Lorenza's Women

 Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: Welcome to The City of Women

Unadecal Masala: The City of Women??? I'm coming to live here

Arriving on NoiLab

This beautiful region is made up of historical backstories and fine Mediterranean architecture representing layers os history going back several thousand years. As usual the full HG address is at the end of the post. This is an opportunity to expand your knowledge of western culture, with a feminist bias, while being entertained by so many sights and animations, you'll barely realize you're learning something! Our hostess, Lorenza Colicigno, who together with Tonino Lane has put together one of the most uniquely useful and attractive builds on the hyperverse.

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]:  Good evening everyone, we are in The City of Women, in the project Out of the Labyrinth - A Room of One's Own. We are in front of the oikia, the Greek house, but before entering I would like you to look at the panels in front to understand the interpretative codes of the route and the urban structure of the city. The interpretative codes make you understand the complexity of the path which is not only informative but also problematic. Not only do I tell the story of women's literature and arts over time, but also the problems that arise with the critical spirit of our time. The builder Tonino Lane reconstructed on plates and photographs trying to restore ancient times, but also with a touch of personal interpretation.

Thirza Ember:                          ҉❥•APPLAUSE•❥•҉

Lorenza Colicigno

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: in front of the oikia a panel indicating the writers present in the domus. The project The City of Women, project devised and curated by Lorenza Colicigno, involved the construction by builder Tonino Lane of a series of visitable buildings designed to house women writers from different historical periods, mainly poets, in their rooms. The path starts from the labyrinth of Knossos, in order to highlight the symbolic value of the story of Ariadne, who discovers, as an abandoned woman (Theseus), the delusion that she can free herself by relying on another male figure (Dionysus), even before relying on herself.

 Lorenza Colicigno  From there, we go on to the Sumerian age, with the priestess and poet Enḫeduanna (c. 2400 b.C.), whose biography and part of her work are engraved on the sails of two Sumerian boats, symbols of the great journey of culture and of poetry, from their female origin to our times.

Tosha Tyran [en→it]: Bravo Tonino

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: I apologize if the translations are not perfect

Taarna Welles: no problem

James atLLOUD: The translations seem wonderful, thank you.

Nara Nook: This sounds really interesting. This would be a nice house to write in

LannorraSion Traveler: Amazing!

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: papyrus... we have received the Greek works through the Oxyrhynchus papyri. The Oικία (8th - 2nd cent. B.C.): is built on the ground plan of a Greek house with an atrium with an impluvium and two floors, and is inhabited by 22 female writers, some famous, such as Sappho, others almost forgotten, such as Myrtida 

 Temple of Hera of Metaponto (6th c. B.C.) : A little way from the oikia is the temple of Hera at Metapontum, reconstructed in the parts that still exist and in those that are now lost, the temple was the seat of the school of Pythagoras, also attended by women philosophers and mathematicians who are remembered here. It is inhabited by 22 female writers, some famous, such as Sappho, others almost forgotten, such as Myrtida

Thirza Ember : it's such a clever way to illustrate all the things women writers have done

LannorraSion Traveler:  that is cool, the scroll moves as you read it.

James atLLOUD: The scrolls are very effective.

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: some writers are famous like Sappho, others are forgotten, like Mirtide, who is remembered by Corinna as having wanted to compete with Pindar.

Nara Nook: I didn't realize women had access to education that long ago

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: you can go upstairs, to get out faster you can throw yourself off the balcony unharmed lol

snowbody Cortes: yessss, amazing

Thirza Ember: this region has much more to see...., there is no way we can see everything in one visit, so Lorenza will just highlight a few parts

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: let's move on to the Roman domus

Tonino Lane, master builder on this project

Thirza Ember: every house has its dog!

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: the ancient Greeks and Romans were very fond of dogs

Forest Azure: to protect the women

Tosha Tyran: so am I - must be roman then :)

Forest Azure: ah yes, now that you mention it, Tosha!

Thirza Ember: continue Lorenza, please, the men are all slow, don't wait for them, we never do

Lifted Pixel: haha

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: only three female writers,  let's ask ourselves why... 

Lifted Pixel: patriarchy?

Lorenza Colicigno  [it→en]: the Roman Domus (8 century bC – 5 cent. AD) is reconstructed on the ground plan of a Roman house, housing 4 women writers in Latin, the difference with the number of Greek women writers (22) hints at the different status of women in the Roman age. Roman laws prohibited women from having public activities

Nara Nook: sigh

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: here there are also examples of the typical places of the domus, the triclinium, the kitchens and the garden

James.atLLOUD: Were pools of water typical inside of buildings?

Forest Azure: /me cooks something for james

James.atLLOUD: Hot chocolate

Thirza Ember: this place is so photogenic

Lorenza Colicigno  [it→en]: let's go from here towards the convent... Medieval monastery (XI –XIII cent.): is reconstructed with symbolic elements, the large central courtyard with the well, the nuns' cells, the scriptorium, the church. And taken from reality only the bell tower, an architectural element that recalls the Cathedral of Potenza. It currently houses eight women writers, who lived in the courts of the that time e in monasteries. I'll read some news about it, on the writers hosted here, you can flip through the pages, on the right is the scriptorium where the nuns copied the ancient texts, and the nuns' cells. Only the bell tower, an architectural element that recalls the Cathedral of Potenza, is copied from RL. It currently houses eight women writers, who lived in the courts of the that time e in monasteries.

