The Milan of art and culture mobilizes for Ukraine. Here are all the initiatives

There are many initiatives that the Milan of art and culture is organizing to support the war-stricken Ukrainian people: they were presented yesterday in Sala Alessi at Palazzo Marino by Milan City Council’s Culture Councillor Tommaso Sacchi, who outlined what many of the city’s cultural operators are setting up to help the Ukrainian people and raise their voices against the humanitarian catastrophe the world is witnessing. Many other ideas are also being planned.

“The Milan of art and culture,” says Councilor Sacchi, “is moving to support the Ukrainian people and against the war. Theaters, orchestras, museums, schools, directors, artists, curators: so many have activated their energies with projects designed to come to the aid of Ukraine. Everyone got involved with their own tools and means of expression - from music to photography, from theater to contemporary art -, deeply feeling the responsibility of an increasingly necessary solidarity and support.”

The initiatives

It starts with the Dance Gala at the Arcimboldi Theater with international étoiles. On Thursday, April 7, at 9 p.m., the TAM Teatro Arcimboldi Milano will host a gala with European étoiles and great personalities from the world of international ballet for an evening of great dance in support of Ukrainian and Russian artists and for war-affected refugees. The dancers involved will find themselves dancing together for the first time for an important charity project: the proceeds of the evening will in fact be donated to the #MilanoAiutaUcraina Fund, promoted by the City together with Fondazione di Comunità Milano, and the Italian Red Cross, to support the extraordinary effort of immediate aid and reception on our territory of women, children and elderly people fleeing the war. On stage, we will witness solos and pas de deux by numerous celebrated personalities from the world of European dance, étoiles and prima ballet dancers who are embracing the project with passion, determination and for free. Tickets go on sale starting at noon on Thursday, March 16, on the theater’s website and at the box office.

Prominent among the protagonists then is Piccolo Teatro, which is promoting three lines of action to support the people caught up in the conflict, with a special focus on female artists: these are thereception in residence at the School of some young female students of theater training courses in Kiev, the launch, in collaboration with the City of Milan, of a theater workshop for Ukrainian refugees present in Milan, to help participants overcome the trauma they are suffering through a path of staging stories, and finally a Ukraine Focus. In dialogue with a number of international festivals, Piccolo Teatro is in fact opening contacts with some leading exponents of Ukrainian Theater and dissident Russian Theater to give space to a Ukraine Focus within the Festival Presente Indicativo: per Giorgio Strehler (theatrical landscapes): readings, talks, screenings to open a window of awareness on this crisis.

Fondazione Milano, on the other hand, guarantees educational continuity for Ukrainian theater and music students: the Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” and the Civica Scuola di Musica “Claudio Abbado,” two of the four Schools of Higher Education that are part of Fondazione Milano, will welcome some Ukrainian theater and music students who have fled the war, guaranteeing them educational continuity by including them in their educational paths in an international context open to dialogue and confrontation. First, the Civica Scuola di Teatro “Paolo Grassi” responded to the call of the Stage4Ukraine project and from April 1 until the end of the academic year will welcome young acting and directing students from three leading Ukrainian drama academies. Opera singers and jazz musicians, on the other hand, are expected at the Civica Scuola di Musica “Claudio Abbado” to be included in classical music institutes and civic jazz courses.

Still, the United Photographers 4 Ukraina online auction featuring the works of great photographers: the magazine Perimeter, together with the NGO Liveinslums are promoting a new social initiative to support the Kiev Children’s Hospital (Ohmadyt) and the International Red Cross. United Photographers 4 Ukraina is a call to donate an image that can be purchased online at a cost of 100 euros, the proceeds of which will be donated to support the care network in Ukraine, excluding printing costs. The operation involves some of the most prominent names in contemporary Italian and international fashion, art, architecture, and portrait photography, including Maurizio Galimberti, Toni Thorimbert, Lady Tarin, Mattia Zoppellaro, Luca Locatelli, Jacopo Benassi, Valentina Sommariva, Francesco Anselmi, Benedetta Ristori, Mario Sorrenti, and Federica Sasso. The campaign will be launched online on March 18 and is also supported by Base Milano, which hosts the project’s operational headquarters, Fontegrafica, which prints the photos, and studio 4Sigma, which develops the online sales system.

