Lucia Festival Launches in Florence, Celebrating Radio and Podcast Art

The first edition of Lucia, a festival dedicated to radio and podcast art, is underway at Manifattura Tabacchi in Florence until December 14. Curated and promoted by Radio Papesse, a radio platform focused on contemporary art founded in 2006 in Siena within the Centro d’Arte Contemporanea di Palazzo delle Papesse, the festival features documentaries and fiction from Radio RAI, international radio productions and podcasts, including works from Radio Atlas, an online platform for English subtitling of audio works. The program includes listening sessions with authors, producers, and international artists, as well as public meetings and live performances by Audiocollectief Schik, blending radio and theater. Curators Ilaria Gadenz and Carola Haupt describe Lucia as a celebration of storytelling without images and the pleasure of collective listening, encompassing private stories, collective events, traditional works, and experimental productions from diverse traditions. They note the recent surge in podcast interest in Italy but express concern about a potential bubble that could overshadow the quality of content and new forms of expression emerging during this Golden Age of podcasting. Looking ahead, they plan to invite the Radio Papesse and Lucia communities to informal listening groups in 2020 in preparation for the second edition.