11th Week of Italian Language in the World

Although we have already missed mentioning the first day here, it would be noteworthy to mention the week of Italian Language organised by the Italian Institute of Culture in Egypt with book openings, lectures, movies, theater and other events.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Baab Gallery (in front of Opera Theatre) at 7:00 PM
Photographic Exhibition: "National identity: 52 flags for the Italian Unity" in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.
For the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unity, Brera Accademy of Fine Arts has organized the exhibition in Cairo, Brussels and Liège. The exhibition in Cairo is composed by lithographs printed on hand-made Fabriano paper replicating the canvas flags.

IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 9:00 PM
A Review of Italian Movies for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unity

WE BELIEVED
Directed by Mario Martone.
Starring Luigi Lo Cascio, Valerio Binasco, Francesca Inaudi, Guido Caprino, Renato Carpentieri.
Historical, Runtime 165 min - Italy/France, 2010, Italian with Italian subtitles
Following the fierce Bourbon repression of the political movements of 1828 which touched all their families, three young men from the south of Italy decide to join Giuseppe Mazzini’s “Giovine Italia”. Through four separate episodes, each reflecting the hidden pages of the birth of Italian unification, the lives of Domenico, Angelo and Salvatore will be tragically marked by their conspiratorial and revolutionary missions, balanced as they are between moral rigor and murderous impulses, the spirit of sacrifice and fear. In the background, the unknown history of the birth of the country, of implacable conflicts among the founding fathers, of the fracture between the North and the South and of the contorted roots from which will grow the Italy we now live in.

Monday, October 17, 2011

University of Ain Shams – Language Faculty – Department of Italian Studies - Main Hall, 10:00 AM
Opening ceremony of the XI Week of Italian Language and Culture in the World
Address of H.E. the Ambassador of Italy Claudio Pacifico; the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Patrizia Raveggi presents the Program of the "XI Week". The ceremony will be attended by Egyptian officials (Vice – Chancellors of the most important Egyptian universities, and Head of Italian studies departments) and important personalities in the Egyptian and Italian cultural fields.
Address of professor Rabie Salama
Head of the Department of Italian Studies – Language Faculty - Ain Shams University

Lectio magistralis by professor Paolo Luigi Branca
“Getting to know Egypt in Italy, throughout books”


IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 6:00 PM
“Prague Cemetery” by Umberto Eco
Presentation of the Arabic translation by Professor Amer Al Alfi.

IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 8:00 PM
A Journey to Destiny
Contemporary theatrical pièce in four acts, written and directed by Mohamed Kamal. Translation: Hussein Abu El-Ela (first and second act), Jasmine Mohamed, Marise Samir, Lara Amira Mohamed (second act), Salma El-Kayaal (third act), Gehad Ezzat (fourth act). Editing of the script: Hussein Mahmoud, Alessandra Massreya, Rita Andreanelli, Ivano Chignola. The performers are the students of the Department of Italian Studies – Faculty of Languages Al Alson – Ain Shams University.


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 6:30 PM
Presentation of the Arabic translation of “Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio” by Vincenzo Consolo.
The publication into Arabic language has been made possible thanks to the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to spread Italian literature in the world. In the panel literary critic professor Hussein Mahmoud, the translator dr. Naglaa Wali and the publisher dr. M. Hosny Soliman.

IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 7:00 PM
Presentation of "Ten Years in Egypt, Libya and Sudan", a recently published two volumes book by H.E. Ambassador Claudio Pacifico

IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 8:00 PM
A Review of Italian Movies for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unity

MA CHE STORIA...
Directed by Gianfranco Pannone. Starring Roberto Citran, Roberto Di Francesco, Leo Gullotta.
Documentary, running time 78 min. – Italy 2010, Italian with English subtitles.
A tragicomic journey through history, via a long and tiring path towards Italian unity: Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour, Verdi… names that today seem far from us, but which are not so far after all. The "Risorgimento" was a revolution, welcomed as really and truly epic in the nineteenth century, but reduced in the following century by Italian “dark forces”.
Power, intellectuals and the people have made for a difficult relationship, often violent and not lacking cynicism, and which has obstructed the creation of a shared national feeling. The telling of this half epic is recounted via newsreels and documentaries, the Luce archive, from 1910 to the 1980s, which, not without rhetoric, span the history of the nation.


