The northwestern port city of Genoa
is feting its most famous creation and gift to the clothing and
style world, denim jeans, with a raft of events in its first
celebration of the native fabric over the next five days.
Genova Jeans will see shows, concerts, guided tours, exhibitions
and workshops.
Organizers donned at least one piece of denim as they addressed
a press conference on Thursday.
The included Mayor Marco Bucci, organizing committee chair
Manuela Arata, Diesel creative director Andrea Rosso and another
executive from another historic Italian jeans company, Alberto
Candiani.
Diesel and Candiani are the main partners of the event.
Denim was originally created for the sails of Genoese boats and
was then adopted by the dock workers, before catching on
worldwide.
"This is the beginning of a story," said Mayor Bucci, "and it
will become an annual event.
"We want to recount the tradition of Genoa, but also launch
messages, from that of jeans as a transversal instrument and
messenger of peace to that of a textile industry that must
become ever more eco-sustainable".
One of the main shows, in the university library, will be Jeans,
From The Origins To The Myth.
Other exhibits have been set up in the market at Piazza Statuto
and the Risorgimento Museum, where artist Ian Berry portrays
Garibaldi with a denim shirt on.
The Diocesan Museum will show "the fabric of passions" while the
Doge's Palace will exhibit the Diesel archives and the Metellino
gallery near the marina will show ArteJeans.
In the historic centre, in via Pré, via Del Campo and the
Ghetto, dubbed Genoa's Carnaby Street for the occasion, there
will be store exhibits, temporary shops and artistic
installations.
The extravaganza has cost some 800,000 euros, a sum that has
drawn some criticism by critics who say it is exorbitant.
In protest, regional centre-left councillor Ferruccio Sansa
launched a "jeans strike".
The row briefly caused 13 artists to say they were withdrawing
some works from the ArteJeans show, only to change their minds.
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