Museo: PAFF! International Museum of Comic Art

Introduction to the 28th Edition of Hobbiton

The Cultural Circle Eureka and the Italian Tolkien Society are organizing, from September 27th to 29th, the 28th edition of Hobbiton, the grand celebration that since 1994 has gathered a large number of enthusiasts from every corner of Italy to celebrate J.R.R. Tolkien and the magical world of Middle-earth, which we have come to know and love through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Numerous events will be part of the packed program, taking place at PAFF! and in the beautiful setting of Galvani Park. These will range from conferences on themes related to the world of Middle-earth and fantasy literature to Celtic and folk rock music concerts, from traditional dances and medieval combat demonstrations to artisanal markets, from Elvish language workshops, dubbing and fencing classes for children to a Lord of the Rings themed Cosplay competition and role-playing games, in collaboration with Inner Circle.

The Cultural Circle Eureka and the Italian Tolkien Society are organizing, from September 27th to 29th, the 28th edition of Hobbiton, the grand celebration that since 1994 has gathered a large number of enthusiasts from every corner of Italy to celebrate J.R.R. Tolkien and the magical world of Middle-earth, which we have come to know and love through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Numerous events will be part of the packed program, taking place at PAFF! and in the beautiful setting of Galvani Park. These will range from conferences on themes related to the world of Middle-earth and fantasy literature to Celtic and folk rock music concerts, from traditional dances and medieval combat demonstrations to artisanal markets, from Elvish language workshops, dubbing and fencing classes for children to a Lord of the Rings themed Cosplay competition and role-playing games, in collaboration with Inner Circle.

Program for Friday 27 September

On Friday, September twenty-seventh at six p.m., the inauguration of the exhibition "The Journey of The Hobbit" will take place at the Auditorium of PAFF! - Palace of Comics. Curated by Davide Martini and featuring costumes by Veronica Stima, known as Veerena, the exhibition will transport visitors into Tolkien's world through illustrations created by David Thorne Wenzel, one of the most famous illustrators. For this occasion, sixty preliminary pencil sketches on tracing paper will be exhibited for the first time in Italy, without balloons and with captions by Caterina Ciuferri, allowing visitors to retrace Bilbo Baggins' entire adventure. In addition to Wenzel's work, drawings by other iconic Tolkien illustrators will be on display, along with numerous editions of The Hobbit, a book translated into forty-two languages or dialects, and many objects to discover, including swords, helmets, and the infamous ring. Admission will be free, but reservations are required. The exhibition will be open to visitors at PAFF! from September twenty-seventh to November tenth, twenty twenty-four.

On Friday, September twenty-seventh at six p.m., the inauguration of the exhibition "The Journey of The Hobbit" will take place at the Auditorium of PAFF! - Palace of Comics. Curated by Davide Martini and featuring costumes by Veronica Stima, known as Veerena, the exhibition will transport visitors into Tolkien's world through illustrations created by David Thorne Wenzel, one of the most famous illustrators. For this occasion, sixty preliminary pencil sketches on tracing paper will be exhibited for the first time in Italy, without balloons and with captions by Caterina Ciuferri, allowing visitors to retrace Bilbo Baggins' entire adventure. In addition to Wenzel's work, drawings by other iconic Tolkien illustrators will be on display, along with numerous editions of The Hobbit, a book translated into forty-two languages or dialects, and many objects to discover, including swords, helmets, and the infamous ring. Admission will be free, but reservations are required. The exhibition will be open to visitors at PAFF! from September twenty-seventh to November tenth, twenty twenty-four.

Program for Saturday 28 September

On Saturday, September twenty-eighth, the tent structure set up at Parco Galvani will host numerous free-admission conferences led by top Italian experts in the world of Tolkien. The day begins at ten o'clock with Alberto Conforti on "Rusconi and the Tolkien Society". Following this, Franco Forte, director of Urania, Segretissimo, and Giallo Mondadori, will entertain the audience with "Julius Caesar between history, myth, and legend - like an ancient king of Middle-earth". Then, "Tolkien and Lovecraft - at the origins of the fantastic" where the writer, cultural journalist of TG2, and president of the Center for Books and Reading of MiC, Adriano Monti Buzzetti, will be interviewed by Manuel La Placa. At twelve fifteen, the president of the English Tolkien Society, Shaun Gunner, will give a greeting to Hobbiton with translation by Caterina Ciuferri. In the afternoon at the PAFF! Auditorium (with reservation), Eleonora Matarrese, researcher and professor, will guide the audience "Among plants, languages, and bells: unveiling the mystery". Following this, the famous scholar of Tolkienian languages and Amazon Prime consultant, Gianluca Comastri, will present "The language tree of Middle-earth, a revisitation" and the versatile writer Luigi Pruneti will be interviewed by Ninni Dimichino on "Sauron's reasons. The kingdom of Darkness according to Tolkien". Then the Italian curator of "The Silmarillion" by Clyde S. Kilby, Greta Bertani, will give a talk on "Kilby, Tolkien, and the Silmarillion: a unique experience" and at eighteen o'clock Igor Baglioni, director of the Pettazzoni Museum of Religions, will be interviewed by Manuel La Placa on the theme "From the sound of chaos to the harmony of the cosmos". Inside Parco Galvani, visitors can witness engaging combat exhibitions, during which the two medieval fencing companies Flos Ferri and Vis Ferri will stage epic duels and spectacular battles, worthy of the most thrilling pages of The Lord of the Rings. Additionally, there will be medieval dance performances by the group "Il Salterio", a Cosplay competition featuring Middle-earth costumes, at eighteen o'clock a Celtic music concert by The Shire, and at twenty thirty the concert by Corte di Lunas.

