As part of the celebrations in Helsinki for the 25th edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World (SLIM), the Embassy of Italy in Finland and the Italian Cultural Institute paid tribute to Italophony with an event held on 19 October at the Finnish National Opera, entitled “Italophony: Language Beyond Borders”.
Curated by Professor Tania Carluccio, lecturer in Italian literature and language expert active in Finland, the initiative aimed to strengthen a linguistic, cultural, and social space for Italian in the country, fostering connections between Italian speakers and enthusiasts of Italian culture, united by a strong sense of belonging and attachment to Italy.
In his opening remarks, Ambassador Nicola Todaro Marescotti emphasised the vision of an Italophone network founded on a language that embodies identity, community and “dialogue beyond borders” — a dialogue that is flourishing in Finland, where the number of people engaging with Italian grows every year.
The event, hosted at the Helsinki Opera, highlighted the evocative power of sung Italian, a true universal lingua franca of music and a cornerstone of the national epic through the extraordinary librettos of Italian opera. The programme continued with workshop-conferences by Professor Corrado Veneziano, lecturer in rhetoric and diction at the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica Silvio d’Amico, the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, and the Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico, and by Italian-Finnish sociologist Soile Pietikäinen, an expert in bilingualism and fluent Italophone.
Professor Veneziano presented a captivating overview of the phonetic features that make Italian a “singable” language, underlining the role of opera as a prime vehicle for the dissemination of Italian language and culture worldwide. He then led an interactive workshop exploring the interplay between verbal and non-verbal communication, focusing on proxemics, intonation and rhythm.
Dr Pietikäinen concluded the event with a talk on the role of emotions in the language learning processes of new generations of Italophones abroad, attracting wide interest, including from Italophone families living in Finland.
The event was enriched by lyrical and choreographic interludes: arias by Verdi and Puccini performed by tenor Casper Lamberg of the Sibelius Academy, accompanied on piano by Maestro Liisa Pimiä, and a performance of traditional Puglian dance by the group “TarantArte”, celebrating the meta-language of Italian popular tradition.
