Indian Culture in Contemporary Florence

Florence, October 1, 2025

In its 25th edition, scheduled from December 5 to 10, 2025, at Cinema La Compagnia in Florence, the River to River Florence Indian Film Festival celebrates the meeting of cultures through cinema, from the Ganges to the Arno. In this context, Accademia Italiana presents a project by its Photography Department exploring the Indian presence in Florence, intertwining historical memory and contemporary life.

The research begins with symbolic sites linked to Prince Rajaram Chuttraputti, who stayed in Florence in the late 19th century and to whom the city has dedicated several landmarks: from the Monument to the Indian, to the Indian Bridge and the Indian Villa, up to the Mugnone Bridge named after Mahatma Gandhi. These sites serve as privileged observation points to understand how historical memory is not confined to the past but continues to generate meaning and dialogue with Florence’s urban identity.

Alongside this historical perspective, the project extends its investigation to the present, documenting the places where Indian culture is expressed and renewed daily. Restaurants, shops, cultural and religious centers become stops in a mapping that portrays a vibrant community, in transformation and increasingly intertwined with the city’s fabric.

Special attention has been given to the second- and third-generation youth, bearers of stories of belonging and hybrid identities, able to connect family roots with new visions for the future. Through their testimonies emerge reflections on what it means to grow up and live between cultures, and how Florence becomes a shared space of dialogue and cultural exchange.

The outcomes of the research are expressed in different formats: short films created by third-year Photography students, offering visual narratives that weave documentation and interpretation, and photographic works developed by second-year master students, where the three main themes – historical memory, contemporary spaces, and new generations – are explored with different but complementary approaches.

Through this project, Accademia Italiana students contribute to making the Indian presence in Florence visible and valued, offering the festival audience a collective reflection on identity, memory, and cultural transformation.