15 with Fosca
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06/21/24 • 46 min
“You have a relationship with the artist. This was a painting in which she put an idealized version of her face, so I am looking at her and working on her and we were communicating on so many different levels.” Elizabeth Wicks on restoring Artemisia Gentileschi’s Allegory of Inclination.
This past March, Elizabeth Wicks, renowned fine art conservator, and fellow Florentine by adoption, invited me over to talk about her life and work.
Our conversation begins with Liz’s journey to Italy, how and why she was drawn to conservation, her studies, background, and formation. She also provides excellent information and helpful resources for those considering a future in the field.
Above all, she gives us insight into and access to the behind-the-scenes life of a restorer.
Liz is all at once a scientist, detective, artist, tech goddess, and keeper and protector of an artistic patrimony that belongs to us all. Join us to hear some amazing stories about magical surprises, unveilings, beloved projects, artists, and materials, and the many unbelievable and unexpected discoveries she has encountered along the way. She also shares some sneak previews and reveals!
We also speak about how we experience art today, the joys of watching works being restored right before your eyes, how critical philanthropy is, and what’s really behind the museum and theater tickets we purchase.
We also touch upon the Disneyfication of Florence, and how the city, Liz, and her work have changed over time and continue to evolve.
We close by chatting about the Women’s International Network, thanks to which Liz and I first met, and how being part of such a dynamic and diverse community of remarkable women in Florence has been so personally and professionally impactful and empowering for us both.
Elizabeth Wicks Biography
Elizabeth Wicks restores fine art from ancient to contemporary, both onsite and at her art conservation studio in the center of Florence Italy. With over thirty years’ experience, she focuses mainly on easel paintings and frescoes. While her work is based in Italy, she consults regularly on projects in the U.S.A.
Her conservation projects involve museums, churches, public properties, and private clients. Her work has ranged from restoring murals at Radio City Music Hall to sculptures by Michelangelo, to conserving easel paintings in a variety of styles and media. She also teaches the conservation of contemporary art in the five-year Master’s Program at the University of Viterbo.
Her restorations have been featured in several documentaries, and she publishes and lectures internationally on women artists and painting conservation.
She is currently working on a Renaissance panel painting in her Florence studio, a fascinating and laborious project. She’s uncovering figures hidden by over-paint, revealing the painting’s original.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-wicks-48816a10/
https://www.conservart.info/index.php?lang=en&id=elizabeth_wicks
https://www.instagram.com/elizabethwicksartconservation/
Other Useful Links
The restoration of Artemisia Gentileschi’s Inclination in Casa Buonarroti
Artemisia Gentileschi: Revealing the true beauty of a censored painting - BBC News
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2ByYCcmRGs
Artemisia UpClose, An interview with conservator Elizabeth Wicks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9RfMaGG1DY&list=UUauV7oI7WUZJy1rfHPPB3KA&index=2
Artemisia UpClose, The restoration of Artemisia Gentileschi's Allegory of Inclination at Casa Buonarroti Museum, Florence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9jB14RFqRw&list=UUauV7oI7WUZJy1rfHPPB3KA&index=4
Art rescue in progress, an interview with conservator Elizabeth Wicks
https://www.calliopearts.org/post/restoration-atelier-in-florence
06/14/24 • 23 min
This past April, I sat down with members of the Mama Florence family to chat with them about their relationship with Italian cuisine, their first and most significant food memories and moments, their favorite dishes, and why they love the work they do. What comes out in our conversations is just how inextricably linked food and the idea of home are, and what Mama Florence does every day to foster that important connection. For so many happy participants, Mama Florence becomes a home away from home. An intimate space, the minute you walk through the door you are greeted by enticing and familiar aromas and feel a sense of belonging as you step into their warm and welcoming kitchen. Located in the heart of the authentically Florentine Oltrarno neighborhood, Mama Florence offers something for everyone. Whether you want to take a private or a group class, organize an event for your family, friends, or business, go on a market tour, or participate in a singular Tuscan food experience, Mama Florence will bring you into their home, take you by the hand, and lead you on a journey of tastes, smells, discoveries, emotions, and memories. In this special video, which celebrates the 10th anniversary of Mama Florence, I hope you enjoy the heart, soul and true spirit of Mama, through the voices and stories of those who are spreading joy and knowledge, all the while creating a community and a home through cooking and eating. Recorded at Mama Florence, April 19, 2024 Production Intern, Mark Scott Links https://www.mamaflorence.com/enhttps://www.facebook.com/MaMa.Florenc...https://www.instagram.com/mama.florence/
05/31/24 • 49 min
“I really felt like I came alive here. Life felt simultaneously easier and harder, but underneath all of that, more inspiring and enlivening. And it's something that I just couldn't leave.” Alexandria Brown-Hejazi
In this special, long episode featuring art historian Alexandria Brown-Hejazi, we begin by speaking about her journey from California to Italy, in the midst of the pandemic, and the challenges she encountered when she first arrived, alone with a small child, trying to move her research forward and advance her academic career while raising a child in a foreign country.
