and films. An event that is now one of the most advanced examples of a pop culture festival at international level. Lucca is more than a festival – it’s a festival that produces culture.”
In #Community #Inclusion #Respect #Discovery #Gratitude we trust.
Creature Feature Corner 