The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni, has appointed the directors of two of the major Italian Cultural Institutes (IIC) abroad, Istanbul and Paris. The appointments were made at the end of the procedure set forth to single out IIC directors of “reputed competence” on the basis of the evaluation of a commission formed, among others, by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism and the Ministry of Education, University and Research.
The new directors are Alessandra Ricci, for the Italian Cultural Institute in Istanbul and Fabio Gambaro for the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris.
Alessandra RICCI (1960) obtained a degree in Letters and Philosophy from La Sapienza University of Rome and a PhD in Art History and Architecture of Late Antique and Byzantine Periods from Princeton University, with a specialisation in the eastern Mediterranean in the Roman, Islamic and Ottoman era, on which she published essays and articles. She is Assistant Professor at the Department of Archaeology and Art History at the Koc University of Istanbul. She has directed several international scientific projects in the field of sustainable conservation, including a project with the Archaeological Museum of Istanbul, currently underway.
Fabio GAMBARO (1958) has a degree in Philosophy from the University of Milan, is a cultural journalist for several Italian and French newspapers (including “La Repubblica”, “il Sole 24 ore”, “L’Unità”, “Le Monde” and “Livres Hebdo”) and is a member of the Department of Italian Studies of the Sorbonne University. He has been living and working in Paris for over 25 years, thus acquiring a deep-reaching knowledge of the Country. He has promoted, organised and moderated round tables, presentations, interviews with Italian and French artists and authors in a large number of cultural events both in Italy and in France.