We also cover a wide range of topics from finding and building community, to the differences between raising kids in Italy and in the US, to “checking out of the matrix,” and to planning -- or not -- for the future.
We also discuss where she is right now and dig deeper into her research and her teaching. We chat about aesthetics and meraviglie and what she is doing to bring students closer to art history through new, inclusive, and diverse perspectives that inspire young scholars to look at, feel, and experience what they are seeing in Italy every day in a profoundly personal way that transforms their study abroad journeys into passages of true self-discovery and awareness.
Alexandria Brown-Hejazi Biography
Alexandria specializes in early modern art and architecture of the Mediterranean basin and eastern Islamicate world, with a particular focus on the arts of Italy and Iran. She teaches art history in Florence, where she is also an Associate Scholar at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. Alexandria is also the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, as well as the Henry A. Millon Award in Art and Architectural History from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. Her research has been supported by the Hoover Institution, the American Association of Iranian Studies, and the Mellon Foundation. She has curated two exhibitions on the theme of cross-cultural early modern exchange. At the Cantor Arts Center, Alexandria directed the first exhibition on Persian art in Crossing the Caspian: Persia and Europe, 1500-1700. She also curated an online exhibition on Islamic mapping practices at the David Rumsey Map Center in her show Mapping the Islamic World: the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires. She received her PhD in Art History from Stanford University, her MA from Harvard University with Distinction, and her BA from the University of California Berkeley.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandria-brown-hejazi-33a50049/
Recorded November 28, 2023 @ Musikalmente Firenze
10/13/23 • 22 min
“Francesca once wrote that she wanted to write her autobiography. I hope that by writing the definitive narrative of her life, Francesca will finally have this desire fulfilled, and the world can know her as she was: multifaceted, on fire about life and art, and solare.” Amy Love Tomasso
Warning: This episode discusses suicide.
In this week’s episode my special guest, Amy Love Tomasso, and I delve into the life and work of the iconic photographer Francesca Woodman. More specifically, we talk about her relationship with Italy. Amy first discovered the artist as a young college student studying abroad at Cornell’s Art, Architecture & Urban Planning Program in Rome. Since then, she has been on a mission to locate Francesca Woodman’s voice and speak her truth. As Amy says, “I believe that her formative year in Rome has not been adequately explored in the literature (at least not in English). The correspondences contained in Giuseppe’s 2011 exhibit and accompanying catalog Francesca Stern Woodman Roma 1977-1981 are an important window into Francesca’s animus, and inspirations during her time in Italy, that have not been widely introduced to an audience beyond Italy. So much of Francesca’s truth, as well as her rigorous artistic foundation, is contained in her time in Rome.”
