Lucca Comics & Games in honour of Dante
From October 29 to November 1, one of the most popular festivals in the sector is in-person once more
Lucca Comics & Games is back in attendance, one of the most loved events by the public in the sector, which has made Lucca the capital of comics. “…a riveder le stelle: light” is at the centre of the 55th edition that will be held from Friday October 29 to Monday November 1. In honour of Dante, the new festival becomes a place of transition, even towards digital and environmental issues. The English word Light is therefore the perfect synthesis of this new model: Lucca Comics & Games wants to contribute to passing from dark to light, and the road towards the new normal that also includes a lighter and livelier event.
The image for the event was created by Paolo Barbieri, author of Dante’s Inferno illustrated, published in a new edition by Sergio Bonelli Editore and among those selected for the Dante ipermoderno exhibition promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and curated by Prof. Giorgio Bacci. In the words of the artist, “I decided to draw a road suspended in the sky that leads us towards a Dante who, upon opening his red robe, reveals this fantastic Lucca that opens up to the festival”.
Dante makes an appearance at the festival
The link with the Supreme Poet will be the thread that guides part of the cultural programme. There will be a series of events that combine tradition and innovation, under the theme of new media, starting with the masterful panel dedicated to Treccani’s valuable volume The Comedy in the Mirror of Images, a work that presents an exceptional series of ideas that are both simple and refined. The meeting involves Paolo Barbieri with Massimo Bray, general manager of Tre Cani, former Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism; Lina Bolzoni, prof. Emeritus Scuola Normale Superiore and editor of the volume; Eike Schmidt, director of the Uffizi Galleries in Florence. The President of the Regione Toscana, Eugenio Giani, will speak at the opening.
There’s also space for various pop interpretations: from the famous Mickey Mouse Inferno by Guido Martina, to Gabriele Dell’Otto’s research in images accompanied by Franco Nembrini and Alessandro D’Avenia, as well as Inferno: Dante’s Guide to Hell, Dante’s setting for the 5th edition of D&D, published by Acheron after a kickstarter worth over € 400,000 and The Hour of the Damned by Luca Tarenzi, the second chapter of the fantasy trilogy set in the otherworldly realms described in Divina Commedia, to be released in November with Giunti.
“The furious lands”: Ludovico Ariosto returns to Garfagnana
Another literary character who will be honored at the festival is Ludovico Ariosto: in 2022 will be the 500th anniversary of his arrival in Garfagnana. The anniversary will be marked by the Lucca Comics & Games festival and the Municipality of Castelnuovo with an impactful calendar of celebrations with a fantasy theme. To kick it off, a team of contemporary storytellers coming from the worlds of fiction, comics and web will create an interactive literary experience, where a role-playing game will be the engine for a collective and shared narrative that’s capable of inspiring and producing new narratives; cross-media spin-offs, so to speak, of Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. Licia Troisi, Roberto Recchioni, Vanni Santoni and Luca Enoch will play Ariosto on the journey from the Estensi lands to Lucca, accompanied by personalities from the web such as Luca Raina and Lorenzo Fantoni, in collaboration with Nerdcore.
The festival locations
The focal point for events will remain Piazza Napoleone and its iconic pavilion, as well as the Palazzo Ducale and the historic spaces of the Palazzetto dello Sport where the festival was held until 2005 and to which it returns after more than fifteen years, it will also be the location for collectors and of original board games. The varied universes of games will find their place in the Real Collegio and in the Cavallerizza area. Japan will be featured in the large spaces of the Polo Fiere in Lucca, and the Music & Cosplay area will be housed in the San Francesco complex. These increasingly interconnected worlds invite visitors to travel from one to the other, enriching their passions, discovering new variations, and rediscovering the pleasure of exploration and surprise.
The events programme is available on: www.luccacomicsandgames.com