Thirza Ember: "a room of one's own" before Virginia Woolf

Lorenza Colicigno it→en]: the Convents were the first places where women could have a space all to themselves, with great positive effects on their works as philosophers, theologians and narrators and poets

Thirza Ember: you have  made the story of these women come alive

snowbody.Cortes: absolutely

Nara Nook: indeed

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: The games you see here are intended for visiting school children

Thirza Ember: who is your favorite women writer. Do you have any questions? What does this monastery look like to you?

Forest Azure: i thought hebban olla vogela was from a woman too

Tosha Tyran: I think it is so interesting and I would like to come back, is it possible? 

Thirza Ember: Do you have a favorite woman writer Lorenza? Who is it?

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: Christine de Pizan, who you will meet in the next stage, and among contemporary writers, Virginia Woolf

Lorenza Colicigno: Urban age palace/City mansion (14th - 15th c.) is reconstructed on the original plans of the Laraia palace in Ripacandida, Basilicata, Italy, is inhabited by Walalla, Compiuta Donzella, Christin de Pizan and the many female writers from the Marche region, guests of the patron and writer Livia del Chiavello. Space is also given to the documentation of women who contributed to the amanuensis and later printed reproduction of classical and contemporary works, miniaturists, calligraphers, printers, saleswomen and publishers. Attention is also paid to oral women narrators and private writings.Each building corresponds to a literary age Here, we are between the fourteenth century and humanism

James.atLLOUD: OH a kitchen with running water!

A room of one's own - a nun's cell in a nunnery

 Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: fifteenth century Italian - here we meet Christine de Pizan, the first professional woman writer. When she became a widow, she brilliantly managed her husband's literary and publishing business. Despite the discouragement of being left alone, then convinced that to make it she had to be a man then aware of her strength as a woman

Thirza Ember: I wonder what she would think of this - being portrayed so many hundreds of years after her lifetime

James.atLLOUD: The ceilings are painted so lovely.

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: he argued with the writers of his time, defending the cultural qualities of female writers and women in general. In this building in the other rooms we talk about the not only famous women but about all those who, with their work as miniaturists and scribes, rhyme printers then gave us the works of the past.

Inside Ripacandida

Lorenza Colicigno  [it→en]: This building represents Tonino's palace in Ripacandida. The upstairs floors can also be visited, but I'm afraid there isn't much time/// let's move on. The quickest way to get to the castle is to fly

Thirza Ember: this place is adorable

Isabella Morra's Castle - interior

snowbody.Cortes: davvero, complimenti!

Lorenza Colicigno: The Italian Renaissance Court (16th century) is represented here not by the great Italian courts, but, by contrast, by the outlying castle of the poetess Isabella Morra in Valsinni (where Isabella was the victim of the first known feminicide in the history of Basilicata). The castle is reconstructed on the original plans and is home to 14 women writers and some painters. Attention is also paid to non-literar, we held a conference here.The presentation of a book... on the walls some sonnets by Isabella Morra, the castle is faithfully rebuilt on the original plans

James atLLOUD: ah, wonderful

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: there are three floors that can all be visited, with various guest writers. It would be nice to meet them all, but I'm afraid you'd get tired lol

Thirza Ember: there is plenty for us to come back and discover!

snowbody Cortes: ritorneremo di sicuro

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: but I see you are resting, good... I hope, there is also a lot to read/ The big book tells you the story of Isabella Morra, victim of femicide

James.atLLOUD: OH!

Thirza Ember: Lorenza, how many years is it that you have been working on this project

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: for about two years, but it's a project in progress, there's always content to add

Nara Nook: I learned a lot I didn't know

James.atLLOUD:  So much content already... I saw a walking building!  yay

Forest.Azure: yes, i did not see my house yet

Thirza Ember: just 2 years to gather all this material?

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: in this I taught Italian literature for thirty years, I didn't improvise, but collected over time

Tonino Lane: more than 2 years to "build" ....

Inside Ca' Rezzonico

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: if you want I would go to the baroque period, Ca' Rezzonico, here we see Sister Tarabotti, who was the first to denounce the tradition of forcing women to become nuns. Ca' Rezzonico (Venice) represents the Baroque age (18th century). It was the seat of the mainly secular Academies, which had now taken culture out of the courts, convents and universities. The Academies give space to women, in controversy with the prejudices and stereotypes of patriarchal culture, these panels illustrate a discussion between Tarabotti and a writer more faithful to the rules imposed by her time

Forest Azure: too bad i can't read any of it

Lorenza Colicigno [it→en]: Here too we have three floors, let's go up quickly... Plautilla Brcci's story is interesting - she is an almost completely forgotten architect, and Maria Antonia Stellini, who hoped to eternalize herself with poetry, and I would say that in the end she succeeded! This room is used for literary evenings, we have one every month.

Villa Stella

Lorenza Colicigno: Villa Stella represents the 18th century, the age of philosophical and literary Enlightenment. The villa currently is the home of 11 female writers. The villa and the space around it allude to the fact that in this period culture leaves the courts and opens up to public libraries, public gardens and literary cafés.

James atLLOUD: Lorenza, thank you so much!  This is just amazing! History (herstory) I did not know...  this knowledge helps to understand who we are - thank you.

Lifted Pixel: Thank you for having us! This is a lot of information you have here. We must have a second safari to see the second half!

snowbody Cortes: grazie Lorenza, davvero molto interessante e ancora complimenti a te e Tonino per il building

Thirza Ember: we have only seen a small part of what is here

Tonino Lane: GRAZIE grazie

Alex Salamander: Mille grazie

HG Address  craft-world.org:8002:NoiLab