Futurismo! Parma: Magnani Rocca Foundation Parma Italy

Futurismo! celebrating the movement's centenary is running at Parma's Magnani Rocca Foundation until December 8.

Futurismo! showcases masterpieces by every leading figure within the movement. Featuring over 100 items, the exhibition offers visitors an overview of the entire story of the avant-garde movement, from its roots in Divisionism at the end of the 19th century through its creation, rise and eventual fall.

Futurism encompassed painting, sculpture, literature, theater costume and advertising, all of which are covered in the show. On display will be key pieces by pivotal Futurist artists, such as Umberto Boccioni, Giacomo Balla, Gino Severini and Mario Sironi.

The exhibition also charts the creative development of the movement's written manifestos: from its aesthetic emphasis on dynamism in the early years, through its focus on mechanization in the 1920s, until progressing into Aeropittura art in the 1930s, which translated the movement's passion for machinery and speed into flight and aerial velocity.

Another section looks at the role of Futurist ideas and artwork within advertising, with posters, blurbs and books from the 1920s and 1930s, including a famous advertising manifesto by Fortunato Depero, who designed the small Campari Soda bottles still in use today.

Futurismo! follows a string of events across Italy devoted to the centenary of Futurism, which was officially launched in 1909 with the publication of a manifesto by Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti in French daily Le Figaro.

The Parma event is one of just three large-scale exhibitions providing an overview of the entire Futurism movement.

Futurism's rampant colors and violent energy extolled the merits of a new, technologically advanced age. Art historians have long recognized the part played by the movement in shaking up the sleepy turn-of-the-century art world, according it an honored place between the Impressionists and the Cubists.

For more on Italian art visit WebVisionItaly.com's Italian Art channel.

Photo: Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti; Umberto Boccioni - Visioni simultanee and Unique Forms of Continuity in Space

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano is the king of all cheese, made in Italy in the region of Emilia Romagna. Crafted in small batches by artisans, carefully aged and cared for, each wheel is not only an expression of the cheese maker's dedication but of the culinary history of the region itself.

Conditions for producing Parmigiano Reggiano are perfect in the rolling hills and pastures of Reggio Emilia, Parma, Modena and portions of Bologna and Mantua.

Each wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano carries proof of its authenticity. During production, the future rind is impressed with the numbr of the "caseificio," or cheese house, production date and pin dots forming words "Parmigiano Reggiano." The pin dots guarantee that the cheese was made under regulation of the Cornorzi del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano, conforming toits stringent standards or quality.

After one year of aging, each Parmigiano Reggiano wheel that passes the test is branded with an oval certification mark and left to finish aging. Look for a piece that includes part of the market rind, so you can verify it is Parmigiano Reggiano.

Chef's Tip:
Don't toss the Parmigiano Reggiano rind. Instead, use the rind to cook in soup or sauce. The Parmigiano Reggiano rind is totally edible. After it is soft, remove the Parmigiano Reggiano rind, dice and returnt he bits back to a simmering sauce, stew or soup.

Parmigiano Reggiano after Sports - Food of the Champions:
Parmigiano Reggiano is an excellent source of protein, calcium, and phosphorous, and contains many other vitamins and minerals, including B12, magnesium, copper, and zonc. Made from part-skim milk, it's one of the lowest in fat an contains less salt than many other aged, hard cheeses. In addition, the long, careful, aging breaks down the milk proteins making it easier than other milk products for some people to digest.

Parmigiano Reggiano Perfect Pairings:
Pairing Parmigiano Reggiano with other food highlights its subtle bite and sweetness.

• Arugula Salad
• Honey-drizzled pears
• Creamy risotto
• Eeggs with shaved truffles

And, of course, the flavor duo of Parmigiano Reggiano and tomato sauce is oe of the most satisfying combinations in food history.

