The Friends of the Certosa di Capri announce the programme for the fifth annual International Arts Festival, to be held at the Certosa di San Giacomo in Capri from 27 August to 3 September 2011.

The Festival will present an eclectic mixture of drama, film, contemporary dance, photography, Eastern and Western music, featuring world class artists from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, India, Sri Lanka, Germany, Italy and Sweden. Admission to all events is free to the public. The Artistic Director of the Festival is Renato Bossa.

27 August at 20:30: Picasso’s Women. The world premiere of the Capri version of the play by Brian McAvera, starring Milena Vukotic and Margot Sikabonyi, with the voice of Picasso by Giorgio Albertazzi, videoart by Gabriel Zagni and lighting design by Mario Amura, under the direction of Terry D’Alfonso

28 August at 19:00: Certosa Kids Club. Ambassador Luchino Cortese discusses his adventures with the penguins of Antarctica with Nonna Enrica (Milena Vukotic) from Medico in Famiglia, followed by a screening of the animated film Happy Feet (in Italian) and the trailer of Happy Feet II (to be released in November 2011)

29 August at 20:30: Voice in the Small Cloister. British mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers and German pianist Klaus Sallman in a programme of classic songs by Handel, Strauss, Poulenc, Saint-Saens and others

30 August at 20:30: East Meets West. Indian carnatic violinist Jyotsna Srikanth and British violinist Robert Atchison in a programme of Eastern and Western music, with Indian keyboardist Shadrach Solomon and Sri Lankan percussionist Pirashanna Thevarajah, playing authentic instruments

31 August: La Grotta Oscura and Il Mare. At 18:30, Augusto Vitale and Fabio Mangone discuss the history of the Certosa di San Giacomo and their research on the Grotta Oscura, destroyed in a landslide in 1808. Then, at 20:30, in collaboration with the Assessorato alla Cultura e Turismo of the City of Capri, a screening of the film Il Mare (Italy 1962) directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, shot on location in Capri, introduced by Pietro Vecchione

1 September at 20:30: The Life and Legend of Ida Rubinstein. Francesca Falcone introduces the world premiere of the short film Madame Ida, inspired by the last day in the life of the famous Russian ballerina, and discusses her life and legend with Naomi Sorkin, Lisa Forrell and Cecilia Frugiuele. The evening will include clips from Gabriele D’Annunzio’s silent film La Nave (Italy 1921), showing scenes of Ida Rubinstein dancing

2 September at 20:30: An Evening of Contemporary Dance. In collaboration with Villa San Michele, Fondazione Axel Munthe, the Carrasco Dance Company of Stockholm performs Bartolomeo and Burr, two modern choreographies that explore the boundaries of contemporary dance

3 September at 20:30: Terra Felix. Readings and music based on the writings of Goethe and other poets of his time, accompanied by music of the period arranged by Damiano Giuranna, with Silvia Giorgi, Camilla Dell’Agnola and Mario De Meo

Throughout the Festival, the Certosa hosts three important exhibits: in the Prior’s Apartments, Profumi e giardini, un progetto per la Certosa di Capri, the exhibit of watercolours by Anna Regge illustrating the project of Arch. Paolo Pejrone for the restoration of the gardens of the Certosa, curated by the Soprintendenza, and Mediterraneo, Un’antologia per immagini, the continuing exhibition of the photographs of Herbert List and Maurizio Galimberti, curated by Denis Curti, organized by the Capri Foundation; also, in the Canonica, L’Infinito Istante – International Photography Exhibition, an exhibition curated by Maurizio Siniscalco.