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PRO FIRENZE FUTURISTA - A digital research archive for futurism in Florence

Lisa Hanstein, Jan Simane, Anka Ziefer, Johannes Holzmann

The library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (Max-Planck-Institut) has developed an ambitious project to convert rare documents, books and journals from the period of Italian Futurism to digital format. The online archive project was presented February 2010 – on the occasion of the closing celebrations for the centenary of the first Futurist Manifesto. The basic idea is to make available documents of crucial importance and to provide public online access free of charge. The digital archives are conceived as a platform for a structured presentation of different kinds of rare material, access to which is usually restricted in the public libraries and collections where they are preserved. The website will also include information and discussions related to Florentine and, in general, Italian Futurism.

The nucleus of the database is composed of the complete collection of the Florentine journal "L'Italia Futurista", published in 51 issues between 1916 and 1918. "L'Italia Futurista" represents the main forum of artists and writers connected to the so-called Second Florentine Futurism, and published articles by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the 'spiritus rector' and founder of the Futurist movement. The copies used for digitization are mostly preserved in the Biblioteca Marucelliana, which supports the project as a partner, and partly in the rare book collection of the library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz. In order to illustrate the activities of the circle of artists, poets, and intellectuals who formed and strongly influenced the avant-garde movement in Florence, a selection of digital reproductions of significant documents – letters, books, photographs, libretti, drawings, audio (-visual) material etc. – will be included in the database. All of these documents will be connected by the attribution of keywords and enriched by further information, for example on people or places. An interactive map will allow users to follow and trace the activities of the Florentine Futurists. The database will provide research tools for names, locations, and titles of articles or keywords in German, Italian and English. The documents will also be arranged in 'portals' dedicated to predefined topics, which will enable the user find specific information on selected subjects, as, for example, on the English poet and artist Mina Loy, who frequented the group of young Florentine Futurists around the journal "Lacerba" during her stay in Florence. Subsequently, she was acclaimed as the ambassador of the Futurist movement in the United States, though her work is little known among Italian scholars.

The library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz has also started to digitize systematically the Futurist books and catalogues preserved in its own rare book collection. In addition, the website will provide links to other digital archives with documents on Italian Futurism. The structure of the database and the homepage have been conceived in order to enable their future expansion. Alongside the Biblioteca Marucelliana, project partners include the Fondazione Primo Conti, the Gabinetto Scientifico letterario G.P. Vieusseux and the Fondazione Longhi in Florence, as well as Maestro Daniele Lombardi. The library of the Kunsthistorisches Institut is interested in involving other copartners in the project as well.


Publications

Altri futurismi, n. XLII della rivista di poesia comparata "Semicerchio"
published by Le Lettere Editore
edited by Antonella Francini and Lisa Hanstein

Further information
 



> Study day "Mapping Futurism - The role of Italian Futurism within the broader context of international avant-garde movements"
> Evening lecture of Linda Dalrymple Henderson on the occasion of the study day "Mapping Futurism - The role of Italian Futurism within the broader context of international avant-garde movements"
> Press Release for the study day "Mapping Futurism - The role of Italian Futurism within the broader context of international avant-garde movements"
> Altri futurismi - contributions of the interdisciplinary study day "Mapping Futurism"
> Press Release "Altri futurismi"
 
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