When it comes to wine, bring out the full potential of the cheese by serving it with light- to medium-bodied reds such as Chianti, Valpolicella, or Lambrusco, as well as Prosecco and other sparkling whites.

Click for Parmigiano Reggiano video cheese making process.

Prosciutto: What is Prosciutto?

Prosciutto (pronounced "pro-shoot-toe") is the Italian word for ham.

In English the word prosciutto is almost always used for an aged, dry-cured Italian ham that is usually sliced thin and served raw. In Italian, however it's paramount to distinguish between "prosciutto crudo" (raw) and "prosciutto cotto" (cooked - which instead identifies the wet cured ham). The most renowned and pricey legs of "prosciutto" come from central and northern Italy, such as the region of Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia.

Prosciutto is a vast world of taste and texture, with each Italian region putting its own spin on this classic. Prosciutto di Parma is Italy’s best-known variety of cured ham, but many others compete with it: Le Marche's Prosciutto di Carpegna, Tuscan Prosciutto Crudo and Prosciutto di San Daniele are just a few of the many kinds of available prosciutto.

Prosciutto, whose name comes from the Latin word for “deprived of all liquid”, has been made in Italy since the second century BC. Although each kind of Prosciutto claims its own flavor and texture nuances, the curing process is similar in all. Pork thighs are first hung in a breezy and well-ventilated room for a day or longer. Next, the fat and hide are trimmed, then salt is massaged onto the meat once a week for a month. At the end of the month, the hams are washed off and dried (traditionally, in the sunlight, although now they are more often dried indoors in a warm room). The hams are greased with a mixture of salt, lard, pepper and flour and are aged for months or years, depending on the kind of ham. During this long aging period, hams will lose up to a third of their weight.

What can vary greatly between Prosciutto-making regions is the diet pigs are fed. In order to be officially recognized as a Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) Prosciutto, the ham must follow strict guidelines about what kind of pig the ham is made from and what those pigs are fed. To make Prosciutto di Parma, for example, local pigs are fed whey from locally made cheese, which has been orgic for thousands of years.

The delicate flavor of Prosciutto is best enjoyed with a dry but not too powerful white wine (like dry Malvasia), so that none of the ham’s flavor is masked. Ideal recipes for Prosciutto are those that allow the ham’s unaltered flavor to shine through; serve it on thick Italian bread with Olive Oil, accompanied by a soft cheese like mozzarella, or alongside fruit like melon or figs. Prosciutto and melon is often found on the menu as a tasty way to enjoy prosciutto.

There are two famous types of Italian prosciutto crudo exported abroad: prosciutto di Parma, from Parma, and prosciutto di San Daniele, from the San Daniele del Friuli area, in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. The prosciutto di Parma has a slightly nutty flavor from the Parmigiano Reggiano whey that is sometimes added to the pigs' diet. The prosciutto di San Daniele, on the other hand, is darker in color and sweeter in flavour.

The other EU protected designations for prosciutto, each slightly different in color, flavour and texture, are:

• Prosciutto di Modena, Italy (PDO)(allows nitrites)
• Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo, Italy (PDO)
• Prosciutto di Carpegna, near Montefeltro, Italy (PDO)
• Prosciutto di Norcia, Italy (PGI)
• Prosciutto Toscano, Italy (PDO)
• Prosciutto crudo di San Daniele (UD)

Recently, many people prefer to buy their prosciutto pre-sliced. In the United States supermarkets do sell pre-sliced prosciutto from Italy. The finest quality pre-sliced prosciutto, which is authentic prosciutto, may be found in your grocery deli by looking for the mark on the packaging that proves it is authentic prosciutto.

For more about Prosciutto check out WebVisionItaly.com video of Prosciutto.

Quake shakes Italy near Parma

An earthquake of 5.1 magnitude struck northern Italy on Tuesday near the city of Parma. No damage or injuries were reported. The quake shook the area for about 20 seconds.

The earthquake was unusually strong for northern Italy and was felt from the financial capital Milan to Florence to Trieste.