Further Reading and Links
Amy Love Tommaso’s Biography
Amy Tomasso grew up in a large Italian-American family in central Connecticut. When Latin was cut from her high school’s budget, she taught herself Italian at age 15 using her father’s college textbook and honed her speaking skills that year with the first of many visits to her relatives in Italy’s Abruzzo region. On this formative trip to Italy, Amy fell in love with the piazza, the quintessential Italian public space, which led her to major in Urban Studies and minor in Italian at Stanford University. While studying urbanism and photography abroad in Rome her junior year, Amy was introduced to the work of the photographer Francesca Woodman, who would become a central research and writing subject. Amy went on to receive her MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where she continued researching and chronicling Woodman’s life, artistic contributions, and time in Italy. A lover of storytelling and community, Amy currently works for the Vermont Department of Housing & Community Development and works on her creative writing by night. In her free time, Amy is an avid triathlete, traveler, and Italophile. She plans to return to Italy to complete her book project about Francesca Woodman next year.
Francesca Woodman’s Official Biography (The Woodman Foundation)
https://woodmanfoundation.org/francesca/biography
The Woodman Foundation
https://woodmanfoundation.org/
The Tate’s Finding Francesca
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/francesca-woodman-10512/finding-francesca
Francesca Woodman’s Biography (Gagosian)
https://gagosian.com/artists/francesca-woodman/
Francesca Stern Woodman Roma 1977-1981: Exhibit at Il Museo del Louvre
https://www.ilmuseodellouvre.com/2011/05/23/francesca-woodman-photographs-1977-1981/
Public Collections
https://woodmanfoundation.org/francesca/public
Exhibitions
https://woodmanfoundation.org/francesca/exhibitions
https://gagosian.com/news/artist/francesca-woodman/museum-exhibitions/
Global Suicide Hotline Resources
05/24/24 • 29 min
“I think for anyone who lives in Italy or is interested in Italy, it's really valuable and interesting to keep those other connections in mind. The Mediterranean touches us all in some way or other.” Ali Aydin Karamustafa
In part two of our conversation, Ali and I continue to discuss Italy’s relationship to its Mediterranean neighbors and to the Islamic world through the ages and take a deeper dive into a wide range of topics touching on Italy’s colonial past, postwar history, contemporary politics, and immigration.
Once again through Ali’s commentary, informed by a keen historical lens, we also look at Italy’s ambiguous position, geographically and politically, delve into the complicated questions surrounding immigration in the country today, and explore broader topics related to economics and politics, in Italy, Europe, and on a global level.
Finally, we talk about what’s in store for Ali and he shares with us some exciting projects he has in the works for the immediate future.
Ali Aydin Karamustafa Biography
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Ali Aydin Karamustafa is a historian of the Ottoman and Safavid worlds, and his research focuses on oral and written traditions concerning origins, conquest, legitimacy, and rebellion which were produced and circulated by political communities from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries across Eurasia.
Primarily based in Bologna, Italy, since 2018, he currently teaches at Stanford University's Breyer Center for Overseas Studies Program in Florence. In January 2020, he received his PhD in history from Stanford in Transnational, International, and Global History. His dissertation focused on the popular culture of the Middle East in the 16th-18th centuries, in particular, the epic of Köroğlu.
He speaks and reads several regional languages, and works with manuscripts, journals, and print sources for his research. He has extensive travel and research experience in Iran, Turkey, Jordan, the Caucasus, and Russia.
He is interested in applying his expertise in historical analysis and language skills to carry out research on contemporary politics and economics in Europe and the Middle East.
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-aydin-karamustafa-507442170/
Recorded March 5, 2024 @ Musikalmente Firenze
Production Intern: Mark Scott
05/10/24 • 29 min
Season 2, Episode 18
From East to West: Art, Aesthetics & Sustainable Fashion, Part 2
featuring Vea Chen
In the second half of my chat with Vea Chen we expound further upon fashion and speak about Vea’s approach to her dream of founding a sustainable fashion brand and the concrete steps she has taken and is taking to make that dream a reality.
