Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mario Giro and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Argentina Eduardo Zuain will hold a press conference today at the Farnesina to present the Year of Italy in Latin America 2015. Participants will also include Moni Ovadia and Renzo Arbore.
The Year of Italy in Latin America is an integrated foreign affairs initiative sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation with the collaboration of: the Ministry of Cultural Assets and Activities and Tourism, the Ministry of Economic Development, the National Foreign Trade Institute and the Conference of Italian University Deans, along with the essential contribution of many Italian businesses and cultural actors. Its logo and agenda will be available on a dedicated website as of January 1st 2015.
Key themes
The key 2015-1016 themes will be art, cinema, theatre, literature, fashion, design and music as well as university, scientific and technological cooperation and social enterprise.
An ambitious and complex project of over 100 major events in 16 divisions whose main objective is to showcase the identity and talents of contemporary Italy, in all its cultural, economic and technological aspects, in the countries of Latin America.
Private sector
The programme intends to draw the participation of the private sector and involve all the actors potentially interested by directing resources toward initiatives with a potential to last over time, and originate new forms of cooperation, particularly between young Italians and Latin Americans.
The divisions
Prominent in the “Exhibitions” division will be “Pompeii. Let’s give the past a better future” sponsored by the the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MiBACT).
The “Design” division will offer a variety of attractions, including the exhibition “Gold Compass 2014” of Italian products that have won the prestigious award, and a conference on Italian design, to tell the story of successful firms that exemplify Italian strategic business innovation. These events will be sponsored by the Association of Industrial Design (ADI).
In the division of “Cinema and Audio Visual”, Italy will be the guest of honour at the Guadalajara Film Festival (the continent’s most important) and will participate in the Mar del Plata and Cartagena festivals with screenings of several Visconti and Zeffirelli masterpieces, the Eurocine Festival in Guatemala City, and the European Film Festival in Nicaragua. ANICA will contribute to the realisation of these initiatives within the context of efforts to strengthen its presence in Latin America.
Many events are planned for the “Publishing” division, with the participation of noted Italian authors such as Claudio Magris and Dacia Maraini, among others, who will be at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair in May 2015. Additionally, in collaboration with all the other actors involved, seminars, workshops, conferences and presentations will be held on the central themes (food, energy and environmental sustainability) of the 2015 Milan EXPO.
University cooperation
Great care will go into the preparation of initiatives involving inter-university cooperation. More than 50 Italian and South American universities will run exchange programmes through various scientific and cultural research projects promoted by the Italian Conference of University Deans (CRUI). Festivals, fairs and Made in Italy events will devote ample room to the promotion our country’s life-style and creativity through workshops on nutrition, artisanship, design, fashion and art.
Music and entertainment
The “Music” division will showcase both tradition and innovation, with appearances by major names from conductor Uto Ughi in Caracas, to composer Giovanni Sollima and Stefano Bollani, who will perform at the 8th Montevideo Jazz Festival, to the Teatro San Carlo of Naples, which will bring Verdi’s opera to the Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires along with various concerts of celebrated arias. The websites of the Italian Cultural Institutes in Latin America will feature classical music play-lists compiled in collaboration with the Federation of the Italian Musical Industry (FIMI). Numerous other theatre and dance performances will include productions by the Teatro Uniti of Naples in collaboration with the Piccolo Teatro of Milan-Teatro d’Europa.
Science and space
Finally, the division “Science, Technology and Social Responsibility in Business” will offer the geothermic exhibition “See, Know, Learn” sponsored by ENEL. The exhibition will take place in Chile, Mexico and Peru. Ample importance will also be given to cooperation in the sector of space, especially in Argentina, with major Italian firms – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), CNH Industrial and TENARIS among them – realising social and educational projects.