Promoting Italian talent under 35: this is the goal of the “Caffè Young Italy” project, organised by the Italian Embassy in Riga, Latvia, whose first two public conversations were a great success with the audience. “Heirs to a great tradition, our young artists – said Ambassador Alessandro Monti – successfully promote Italian creativity around the world. With Caffè Young Italy, we engage contemporary cultural and artistic scenes in Italy and Latvia in dialogue and lay the foundations for future collaborations.” The project includes 10 dialogues, accompanied by parallel activities and in-depth sessions, between young Italian creative talents, artists, or professionals and their Latvian counterparts active in the same field.
On 31 August, during the Latvian festival “Homo Novus”, a conversation on performing arts was held between Agata and Teodora Castellucci, Arturs Cukurs, Beate Poikane, and Katrīna Dūka. The Italian dancers, part of the “Dewey Dell” group, also performed two sold-out shows of their piece “Le Sacre du Printemps” as part of the festival, as well as the performance “I’ll do, I’ll do, I’ll do.”
On 6 September, the conversation on visual arts took place, as part of Riga’s “Survival Kit” festival, featuring Italo-Tunisian artist Monia Ben Hamouda and Latvian artist L. The dialogue was preceded by a guided tour of the exhibition at the heart of the festival, which also includes two works by Ben Hamouda, led by Finnish curator Jussi Koitela.
“Caffè Young Italy” is one of the winning projects of the second edition of the “Capitals of Italian Creativity in the World” competition by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.