We also grapple with the meaning of fashion, today and throughout history, and the significance, on several levels, of what we choose to wear, what we wear, how we dress on a daily basis, and see and express ourselves
Vea and I also look at fashion through the lenses of contemporary art, social movements, pop culture, and subcultures. We also delve into the problematic ways in which influencers and social media dictate our fashion choices and what can be done to counter that.
Finally, we reflect upon what is important, not only to young people studying fashion today, but also to gen z more broadly, and Vea introduces a thought-provoking vision of the future of fashion.
Vea Chen Biography
Vea Chen was born in China and earned a degree in Mathematics and Economics from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Subsequently, she spent five years working with US Multinational corporations. Her exposure to luxury perfumeries during her professional journey sparked a keen interest in fashion.
While on vacation in Japan, the philosophy of respecting nature and craftsmanship deeply resonated with her, leading to the realization that her true passion lies in the creative industry and art. Motivated by this revelation, she made the decision to pursue studies in fashion at Polimoda in Italy with the goal of establishing a business centered around sustainable fashion with healing properties. She firmly believes that fashion plays a significant role in people's lives, influencing emotions and adding vibrancy. In an era dominated by the starkness of black in street fashion and people's attention are drawn to the online world, her aspiration is to add color, beauty, slow fashion, and human touch to people's lives.
https://www.instagram.com/vvronica_vea/
https://www.polimoda.com/
Italy, Islam & the Mediterranean
15 with Fosca
05/17/24 • 30 min
Season 2, Episode 19
Italy, Islam & the Mediterranean
featuring Ali Aydin Karamustafa
“I'm from Saint Louis, but I'm also originally Turkish and Iranian, so I have a basic experience with the Mediterranean. Coming to Italy there were a lot of things that were immediately recognizable, even just on the visceral level: sights, sounds, colors, smells, facial features. On the other hand, I was surprised by how much I felt that Italian culture and society had its back turned on the rest of the Mediterranean and was really looking towards Northern Europe.” Ali Aydin Karamustafa
Join me for the first half of my conversation with global historian, Ali Aydin Karamustafa, in which we trace his personal and professional path from St. Louis, Missouri to Bologna, Italy.
In this episode, Ali engages us in an illuminating narrative about Italy’s relationship to its Mediterranean neighbors and to the Islamic world through the ages. During his recounting, Ali identifies key historical moments, offers valuable insights on those moments and their vestiges, and provides different lenses through which to look at Italy’s connection to its Mediterranean neighbors and what that relationship means and has meant to Italians.
We also discuss Ali’s complicated relationship to Italy, how he sees himself in the country in light of his own cultural identity, and we delve into the notion and significance of a “Mediterranean identity”.
Finally, we touch upon what it’s like to be a young academic in Italy today and I ask Ali to tell us about his research and teaching, his keen interest in contemporary geopolitical issues and economic exchanges, and how he sees Italy’s current relationship with the Mediterranean.
Ali Aydin Karamustafa biography
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Ali Aydin Karamustafa is a historian of the Ottoman and Safavid worlds, and his research focuses on oral and written traditions concerning origins, conquest, legitimacy, and rebellion which were produced and circulated by political communities from the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries across Eurasia.
Primarily based in Bologna, Italy, since 2018, he currently teaches at Stanford University's Breyer Center for Overseas Studies Program in Florence. In January 2020, he received his PhD in history from Stanford in Transnational, International, and Global History. His dissertation focused on the popular culture of the Middle East in the 16th-18th centuries, in particular, the epic of Köroğlu.
He speaks and reads several regional languages, and works with manuscripts, journals, and print sources for his research. He has extensive travel and research experience in Iran, Turkey, Jordan, the Caucasus, and Russia.
He is interested in applying his expertise in historical analysis and language skills to carry out research on contemporary politics and economics in Europe and the Middle East.
