un exhibition dedicated to cats in Japanese anime, meetings, guided tours a Concert in Miao. Back to Milan with its sixth edition The city of catsthe festival that celebrates the National Cat Day 2023 (February 17). But various appointments are also scheduled in Vigevano and Rome.
The City of Cats celebrates National Cat Day 2023
The inauguration is on the notes of the Feliway Concert in Miao which this year celebrates the 55 years of the 44 cats most loved in the history of music by combining the famous cult song of Lo Zecchino d’Oro to pieces by Rossini, Ravel, Mozart and Webber. But then the festival is dotted with unmissable events for feline lovers of all ages.
From the exhibition dedicated to Japanese anime cats (from Doraemon to Torakiki, at WOW Comic Space) to appointments with experts, veterinarians, ethologists and essay authors (Library of WOW Spazio Fumetto), alle guided tours to discover the secrets of the feline world (to the Museum of Natural Sciences and the Castello Sforzesco). So here are some of the events on the calendar in detail.
Concert in Miao: “44 cats” 55 years later
On Friday 17 February, or National Cat Day 2023, at 8.30 pm at the Teatro Il Cielo sotto Milano (in the mezzanine of the Porta Vittoria station of the Passante Ferroviario – Free admission subject to availability) the annual appointment with Feliway Concerto in Miao will be staged , dedicated to 55 years of the Zecchino d’Oro song 44 Cats. «The only song of ’68 that has had lasting success», as Mario Luzzato Fegiz defined it, originated a very successful animated series produced and adapted by artists of the caliber of Mina and Luciano Pavarotti.
During the evening there will also be space to explore, in the lyrics of the song, several unsuspected political-social references to the workers’ struggles of those years. The performance will be by the Coro dei Musici Cantori di Milano, directed by maestro Mauro Penacca, who will also perform other classics gattosi such as The cat by Sergio Endrigo e I wanted a black cat. Anna Zapparoli and Beniamino (Ben) Borciani of the Dual Band will perform two of the most famous songs taken from the musical Cats.
From Cats to the Aristocats, National Cat Day 2023 in music
But there are many great classics of the past on the theme of cats that will be played. The tenor Danilo Formaggia and the mezzo-soprano Manuela Boni, accompanied on the piano by Maestro Antonio Bologna, will perform the famous Funny duet of two cats by Gioachino Rossini, the rediscovered “Duet of cats” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the dissonant “Duo miaulè” by Maurice Ravel. To close then with the classic Everyone wants to play jazz from The Aristocats by Disney. Each piece will be introduced by the musicologist (gattophile!) Enrico Ercole. The Concerto in Miao will be repeated in Vigevano on March 5th.
From Spank to Kiss Me Licia, Japanese anime on display
At Wow Space Speech Bubblein Viale Campania 12 opens on 18 February the exhibition dedicated to the cats protagonists of the most kitty anime and manga in history: from Doraemon the space cat to Giuliano, the fat cat from Kiss Me Liciapassing through the cute and mischievous Torakiki that made life impossible a Spank up to Sailor Moon’s Luna, Artemis and Diana. Following meeting with Pino Zema who will allow us to discover how the Kamishibai, the Japanese storytellers, are the forerunners of manga.
During the festival, meetings, conferences and shows will be held to discover the presence of the cat in Japanese culture. For example, exploring the tradition of the Makekineko, the lucky cats. For the youngest, every Sunday workshops dedicated to the world of manga and origami.
At the Neko bar, between books and stories, for National Cat Day
Another fascinating Japanese tradition is that of Neko café, places dedicated to cat lovers, and full of cats (the first was born in Taiwan in 1998). Like the Milanese Crazy Cat Xcafe.
Here Dario Daniele will present his novel “The constellation of the cat”. But the scheduled book presentations will be different. Like that of Chiara Moscardelli, Rhett and I. Story of my cat and everything I learned from him about life, happiness and men.
But there will also be readings of stories and poems dedicated to cats signed by Gianni Rodari (thanks to the actress Francesca Vitale of the Fringe) and a tribute to Théophile Alexandre Steinlen, who died in 1923, known for having created the manifesto of the French cabaret of the same name and for his engravings.
The states of the cat, to discover the feline culture
Then there will be the second edition of the conference The States of Micizia dedicated to feline culture in Italy to discover who is… on the side of cats (this year the theme will be feline colonies). And online appointments with Dr. Sabrina Giussani, Veterinary Doctor Expert in Animal Behavior and Past President of SISCA. (Italian Society of Animal Behavior Sciences) on the topics that are closest to the heart of cat owners and lovers: living (happily) with a cat, the secrets for a cat-friendly home and being friends when several felines live in the house .
Guided tours of Milano Gattosa
Do not miss the guided tours of the Natural History Museum and of the places in the city linked to cats, from the Sforzesco castle to the Montanelli Gardens. They are organized by Displaced cats, a group of cathophile enthusiasts who tell Milan from the furry point of view. By reservation on 02 49524744.
The event The city of cats is organized by Excalibur in collaboration with the Franco Fossati Foundation youpet.it and Radio Bau and the support of Feliway. The ANMVI is an institutional partner of the initiative (like of the conference to be held in Rome to relaunch the use of the microchip for the protection of our domestic cats). Also in Rome, thanks to the collaboration of the zoologist Bruno Cignini, meetings and appointments will be held at the city’s libraries.
Why is February 17 National Cat Day?
It was the Italian feline associations that decided that national cat day is February 17th. Why exactly this day? Because February is the month of Aquarius, dominated by Uranus, protector of those free spirits who, like cats, don’t like feeling oppressed by rigid rules. On the 17th he then recalls those arcane atmospheres and superstitious things to which the cat has been linked for centuries.
Again, in Roman numerals, 17 is written XVII, which when anagrammatized becomes “VIXI”, that is “I lived”, “I lived and I died”. Because, you know, cats have seven lives. Ditto the interpretation of number 17 as 1 time I will die and 7 time I will live. It is no coincidence that in the Nordic countries the number 17 brings good luck. On the other hand, there are those who argue that the choice of the day is due to the initiative of the journalist of Allcat Claudia Angeletti, who in 1990 worked to create this anniversary.
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