Celebrations around the world for the Festival of the Italian Republic. Embassies and consulates on 5 continents – from Japan to France, and from Romania to the United Arab Emirates, by way of Nigeria and Ethiopia – organised events, seizing the opportunity to promote the Made in Italy brand in all its many forms: music, art, food/wine and industry. Beginning with the auto industry, which was the case of the Consulate General in Hong Kong, which organized an evening devoted to the best in Italian cuisine alongside the latest models from Ferrari, Maserati and Ducati, and the presentation of the book “500 years of Italians in Hong Kong and Macau”. Soprano Angela Papale and pianist Fabio Marra performed arias by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni and Francesco Paolo Tosti.
Events inTokyo
The Embassy of Italy in Tokyo displayed a portrait of Hasekura Tsunenaga, the samurai who made his first diplomatic mission to Europe in 1613, landing finally in Rome where he was made an honorary Roman citizen and received by Pope Paul V. The evening offered a sampling of the typical cuisine of Piacenza and promoted the Italian manufacturing and industrial sector with a showing of the new Maserati GTS 4-door and bicycles by De Rosa.
Italian genius in Abu Dhabi and Montecarlo
Italian genius was the theme also in Abu Dhabi, where 12 machines from the Leonardo Museum in Rome were exhibited, offering a glimpse of the larger exhibition opening today at the Emirates Palace. A Made in Italy promotional showcase was also organised in the Principality of Monaco, which celebrated the occasion with a reception that featured the performances of a variety of Italian artists, who were able to admire the costumes of Katia Ricciarelli and a tribute to Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti, conductor of the Orchestra of Monte Carlo, to whom a piece by artist Enrico di Nicolantonio was dedicated.
Jazz in Addis Ababa, art in Abuja and Split
There was room for art also in Abuja, Nigeria, with the opening of the exhibition “Historic Rural Italian Landscapes”, and in Split, Croatia, where the exhibition “the Ancient Mosaics of Ravenna” was mounted at the Archaeological Museum. And there was no lack of music, with a concert in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by great jazz master Franco D’Andrea.