Recorded March 5, 2024 @ Musikalmente Firenze
Production Intern: Mark Scott
04/26/24 • 51 min
Season 2, Episode 16
Languages, Literature, and Living Abroad: Cultivating One’s Garden in our Global World
Featuring Chloe Summers Edmondson
Recorded via Zoom, January 2024
“The tools that you gain through studying the humanities are going to serve you in any career that you have...the ability to write and express clearly, to communicate clearly, to solve problems that have no clear answers, to collaborate with others and to think critically. And I think that studying abroad... the skills that it takes, and the tools that you gain that are required to have a positive study abroad experience, are tools that will serve you in any career.” Chloe Summers Edmondson
In this special video episode, recorded via Zoom this past January, Chloe reflects upon how her time abroad, both in Florence and Paris, impacted her professional and personal path and continues to do so to this day.
We muse on the power of learning a foreign language, the cruciality of spending time in another country, and why studying the humanities is more important than ever right now.
Chloe also speaks about her approach to teaching, and I ask her to tell us more about her incredible classes and how she is bringing a new generation of students closer to the humanities, guiding them on a journey of historical awareness that leads them to a profound understanding of the value of the humanities and their relatability to today’s world and its problems.
She also shares with us her current research interests, her take on what we can learn from the past, and how she frames contemporary media issues through an historical and interdisciplinary lens.
Chloe also ruminates on storytelling through time, what she’s doing to bring her research to a broader public and explains why it’s so necessary to cultivate one’s own garden in our global world.
Biography and Links
Dr. Chloe Summers Edmondson is an interdisciplinary and multilingual scholar who specializes in the literature and history of France. Her research is situated at the crossroads of literary criticism, cultural history, and media studies, with a focus on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France. She currently holds the position of Acting Assistant Professor of French at Stanford University. She is also the France-Stanford Center Fellow for the Roxane Debuisson Collection on Paris History. Lastly, Chloe is the Director of the Undergraduate Research Program for CESTA, the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis.
She is the author of articles that have been published in multiple academic venues. Chloe co-edited, with Dan Edelstein, the volume, Networks of Enlightenment: Digital Approaches to the Republic of Letters (Liverpool University Press/ Voltaire Foundation, 2019). Her current research has also been featured on the podcast Entitled Opinions about Life and Literature.
Chloe earned a Ph.D. in the Department of French & Italian at Stanford in 2020. She also holds a B.A. in French, with Honors and Distinction, and a M.A. in Communication, both from Stanford.
During her time as an undergraduate student, she studied abroad in Florence and in Paris through the Stanford Bing Overseas Studies Programs.
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-summers-edmondson-phd-4383a589/
Personal Website https://www.chloe-edmondson.com/
Stanford profile https://dlcl.stanford.edu/people/chloe-edmondson
@Chloe_mhse
https://twitter.com/Chloe_mhse
Entitled Opinions https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/entitled-opinions-about-life-and-literature/id81415836?i=1000605045889
05/04/24 • 26 min
“In the museums, when you go there, you feel like you're taking a bath, it's like a bath in art. And then you just feel a whole refresh, your eyes are brighter, and you see things in different colors. I feel like art influences a person subconsciously a lot, much more than what you can think with your logic. After I go to the Uffizi, even after three days, the effects start to emerge in me.” Vea Chen
Imagine a dream, a recurring dream, that leads you to embark on the adventure of a lifetime.
That’s part of today’s story, that of Vea Chen, and of her journey from Singapore to Italy, driven by a revelation she had while on vacation in Japan, and of what she is doing to make her real-life dream of establishing a business centered around sustainable fashion with healing properties a reality.
In this first part of our conversation, we hear more about her love of art, the importance of aesthetics, her vision of fashion today, her company’s mission, and her ultimate aspiration of adding color, beauty, slow fashion, and a human touch to people's lives.
Tune in to hear more about what drew Vea to Florence, why she chose to study and make her life here, and why she feels that it is the ideal place for her to be working as a sustainable fashion entrepreneur today.
Vea Chen Biography
Vea Chen was born in China and earned a degree in Mathematics and Economics from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Subsequently, she spent five years working with US Multinational corporations. Her exposure to luxury perfumeries during her professional journey sparked a keen interest in fashion.
