Illustrating the Week of the Italian Language in the World
The Week of the Italian Language in the World is an event promoted yearly by the cultural and diplomatic network in the third week of October. It focuses on a theme that acts as the leitmotif of a vast cultural programme to promote the diffusion of the Italian language. The initiative was launched in 2001 through the joint action of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Accademia della Crusca, which was subsequently joined by the Swiss Confederation, where Italian is one of the country's official languages. During these past eighteen years, the Week of the Italian Language in the World has ended up representing the Foreign Ministry’s privileged Italian promotion channel in terms of the number of activities simultaneously organised all over the world. This success story is due to the growing engagement of the Italian and Italian-speaking communities abroad, along with local cultural institutions and a host of writers, poets, artists, teachers and academics who have passionately enlivened all the past editions by taking part in hundreds of conferences, meetings, lectures, refresher courses, thus opening a cultural and intercultural dialogue with other writers, artists, intellectuals and representatives of civil society in a large number of Countries.
Since 2013, the theme of the Week has dealt with the world of business and culture, highlighting the link between language and creativity.
2018: 18th edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World
The 18th edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World, scheduled to take place from 15 to 21 October 2018, will be dedicated to “Italian and the web, social networks for the Italian Language”. This is a highly topical subject, and will delve into the interactions and influences between the Italian language, the Net, new information technologies and social communications, including social platforms. The Accademia della Crusca will produce a book on this subject to be edited by Prof. Giuseppe Patota and Prof. Fabio Rossi.
Previous editions
The 17th edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World was held from 16 to 22 October 2017, and was dedicated to “Italian at the Cinema, Italian in the Cinema”. It was designed to pay homage to the role that cinema has played in the evolution of our language and the development of our society by telling stories of events related to the history of our country. To mark the occasion, the Accademia della Crusca published a collection of essays written by linguists who have studied the language of the cinema. Partners for the 2017 edition included the Accademia della Crusca, the Swiss Confederation, RAI Italia, the radio 3 programmes “Hollywood Party” and “La Lingua batte”, the Istituto Luce Cinecittà, the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia Foundation and the Directorate General for Cinema at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism.
Held between 17 to 23 October 2016, the 16th edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World, was dedicated to Italian creativity and brands, especially in the sectors of fashion, lifestyles and design, as described in the title “Italian and creativity: brands and lifestyles, fashion and design". Design was one of the fulcrums of the event and still still plays a fundamental role in the permanent integrated promotion of Italian know-how that characterizes the way country’s economic system is promoted. 1101 events were held in 149 locations in 91 countries all over the world, with 312 in the Americas, 280 in the European Union, 203 in European countries outside the EU, 163 in Asia and Oceania, 88 in Mediterranean countries and the Middle East and 55 in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2015, the Week of the Italian Language in the World took place from 19 to 24 October and the theme chosen was “Italian in Music, the Music of Italian”. The geographic distribution of the more than 1,300 events, is shown in the tables on this page: 435 in the Americas, 408 in the European Union, 163 in Asia and Oceania, 171 in European countries outside the EU, 113 in the Mediterranean and the Middle East and 75 in Sub-Saharan Africa.