Lucrezia Zaina Bequest Lecture 2024 with Dr Liliana Ellena

University of Liverpool

Yoko Ono Lennon Centre

We are delighted to welcome Dr Liliana Ellena to deliver the latest in the series of annual lectures on subjects of Italian interest, made possible by a generous bequest from alumna, and former lecturer in French and Italian, Professor Lucrezia Zaina. The lecture features traces, images and memories of Eva Nera [Black Eve], an Italian movie shot in Eritrea in the early 50's and missing from the Italian archives. Eva Nera is both a lost film and an ‘archive in the making’ activated by contemporary transmediterrranean mobility. By retracing the life of this lost film, Dr Liliana Ellena sheds light on the rearticulation of colonial tropes of race, sexuality and gender in Italy as well as on voices and transimperial circuits whitewashed from the history of Italian cinema. Following the lecture, from 7pm, there will be an Italian themed drinks reception for all. Dr Liliana Ellena is a cultural historian and independent researcher, formerly Research associate at the European University Institute (EUI, Fiesole, Italy) and Lecturer in Cultural History and Women’s and Gender History at the University of Turin, Italy. Her current research on the coloniality of memory in Italy brings together the study of post-imperial cinema, Italian decolonization and anticolonial networks, focusing on the Italian movie Eva Nera [Black Eve] (Tomei, 1954) as an archive in the making. Ellena’s interdisciplinary research draws from cultural, postcolonial and gender studies to examine visual and political cultures in Italy, the history of colonialism and racism, anticolonial and feminist movements. She edited the new Italian edition of Frantz Fanon’s I dannati della terra [The Wretched of the Earth] (2001) and co-edited special issues and volumes on transnational feminist movements, cultural discourses on Europe and love, and Mediterranean political networks. Her most recent contributions appear in the volumes “The Mobility of Memory. Migrations and Diasporas across European Borders” (2021, Berghahn Books) and “Colonialità e culture visuali in Italia” [Coloniality and visual cultures in Italy] (2021, Mimesis). Following the lecture, from 7pm, there will be an Italian themed drinks reception for all. Italian has been taught at this university since 1881 and today Italian Studies is housed within the Department of Languages, Cultures and Film (LCF). We are a small and friendly community of academic and teaching staff whose research and teaching interests cover contemporary fiction, linguistics, cultural history, film and transcultural studies. Professor Lucrezia Zaina (also known as Lexie) was a remarkable personality. She was a valued alumna and colleague, who studied French and Italian at the University of Liverpool from 1939-1947. Professor Zaina then became a lecturer in those departments and later Head of Italian from 1964 to 1988. Sadly, she passed away in 2008, leaving the University a generous gift in her Will, which has made these wonderful lectures possible.Professor Zaina’s Liverpool legacy has extended the knowledge of Italy and Italian culture in our city and, of course, promoted Italian Studies, a field she was passionate about and dedicated her life’s work to. Legacy gifts, like Professor Zaina’s have a great impact at the University of Liverpool, all are celebrated – whatever their size! After making sure those closest to you are taken care of, you may consider remembering us in your Will. A legacy gift to the university is an extraordinary way to celebrate your life while supporting the causes that are important to you. What will your Liverpool legacy be?If you want to make a difference at Liverpool and to our student community through a gift in your Will, please contact Carolyn Jones, Legacy Officer by telephone: 0151 795 1067 or by email: <a href="mailto:carolyn.jones@liverpool.ac.uk" title="mailto:carolyn.jones@liverpool.ac.uk" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">carolyn.jones@liverpool.ac.uk </a>We are committed to maintaining your privacy and you can view our data protection policy and privacy statements online. <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/legal/data_protection/policy/" title="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/legal/data_protection/policy/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Data protection policy</a> <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/legal/data_protection/privacy-notices/corporate-events-privacy-notice/#d.en.1438519" title="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/legal/data_protection/privacy-notices/corporate-events-privacy-notice/#d.en.1438519" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Corporate Events Privacy Notice</a>