The 26th Italian Language Week in the World came to a close on Sunday 25 October. This year’s theme was “Lingua geniale: ideare, progettare, creare con l’italiano” (A Brilliant Language: Conceiving, Designing and Creating with Italian’.
Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic, the Melbourne programme featured one of its key events on 21 October: the evening event “Pinocchio: 200 anni di Collodi tra letteratura, cinema e creatività” (Pinocchio: 200 Years of Collodi: Literature, Cinema and Creativity), organised by the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute, in collaboration with the Italian Studies Departments of the Universities of Melbourne, Monash and La Trobe, and under the patronage of the Carlo Collodi National Foundation and the National Committee for the celebrations marking the bicentenary of Carlo Collodi’s birth.
Following a speech by Consul General Chiara Mauri and a presentation by Dr Roberto Vezzani, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Committee and librarian at the Carlo Collodi National Foundation, a panel of specialists from the three universities explored Collodi’s work from various academic perspectives. The evening was enhanced by a performance by Italian language students and an exhibition of historical editions. The event also provided an opportunity for the official presentation of the new Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Melbourne, Stefano Scaramuzzino.
The Week’s programme also included a performance by the choir Piccole Voci Geniali and students from Victoria as part of the Italian Melbourne Festa & Expo, the Com.It.Es. project “Pinocchio in Schools”, the poetry recitation competition organised by the Dante Alighieri Society of Melbourne, and the ‘Globo Talk Shows’, produced by pupils from the bilingual schools ‘Brunswick South’ and ‘Footscray’ at the Italian radio and television broadcaster “Il Globo”.