Startled Italians jammed telephone lines after the quake and train service was briefly interrupted on some lines, local media reported.

The US Geological Survey, which estimated the earthquake's magnitude at a slightly higher 5.3, said it struck at a depth of 28.9km. It ranks quakes in this range as moderate.

For more news and information about Italy visit WebVisionItaly.com

Parmigiano Reggiano Bailout

Parmigiano Reggiano, Italy's King of Cheese, is in trouble. Robust in flavor and crumbly, it is a classic of Italy's artisan food traditions, made by hand by 430 craft producers around the city of Parma. But , press reports almost a third of producers say they face bankruptcy. Italy's Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia is promising to buy 100,000 Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, and also 100,000 of its less costly competitor, Grana Padano.

Is this Italy's big cheese bailout?

The government will munch up 3 per cent of production at an estimated cost of €50m (£44.7m) and distributing it to the needy. Each 35kg wheel of Parmigiano costs between €8 and €8.50 to make, but the wholesale price has declined for the past four years even as the cost of milk and energy has soared.

"We just need a bit of time to reorganize ourselves," said Giorgio Apostoli of Coldiretti, Italy's agriculture lobby. "This is a historic product with an ancient tradition. There ought to be policies to safeguard those who produce it."

But Professor Giuliano Noci, of the Milan Polytechnic, said a better solution would be for the government to "launch a sustained marketing campaign in the emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia and India, to educate consumers to appreciate the quality" of the cheese.

Click for more video about Parma Italy.

Italy Travel Fall 2008 - Arts Guide

Rome, October 24, 2008 - The following is a city-by-city guide to some of Italy's top art exhibitions:

BOLOGNA - Pinacoteca Nazionale: Amico Aspertini (1474-1552), A Bizarre Artist in the Age of Durer and Raphael; until January 11.

BRESCIA - Museo di Santa Giulia: Van Gogh, Masterpieces from the Kroeller-Mueller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands; until January 25.

CORTONA - Etruscan Academy Museum (MAEC): 30 masterpieces of Etruscan art from Russia's Hermitage museum including the only Etruscan bronze funerary urn ever found; until January 6.

FERMO - Palazzo dei Priori: leading Marche Renaissance painter Vincenzo Pagani and influences including Raphael, Carlo Crivelli; until November 9.

FLORENCE - Palazzo Strozzi: Caterina and Maria de' Medici, Women in Power; October 24-February 8.

- Galleria Palatina: Flemish Artists in Florence, 1430-1530; the likes of van Eyck, Memling and Leida compared to contemporaries Raphael, Botticelli, Castagno and Ghirlandaio; until October 26.

- Palazzo Pitti: The Medicis And Science; large collection of scientific writings and tools; until January 11.

Accademia di Belle Arti: Giovanni Fattori Past and Present, 130 works; until November 23.

- Archaeological Museum: retrospective on British sculptor Matthew Spender, who has lived in Tuscany for the last 40 years; until December 30.

GENOA - Palazzo Ducale: 'Lucio Fontana Light and Colour'; until February 15.

MAMIANO DI TRAVERSETOLO (PARMA) - Fondazione Magnani-Rocca: Giovanni Fattori, The Poetry of Truth; until November 30.

MANTUA - Ducal Palace; first major show on Jacopo Alari-Bonacorsi aka Antico, an acclaimed sculptor in Mantegna's time; bronzes of mythological figures and busts of Roman rulers loaned by the Louvre, the Met, the Victor & Albert, the Bargello and Viennese museums; from Modena's Galleria Estense, celebrated Vaso Gonzaga made for wedding of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga; until January 6.

MILAN - Palazzo Reale: Georges Seurat, Paul Seignac and the neo-Impressionists; over 100 works from major international museums; until January 25.

- same venue: Tiepolos and Canalettos from the Terruzzi Collection; until January 11.

