The Cultural Activation Featured Talks and Performances Exploring Literature and Feminism
Miu Miu hosted its inaugural Literary Club event on the 17th and 18th of April in Milan at Circolo Filologico during Milan Design Week. The latest extension of the brand’s cultural endeavors, the event was inspired by the history of literary salons as it featured talks, conversations, and performances among a curated roster of writers and artists.
The event centered around two feminist writers in particular, bringing back into focus the work of writers Alba De Céspedes and Sibilla Aleramo. On April 17, following a reading from Alba De Céspedes’ recently rediscovered 1950 novel Forbidden Notebook by actor and model Tina Kunakey, Pulitzer prize winner Jumpha Lahiri, Strega prize finalist Claudia Durastanti and award-winning filmmaker and writer Sheila Heti conversed on the practice of balancing womanhood and creativity. The panel was moderated by writer, curator, and broadcaster, Lou Stoppard.
On April 18, actor Bel Powley read from Sibilla Aleramo’s 1906 novel A Woman – one of Italy’s first explicitly feminist literary works – opening a panel discussion comprising Campiello Opera Prima winner Viola Di Grado, Booker prize long-listed author Selby Wynn Schwartz and Xiaolu Guo, a Chinese-born British novelist, memoirist and film-maker, moderated by author, presenter, and journalist Zing Tsjeng.
For the first iteration of the Miu Miu Literary Club we chose to highlight the work of Sibilla Aleramo and Alba De Céspedes: they both are a cultural and educational reference, and we feel it is very important to make their work available to a large audience, including schools. Their masterpieces, Una donna (A Woman) and Quaderno proibito (Forbidden Notebook) focus on topics that still today are at the center of a continuously expanding social debate. They came from different backgrounds and lived in slightly different times, but both their life experiences as women and writers can be a unique source of learning for women – and not only – everywhere. In a way, their work is even more contemporary now than ever.
– Miuccia Prada, Miu Miu Creative Director
Poetry readings and live music performances took place in the afternoons: writer and multidisciplinary performer Serena Braida, Hackney based rapper, poet, and producer John Glacier, singer-songwriter, producer, and poet Arlo Parks, producer and singer Mathilde Fernandez, and musician and producer Aziya.
A list of international guests attended the event, including Alessandra Airò, Zawe Ashton, Douglas Booth, Edoardo Conti, Poppy Delevingne, Andrea Faccio, Simone Farresin, Veronica Ferraro, Tina Kunakey, Amina Ladymya, Marta Losito, Korlan Madi, Ginevra Mavilla, Francesca Michielin, Olympia of Greece, Bel Powley, Gaia Repossi, Valentina Romani, Carlo Sestini, Mattia Stanga, Paolo Stella, Andrea Trimarchi, Bethan Laura Wood, and Niki Wu Jie.
Both Forbidden Notebook and A Woman were gifted to all present, wrapped in special Miu Miu packaging.
