Palermo’s Mayor Orlando opens the exhibition “Praga Palermo. Impressioni”

During his two-day mission to Prague, the Mayor of Palermo, Leoluca Orlando, participated in the launching of the photo exhibition entitled  “Praga/Palermo. Impressioni” , organised in the Baroque chapel of the Italian Cultural Institute in the capital city of the Czech Republic. “With this photo exhibit, we are experiencing the beautiful possibility of looking at a city with the other city’s eyes,” said the Mayor, introducing the photographers. The Czech photographer Pavel Kopp portrayed Palermo’s alleys and the every day stories of common people’s lives, while Palermo-born Antonio Saporito took pictures of the most magical sites of Prague. The Italian Ambassador, Aldo Amati, and the director of the Institute, Giovanni Sciola, welcomed the attendees, along with the  honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Palermo, Andrea Marchione, who collaborated in the organisation of the event. During his mission in the Czech Republic, Mayor Orlando met yesterday with the Chairman of the European Affairs Committee of the Czech Senate, Vaclav Hampl. Today he is expected to hold talks with Adriana Krnacova, Mayor of the city of Prague. “I will submit a proposal to my colleague Krnacova for a collaboration agreement between Palermo’s Teatro Massimo and the cultural institutions in Prague,” underlined Mr Orlando after completing his tight schedule of appointments. It included a meeting with Tomas Zima, Rector of the historic Charles IV University, a meeting with the representatives of the Italo-Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and another one with the students and faculty members of the Italian-Czech bilingual high school Ustavni. On the sidelines of his appointments, Mr Orlando highlighted the new renaissance Palermo is now experiencing: “A city once considered shameful and a Mafia capital has now become an example of integration and respect for human rights, recently being named the 2018 Italian Culture Capital.”