On Saturday, September twenty-eighth, the tent structure set up at Parco Galvani will host numerous free-admission conferences led by top Italian experts in the world of Tolkien. The day begins at ten o'clock with Alberto Conforti on "Rusconi and the Tolkien Society". Following this, Franco Forte, director of Urania, Segretissimo, and Giallo Mondadori, will entertain the audience with "Julius Caesar between history, myth, and legend - like an ancient king of Middle-earth". Then, "Tolkien and Lovecraft - at the origins of the fantastic" where the writer, cultural journalist of TG2, and president of the Center for Books and Reading of MiC, Adriano Monti Buzzetti, will be interviewed by Manuel La Placa. At twelve fifteen, the president of the English Tolkien Society, Shaun Gunner, will give a greeting to Hobbiton with translation by Caterina Ciuferri. In the afternoon at the PAFF! Auditorium (with reservation), Eleonora Matarrese, researcher and professor, will guide the audience "Among plants, languages, and bells: unveiling the mystery". Following this, the famous scholar of Tolkienian languages and Amazon Prime consultant, Gianluca Comastri, will present "The language tree of Middle-earth, a revisitation" and the versatile writer Luigi Pruneti will be interviewed by Ninni Dimichino on "Sauron's reasons. The kingdom of Darkness according to Tolkien". Then the Italian curator of "The Silmarillion" by Clyde S. Kilby, Greta Bertani, will give a talk on "Kilby, Tolkien, and the Silmarillion: a unique experience" and at eighteen o'clock Igor Baglioni, director of the Pettazzoni Museum of Religions, will be interviewed by Manuel La Placa on the theme "From the sound of chaos to the harmony of the cosmos". Inside Parco Galvani, visitors can witness engaging combat exhibitions, during which the two medieval fencing companies Flos Ferri and Vis Ferri will stage epic duels and spectacular battles, worthy of the most thrilling pages of The Lord of the Rings. Additionally, there will be medieval dance performances by the group "Il Salterio", a Cosplay competition featuring Middle-earth costumes, at eighteen o'clock a Celtic music concert by The Shire, and at twenty thirty the concert by Corte di Lunas.

Program for Sunday 29 September

On Sunday, September 29th, conferences will resume with "Tolkienian Mythology: Fantasy and Tradition" featuring historian, anthropologist, and ethnographer Mario Polia, former professor of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and president of the Picene Traditions Study Center in Ascoli Piceno. Following this, there will be a meeting with pharmacist Roberta Schembri on "The Call of the Daimon: What Drives Us to Leave the Shire. Dangers, Choices, and Threshold Crossings with the Herbs of Courage and Wandering." At twelve o'clock, official interpreter and translator of Tolkien's works, Caterina Ciuferri, will discuss "The Hobbit - A Journey to Grow." In the afternoon, doctor and writer Paolo Gulisano will entertain the audience on the topic "On the Side of 'What Grows': Tolkien, Nature, and Technology." Gulisano is considered one of the leading experts on Fantasy Literature: he has written books on Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, Celtic myths, King Arthur, Stevenson, Conan Doyle, and many other British authors. At three fifteen PM, Matic Zupan, president of Gil-Galad, the Slovenian Tolkien Society, will bring his greetings, preceding Professor Urša Perčič's lecture on the twenty-five years of history of the Slovenian Tolkien Society. At five fifteen PM, the grand finale will feature a concert by Lingalad, "Voices of Middle-earth."

On Sunday, September 29th, conferences will resume with "Tolkienian Mythology: Fantasy and Tradition" featuring historian, anthropologist, and ethnographer Mario Polia, former professor of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and president of the Picene Traditions Study Center in Ascoli Piceno. Following this, there will be a meeting with pharmacist Roberta Schembri on "The Call of the Daimon: What Drives Us to Leave the Shire. Dangers, Choices, and Threshold Crossings with the Herbs of Courage and Wandering." At twelve o'clock, official interpreter and translator of Tolkien's works, Caterina Ciuferri, will discuss "The Hobbit - A Journey to Grow." In the afternoon, doctor and writer Paolo Gulisano will entertain the audience on the topic "On the Side of 'What Grows': Tolkien, Nature, and Technology." Gulisano is considered one of the leading experts on Fantasy Literature: he has written books on Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton, Celtic myths, King Arthur, Stevenson, Conan Doyle, and many other British authors. At three fifteen PM, Matic Zupan, president of Gil-Galad, the Slovenian Tolkien Society, will bring his greetings, preceding Professor Urša Perčič's lecture on the twenty-five years of history of the Slovenian Tolkien Society. At five fifteen PM, the grand finale will feature a concert by Lingalad, "Voices of Middle-earth."