- same venue: biggest-ever retrospective on Naive artist Antonio Ligabue; 250 works until October 26.

- Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation: 'Great Works 1972-2008'; until March 22.

- Brera Academy and Palazzo Stelline (Credito Valtellinese): Mario Schifano 1943-1998, Selected Works; major retrospective marking 10th anniversary of artist's death, previously at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome; until February 1.

MONTECATINI TERME - ex-Terme Tamerici: Boldini Mon Amour; 180 works by Parisian School portrait painter Giovanni Boldini (1842-1931), many unseen including three portraits of secret lover Countess Rastj; until December 30.

NAPLES - Archaeological Museum: Herculaneum: Three Centuries of Discoveries; until April 2009.

- Madre modern art gallery: Robert Rauschenberg, Travelling 1970-76; until January 19.

NUORO - MAN gallery: Man Ray, 300 pieces from his private collection; October 24-January 6.

PALERMO - Palazzo dei Normanni: The Fantastic World of Picasso, 66 works until March 8.

PARMA - National Gallery: 'Correggio', biggest exhibit on once-neglected artist in years; around 80 works flanked by 40 by contemporaries, plus chance to see three most important frescos up close in city churches; until January 25.

PERUGIA - Palazzo Baldeschi al Corso; From Corot to Picasso and Fattori to De Pisis, modern Italian and European art from two private collections including Monet, Van Gogh and Modigliani; until January 15.

REGGIO EMILIA - Palazzo Magnani and other venues; Matilda and the Treasure of Canossa, 200 works of Medieval art; until January 11.

ROME - Chiostro del Bramante: The Myth of Julius Caesar, first ever show focusing on him alone; 200 items from ancient times until the 20th century; until April 5.

- Vittoriano: Picasso 1917-1937, the Harlequin of Art; more than 180 works in first major Rome show on Spanish artist in 55 years; until February 8.

- Scuderie del Quirinale: Giovanni Bellini, biggest show in 50 years on artist Durer called 'the best of them all'; until January 11.

- Palazzo delle Esposizioni: Etruscans, The Ancient Metropoli of Latium; until January 9.

- Colosseum: Ruins and Rebirths, 80 works charting development of heritage protection; until February 15.

- Fondazione Memmo: Basquiat, 40 works until February 1.

- Castel Sant'Angelo: The Wolf And The Sphinx, Rome and Egypt From History To Myth; until November 9.

- Gagosian Gallery: Georg Baselitz, Remix series; until November 8.

- Museo dell'Ara Pacis: Bruno Munari, retrospective on artist and designer; until February 22.

SIENA - Piazza del Duomo and other city sites: Mario Ceroli, Forms In Movement; giant works by avant-garde sculptor; until November 7.

STRA - Villa Pisani: 70 paintings and monumental works by sculptor Mimmo Paladino, hand-picked and arranged by the artist in the historic villa's magnificent grounds; until November 2.

TIVOLI - Villa Adriana: Between Light and Darkness; Ancient Roman funerary beds including bone-decorated bed from Aquinum and one found on Rome's Esquiline Hill; until November 2.

TRENTO - Castello del Buonconsiglio; first major show on relatively unknown Renaissance sculptor Andrea Briosco aka Il Riccio; until November 2.

- same venue: Rembrandt and Masterpieces of European Graphics; until November 2.

TREVISO - Casa dei Carraresi: Canaletto, Venice and its Splendours; until April 5.

TURIN - San Paolo Foundation: Heavenly Empire, From Terracotta Army To Silk Road; imperial Chinese works from Qi, Han and Tang dynasties (3rd century BC to 11th century AD); until November 16.

VENICE - Biennale venues including Arsenale and Padiglione Italia: 11th International Architecture Exhibition from 56 countries entitled Out There: Architecture Beyond Building; 23 installations at Arsenale; experimental work of 55 international firms at the Padiglione as well as a survey of the Masters of the Experiment, five visionaries including Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid; also, Uneternal City, Thirty Years of Uninterrupted Rome, 12 designs for a possible 'new Rome'; plus 13 exhibitions around Venice by visiting countries and 24 collateral events; until November 23.

