Amir – Alliances, Museums, Encounters and Relationships is a project launched in September 2018 (the name in Arabic means “prince”) and curated by a network of museums. Its aim is to offer cultural mediation activities led by citizens with migratory backgrounds. It currently involves twenty-five mediators and seventeen museums, collections, villages, churches and public spaces in Florence and Fiesole.
AMIR is curated by Stazione Utopia and the thematic museum network Musei di Tutti, and includes the participation of the Fiesole Museum and Archaeological Area, Museo Bandini, Museo Primo Conti, Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, Museo Novecento, Complesso di Santa Maria Novella, Museo degli Innocenti, as well as other places such as the Art Collection of Fondazione CR Firenze, the village of Quaracchi, the village and Church of Santa Maria a Peretola, Villa Medici La Petraia, and the Garden of the Villa Medici at Castello, in addition to a variety of urban walks.
The project has collaborated with the Regional Directorate of Museums of Tuscany, the University Museum System, Case della Memoria, the Lucca Archives, the Photographic Archive of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut, UniFi SAGAS, the Islamic Community of Florence, Fondazione Alinari per la Fotografia, and Archivi in Rete, with the support of Regione Toscana and Fondazione CR Firenze.
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Amir returns in spring 2026 with 21 events across the museums of the network and urban walks, creating new opportunities for encounter.
April and May will be dedicated to the training of mediators, while from June the program introduces a new addition: a new visit in a new venue, the Museo Stefano Bardini, which becomes part of the Amir routes.
April visits,
*all the visits are in italian
Una lunga storia di accoglienza
La visita racconta l’evoluzione dell’antico Ospedale concepito appositamente per accogliere l’infanzia abbandonata. All’interno del complesso rinascimentale progettato da Filippo Brunelleschi, si può ripercorrerne la vicenda seicentenaria attraverso opere d’arte, materiali d’archivio, biografie e le testimonianze di chi vi ha vissuto. La storia degli Innocenti viene riletta e arricchita dalle riflessioni personali dei mediatori e dei visitatori, attingendo alle proprie culture d’origine per dare vita ad un racconto corale e fortemente partecipato.
La Pasqua e le feste della rinascita
Il concetto di festa è legato a quello di comunità, di identità, di coesione sociale, di memoria collettiva. Attraverso le opere d’arte e le testimonianze storiche conservate nei Musei di Fiesole, la visita pone lo sguardo sul senso del sacro e sui riti che da sempre legano tutti gli esseri umani e ci accompagna in un percorso che fa luce sui legami che esistono tra la Pasqua cristiana e le feste che celebrano un passaggio, una rinascita.
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Presenze nere a Firenze
Un percorso nel centro della città alla scoperta delle tracce di una storia poco nota: quella della schiavitù nella Firenze rinascimentale. L'itinerario prende il via da Palazzo Medici, dove nella Cappella dei Magi è conservato un significativo ritratto, prosegue con i Libri contabili del Fondo Cambini dell’Archivio dell’Istituto degli Innocenti, che documentano l’arrivo di persone schiavizzate dall’Africa nella seconda metà del Quattrocento. per concludersi con la Cappella di San Giuseppe nella Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata realizzata in uno scenografico stile barocco da Francesco Feroni, che con la tratta atlantica costruì la sua immensa fortuna.
°Si ringraziano la Città Metropolitana di Firenze e Justin Randolph Thompson con Black History Month, Florence.
Trame di storia. Abiti e culture a confronto
Un percorso che si snoda tra gli ambienti del Museo di Palazzo Vecchio, in un dialogo aperto e stimolante tra mode, abitudini e culture così diverse e allo stesso tempo così simili. Tra stanze pubbliche e luoghi segreti, i partecipanti verranno a conoscenza racconto per racconto della vita quotidiana e della moda della corte medicea a confronto con le tradizioni e i costumi dei paesi di origine dei mediatori e delle mediatrici AMIR.
*PRENOTAZIONI: info@musefirenze.it
055 0541450
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La visita consentirà di avvicinarsi ad alcune opere scelte grazie alla guida di voci appartenenti a diverse culture: il pubblico potrà osservare forme, codici, significati dell’arte italiana del nostro tempo e comprendere come davvero l’opera d’arte sia “aperta”, in grado di attivare forme di riflessione, interpretazione e dialogo sempre nuovi, “centro attivo di una rete di relazioni inesauribili” (U. Eco).