While on vacation in Japan, the philosophy of respecting nature and craftsmanship deeply resonated with her, leading to the realization that her true passion lies in the creative industry and art. Motivated by this revelation, she made the decision to pursue studies in fashion at Polimoda in Italy with the goal of establishing a business centered around sustainable fashion with healing properties. She firmly believes that fashion plays a significant role in people's lives, influencing emotions and adding vibrancy. In an era dominated by the starkness of black in street fashion and people's attention are drawn to the online world, her aspiration is to add color, beauty, slow fashion, and human touch to people's lives.
https://www.instagram.com/vvronica_vea/
https://www.polimoda.com/
10/04/24 • 31 min
“A bottle of wine represents culture and history and language and people, and my love affair for wine has come from getting to know the story behind every wine that I taste. I think that is just magic, that's the magic of wine.” Savannah Boylan
This week’s episode takes us on an even more profound journey into the wonderful world of wine in the expert hands of Savannah Boylan and Ashwin Muthiah of unPINNED.
In addition to speaking more about their innovative approach to wine education, they offer us some crucial notions for understanding and navigating wine culture, help us demystify the wine industry and point system, and call to our attention the thousands of indigenous varietals in the world that risk extinction because there is no demand for or knowledge about them.
That’s where unPINNED comes in. Knowledge is power, and, with their wine course, they lead you on a friendly, fun and engaging discovery of wines and wine culture, giving you the tools you need to make solid, confident, and informed choices at restaurants, wine bars or stores.
Their commitment to and passion for wine come through in every minute of this episode and I am delighted that Ashwin and Savannah also reflect upon their experiences going to the source in Georgia (the country, not the state) and the making of the related documentary, In Pursuit of Flavor.
Finally, I ask them to share more with us about how and when their love affair with wine began and why they decided to settle down in Italy.
Spoiler alert: we discover that the three of us have very different tastes in wine!
unPINNED Wine Bios and Links
Bios:
Ashwin Muthiah: Ashwin Muthiah is an author, wine educator, and documentary host, exploring the world through the lens of flavor and wine. Ashwin is a certified sommelier who left the industry 10 years ago because he didn’t align with its values. Instead, he set out to revolutionize the wine industry by making it fun and approachable again. Ashwin has distilled his years of knowledge and packed it into an incredible online membership called unPINNED that drops monthly video content about wine centred around frameworks to help you fully understand wine. As a result, he’s helped thousands of people from all over the world feel more confident about wine.
Savannah Boylan: Savannah is a founder and the Chief Creative Officer of unPINNED. Savannah led a 6-year career in foreign policy before switching gears to realign with her artistic background. After developing brands for countless international clients as a graphic designer, she decided to partner with her husband, Ashwin, on designing and creating unPINNED.
Together, with their third founder Gerod Bond, they’ve built an incredible community where there are no dumb questions and wine is for EVERYONE (not just the elite).
Links:
The unPINNED Website: https://www.unpinnedwine.com/
$15 off annual membership for 15 with Fosca Listeners with code: 15WITHFOSCA
Follow unPINNED on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unpinnedwine/
In Pursuit of Flavor The Documentary: https://www.unpinnedwine.com/in-pursuit-of-flavor
Recorded at Musikalmente Firenze, June 4, 2024
Explicit Language Warning
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FAQ
How many episodes does 15 with Fosca have?
15 with Fosca currently has 60 episodes available.
What topics does 15 with Fosca cover?
The podcast is about Society & Culture and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on 15 with Fosca?
The episode title 'Mama Mia! What’s Cooking with the Mama Florence Family' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on 15 with Fosca?
The average episode length on 15 with Fosca is 30 minutes.
How often are episodes of 15 with Fosca released?
Episodes of 15 with Fosca are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of 15 with Fosca?
The first episode of 15 with Fosca was released on Jul 14, 2023.
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