- Fondazione Cini: New Graphic Design Japan; until November 2.

- Palazzo Grassi: Italics, Italian contemporary art 1968-2008; until January 11.

VICENZA - Palazzo Barbaran: 'Palladio 500', 200 works including 30 models of Palladian architecture plus art by Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian celebrate Andrea Palladio on the 500th anniversary of his birth; until January 9, when exhibit moves to London (Royal Academy of Arts, 31 January - 13 April 2009) and on to Washington in autumn 2009.

VIGEVANO - Castello: Futurism and Modernity, mainly local artists; until December 14.

VITERBO - Rocca Albertoz Etruscan Museum: Celtic, Etruscan and other pre-Roman artefacts showing their interpretations of the night sky; show includes Celtic ceremonial brooch from Brno, Czech Republic; bronze Etruscan statuette of 'haruspex' (entrail-gazing priest); and famous 'Liver of Piacenza', a bronze model of the sheep's organ used by Etruscans to tell the future; until October 26.

Italy Vacations - On Tour with Isabella Dusi - Emilia Romagna

On Tour with Isabella Dusi - Emilia Romagna

Italy vacations with Isabella Dusi in June Web Vision Italy arrived in Parma from Lucca. We'll cover the Tuscany hill towns with Isabella Dusi in another blog.

We stayed in Parma three days visiting Prosciutto di Parma farms, Parmigiano Reggiano farms, and balsamic vinegar distilleries.

Parma was our base for Emilia Romagna. We also traveled to Modena, but skipped Bologna this trip.

Sipping Brunello in Montalcino today enjoying our Italy vacation, while having a look at the Italy cutting room floor that the Web Vision Italy crew produced in Parma in June, and plotting 2009's productions from... can you guess where?

Parma's Piazza Garibaldi yellow color is native to Parma and the sun dial on the building makes Parma's centro storico one of the most picturesque squares in Italy.

The crew works hard to film, produce, edit, and post it on the web for the world's enjoyment. Our passion for Italy is really making the whole Web Vision Italy project possible and so much fun.

We have interns blogging and editing, being mentored by Hollywood video producers and directors, all contributing to a common passion about Italy.

For more about traveling in Italy with Isabella Dusi and Web Vision Italy send an email to:

ItalyVacations@gmail.com

Italy travel with guides, full tour, or personal itineraries for your interests with and without local guides Italy vacations by Web Vision Italy. Meet a guide for three hours or six hours and a driver to buses for tour groups in Italy, Web Vision Italy vacations sends you to Italy however you like to travel in Italy. Web Vision Italy brings you Parma hotels - best areas in centro storico at lowest price.

Italy Travel: Parma - Tortellini, Puccini, Prosciutto and Parmesan

Parma, in the Emilia Romagna region of central Italy is well known worldwide as the home of Prosciutto di Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, both of which come from the Parma area of Emilia Romagna.

In the United States many people eat Parmesan cheese with their pasta, which is no relation to Parma Italy or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano are integrally linked through the process of raising pigs, feeding the pigs, and milking the cows. All the methods are tightly controlled, which results in fine food that may only be found in this area on the slopes of the Po Valley.

These food curing processes date back to the Etruscans and then after the ancient Romans adopted the Etruscan food curing practises when they inhabited these areas from about 200 B.C. Click here to tour Parma by video with author Isabella Dusi.

Parma Italy is also know as the home of tortellini, a type of pasta, and to the famous opera composers like Puccini, Toscanini, and Verdi who all spend time in this beautiful city in the Po Valley in Emilia Romagna.

For more information and to see video about Parma Italy, visit Web Vision Italy, your camera into Italy travel.