*PRENOTAZIONI: info@musefirenze.it - 055 0541450
Firenze coloniale
Nella “culla del Rinascimento” il passato coloniale della città rimane appena percettibile, ma tuttora strade, monumenti, lapidi ricordano imprese e protagonisti spesso rimossi: da Piazza Adua, alla Lapide dedicata al Generale Baldissera che combattè una guerra di occupazione in Africa, dall’obelisco di piazza dell’Unità all’Erbario coloniale, tracce del nostro passato coloniale sparse nella toponomastica delle nostre città, ma per lo più dimenticate o nascoste, aiutano a raccontare la storia stessa dell’invasione italiana dei territori dell’Eritrea, della Somalia, della Libia e dell’Etiopia, sottomessi prima ai governi liberali e poi al regime fascista tra il 1885 e il 1941.
*Si ringrazia per contenuti e ispirazione: Postcolonial Italy.
**In collaborazione con The Recovery Plan
***Si ringrazia per la consulenza Carmen Belmonte e Agnese Ghezzi.
Utopia | ForGlobe
Activities and Meetings in Libraries and Archives
as part of the AMIR project
Since May 2025, ForGlobe has been active in all the municipalities of the Integrated Documentary System of the Florence Area (SDIAF). The project offers adult audiences a wide range of free educational programs in libraries, municipal archives, and selected cultural institutions in the territory.
Stazione Utopia, in collaboration with ForGlobe, is organizing two cycles of activities as part of the AMIR project:
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Geopolitical Café
-
Stories, Perspectives, and Colonial Objects: Archives and Decolonial Issues
The project is fully funded by Regione Toscana – PR FSE+ 2021/2027.
Utopia | ForGlobe
Activities and Meetings in Libraries and Archives
as part of the AMIR project
Since May 2025, ForGlobe has been active in all the municipalities of the Integrated Documentary System of the Florence Area (SDIAF). The project offers adult audiences a wide range of free educational programs in libraries, municipal archives, and selected cultural institutions in the territory.
Stazione Utopia, in collaboration with ForGlobe, is organizing two cycles of activities as part of the AMIR project:
-
Geopolitical Café
-
Stories, Perspectives, and Colonial Objects: Archives and Decolonial Issues
The project is fully funded by Regione Toscana – PR FSE+ 2021/2027.
After nearly seven years of shifts in perspective, new approaches, and alternative narratives, it was time to change our name — or rather, to give a new meaning to it.
Years of collective work, reflection, discussion, and sometimes heated debates had left us uneasy, as the previous wording felt condescending and paternalistic.
For this reason, we launched a public survey to gather new words to compose our acronym, capable of reflecting the journey we have shared over these years.
More!
Colonial Gazes: Traces and Memories in the Photographic Archive
18 February 2026, 5 PM | MAD | Murate Art District
Event organized for Black History Month Florence 2026
Through collective observation and discussion of colonial-era photographs from the Italian occupation of Ethiopia and Eritrea (1935–1936), we will critically examine the role of images in shaping historical narratives. Together, we will reflect on the intersections of photography, anthropology, and the power of images in constructing stories, while deconstructing the stereotypes, clichés, and racism embedded in these visual materials.
After a brief introduction to the topic, we will collectively observe some photographs from the Centro Documentazione Memorie Coloniali di Modena.
For more information about Memorie Coloniali:
Click here
Reflecting the Future: Learning from the Past, Envisioning the Future | 10th Anniversary of Multaka
We are pleased to announce that on December 5–6, 2025, Multaka: Museums as Meeting Point in Berlin will celebrate its 10th anniversary, together with co-organizer MultakaOxford: a decade of shared stories, intercultural learning, and connections built through dialogue.
This special two-day event will take place at the Centre for Cultural Education – Haus Bastian, in the heart of Berlin’s Museum Island, with the support of the Alwaleed Cultural Network.
Training Course - ENGLISH COURSE!
October 2025 >>> January 2026
AMIRedu offers a free English course for the mediators of the AMIR project!
A series of sessions, in collaboration with LIMO – Linguaggi in Movimento, designed to support the learning of the English language, strengthen its use in communication, and stimulate motivation through a dynamic and participatory approach.
The lessons will be based on the participants’ personal experiences and stories, while also providing a foundation in grammar.
Utopia | ForGlobe
Activities and Meetings in Libraries and Archives
as part of the AMIR project
Since May 2025, ForGlobe has been active in all the municipalities of the Integrated Documentary System of the Florence Area (SDIAF). The project offers adult audiences a wide range of free educational programs in libraries, municipal archives, and selected cultural institutions in the territory.
Stazione Utopia, in collaboration with ForGlobe, is organizing two cycles of activities as part of the AMIR project:
-
Geopolitical Café
-
Stories, Perspectives, and Colonial Objects: Archives and Decolonial Issues
The project is fully funded by Regione Toscana – PR FSE+ 2021/2027.
