Florence now possesses a new cultural centre. Two floors covering a total of 700 sq.m., with rooms that can be put to various uses, like the large multiple-use room, which can seat 150, the video room, which can seat 50, and a series of laboratory cum rooms which will be used for holding courses of various kinds. The bar and snack bar on the ground floor can provide visitors with a meal between performances, while the 250 sq.m. garden can be used to get a breath of fresh air during the summer months.
Various activities will be organized for children and teenagers, like theatrical performancgs and the playroom; there is also a press centre with magazines for young people. Selective refuse collection will also be organized in order to create compost for the centre's garden.
The logo of the centre
At this point we can say that culture has moved out into the suburbs and to a centre that promises to make a name for itself, judging by the initiatives that have been planned so far. Container, Centre of Contemporary Culture, as it is called, can be found at Mantignano, in Florence's green belt. Mantignano is not only an ancient village but also Florence's vegetable growing area; about 50% of the vegetables that end up in the city's markets are grown here. Only a 15 minute car journey from the city centre, it can also be easily reached in about 20 minutes by a 44, 6 or 26 bus.
Container plans on hosting various kinds of concerts, concentrating on jazz, ethnic music, frontier music and rock in particular; it will also be showing videos, holding exhibitions for both young and well known artists and film festivals with films by Man Ray, BuÒuel, Duchamp, Jarmush, Polanski, Pasolini, Kurosawa and other famous directors.
Entrance is reserved for members only on presentation of a Legambiente or ARCI membership card; non-members can request ARCI membership cards by phoning 055 2476141, 48 hours beforehand, while Legambiente cards are handed over on inscription.