On Thursday, March 17, at 8:30 p.m., the Concert for Peace will be held at the Conservatorio, in Sala Verdi, in support of the Ukraine Emergency #helpukraine project: the students who make up the ranks of the ONJ National Jazz Orchestra of Italian Conservatories will play together for peace at an event that will feature the voice of Cinzia Tedesco, guest star of the evening, who will perform for free on this very special occasion. On stage with her will be the ONJ led by Pino Jodice, in the dual role of conductor and arranger of the pieces on the program. The evening was created in support of the Ukraine Emergency #HelpUkraine project. Aid to Ukrainians fleeing war by AVSI Foundation. Free admission, with an offering to support AVSI’s project.

The Teatro alla Scala, on the other hand, is organizing a Concert for Peace in support of the #milanoaiucucraina fund: ticket sales opened yesterday for the Concert for Peace that the Teatro alla Scala management and Maestro Riccardo Chailly, at the urging of the theater’s workers, will dedicate on April 4 to the war-affected Ukrainian people. Very few seats remain, demonstrating the generosity of the people of Milan and the La Scala audience. Ticket proceeds from the Concert and those from donations made in the purchasing process will be entirely donated to the new #milanoaiutaucraina fund of Fondazione di Comunità Milano Onlus, and to the Italian Red Cross, in an effort to support refugees arriving in Milan and those left behind in Ukraine and neighboring countries. On the music stands was Gioachino Rossini’s Stabat Mater with Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala conducted by Maestro Chailly (Chorus Master Alberto Malazzi) and some of the most prestigious Rossini artists of our time: Rosa Feola, Juan Diego Flórez and Alex Esposito. All the artists have waived their cachet. Also at La Scala, on March 20 at 6:30 p.m. the La Scala Philharmonic presents an Extraordinary Open Rehearsal for Peace to raise funds for UNHCR, to which the entire proceeds of the evening will be donated. On the podium, Maestro Fabio Luisi will lead the musicians in a performance of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8 in C minor. Tickets to attend the rehearsal are on sale at Viva Ticket. In addition to purchasing tickets here, the audience will be able to choose to directly donate an additional liberal contribution to support UNHCR and its work in Ukraine.

Triennale Milano, on the other hand, recently presented the first event of Planeta Ukrain, a project that will feature meetings, reflections, and dialogues with Ukrainian and international artists, intellectuals, and scientists in preparation for the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 23rd Triennale Milano International Exhibition, which will be entitled “Unknown Unknowns. An Introduction to Mysteries,” will open in early summer and aims to map the immense presence of unknown phenomena (what we don’t know we don’t know) that accompany our lives - starting with contemporary geopolitics. The Planeta Ukrain platform, curated by writer Gianluigi Ricuperati with Lidiya Liberman, an actress, and Anastasia Stovbyr, a pianist, has already received the endorsement of numerous personalities from the Ukrainian art and cultural world. Upcoming Planeta Ukrain events will gather ideas, proposals and themes that will be the focus of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 23rd International Exhibition.

Again, La Società del Quartetto will reserve, for all concerts until the end of the season, 100 free tickets that will go directly to refugees hosted by Casa Jannacci and Caritas Ambrosiana.

Divertimento Ensemble is giving out five scholarships worth 1,000 euros each in support of five Ukrainian composers. It does so by launching a call intended for Ukrainian composers who have remained in their own country. The ensemble led by Sandro Gorli pledges to perform the five pieces in as many concerts during its season. It then sensitizes its audience to want to contribute to partially or fully cover the expenses of the five grants by opening a fundraiser in support of the five composers identified by the call.

The Fondazione Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano “Giuseppe Verdi” is making available for each concert of its season starting today tickets at a reduced price (10 euros): at the time of purchase it will be possible to add a donation to support the #milanoaiucraina campaign of Fondazione Comunità Milano. For this our initiative there will be a complement, in collaboration with the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo. On the occasion of J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion on April 13 in the Duomo, as has been a long-standing tradition for years, it will be indicated on the “Libretto di Sala” how an extraordinary solidarity contribution can be made, complementing and concluding the #milanoaiutaucraina campaign itself.

Finally, Teatro Franco Parenti, in addition to the initiatives already carried out, is supporting the collection of the #MilanoAiutaUcraina fund with all the proceeds from the premiere of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “The Doppelganger” and part of the proceeds from the premiere of Anton &CCaron;echov’s “Uncle Vanya,” both scheduled for March 22. A lectio magistralis by Paolo Nori, a great expert on Russian literature, from his book “Sanguina ancora” (Mondadori), an account of the incredible life of Fyodor Dostoevsky, a finalist for the Campiello Prize 2021, will be held on the occasion of the play “The Doppelganger,” staged from March 22 to April 10.

Photo: Steffen Schmitz

The Milan of art and culture mobilizes for Ukraine. Here are all the initiatives

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.