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

10:00 AM to 1:00 PM / 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM p.m. – 5 p.m.
IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute
Conference "The influence of Italian Risorgimento in the birth of the idea of Nation in Egypt”. On the occasion of the celebrations of the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unity, the conference highlights the parallel history of Italian freedom fight and the transformation process started by Muhammad Ali and his heirs. Perfectly integrated into Egyptian society and administration many Italian political expatriates lived in Egypt between 1820-1860. The conference will focus on the Italian presence in Egypt and its influence in building the concept of Nation.

Welcome speech by the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute and address by H.E. the Ambassador of Italy Claudio Pacifico. Followed by:

Massimo Campanini – Professor of Contemporary History of Arab Countries – University of Naples L’Orientale;
Giuseppe Cecere – Professor - Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale (IFAO) – Cairo;
Anthony Santilli – Researcher at the University of Naples l'Orientale;
Paolo Branca – Scholar – Associated to the University of Milan Cattolica;
Annamaria Lazzarino Del Grosso – Historian – Professor of History of Political Doctrines – University of Genoa;
Franco Cardini – Historian – Professor of Medieval History – University of Florence;
Ezio Godoli – Professor of History of Architecture and Modern History – University of Florence;
Assem Al-Dessouki - Historian of Contemporary Arab World – Professor of Modern History – University of Helwan - Cairo;
Anna Baldinetti – Historian – Associated to the University of Perugia;
Emad El Baghdadi – Professor - University of Ain Shams, Cairo;
Emad Abou Ghazi - Minister of Culture.

Gallery of the Italian Cultural Institute, Cairo, 6:00 PM
Presentation of the Proceedings of the Conference and opening of the Exhibition "Birth of a nation. Portraits of Italian Risorgimento” proposed by the Ministry of Youth in collaboration with the Institute for the History of Italian Risorgimento – Central Museum of Risorgimento – Rome.


IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 8:00 PM
A Review of Italian Movies for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unity
OLD-FASHIONED WORLD
Directed by Mario Soldati. Starring Massimo Serato, Alida Valli, Ada Dondini, Mariù Pascoli, Anna Carena.
Drama, running time 107 min. - Italy 1941, Italian with English subtitles
1850, Lombardy occupied by Austrians. Franco Maironi, patriot and fervent Catholic, marries Luisa Rigey against his grandmother’s will who threats to disinherit him. They settle in Oria, on the Lugano's lake, at an uncle's place. Ombretta is born, but the baby drowns in the lake few years after her birth. It's a huge trial for the two parents. While Luisa is stuck in her pain, Franco, supported by his faith, becomes a volunteer soldier. Oppressed by remorse, the grandmother mends her ways.


Thursday, October 20, 2011

IIC-IL CAIRO, Theatre of the Italian Cultural Institute, 5:00 PM
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Awards Ceremony. The IIC Director presents a gift of books to the winners of the 2010 contest "Parole in viaggio" (students of the "Leonardo da Vinci" school).
IIC Awards Ceremony. The IIC Director presents a gift of books to the winners of the contests: “Italian my own way”, “Happy Birthday Italy” and the photographic exhibition "Traces of Italy in Egypt".

Following
Screening of the film "Future Italy", produced in collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology – Genoa, and the contribution of Alberto Angela. The film shows three sectors, research, industry and health-care, focusing on the centers of excellence, the small and mediums enterprises that contribute to the "made in Italy" guarantee mark.

Inauguration of the Literary Café (Caffé & Bookshop) dedicated to Carla Maria Burri, Cultural Attaché of the Italian Cultural Institute from 1964 to 1981 and Director from 1991 to 1998.

Light refreshments in collaboration with the Hope Village Society, a NGO supporting less privileged women and children throughout professional teaching.

Gomhouria Theatre – Cairo, 8:00 PM
Concert of the band Mezzotono: "a cappella" performance (no musical instruments, only voices). The classics of Italian tradition presented in an original musical version.

Friday, October 21, 2011

8 p.m.
Sayid Darwish Theatre - Alexandria
Concert of the band Mezzotono: "a cappella" performance (no musical instruments, only voices). The classics of Italian tradition presented in an original musical version.


Special Event in Alexandria

Bibliotheca Alexandrina
In the occasion of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Director of the BA Ismail Serageldin will inaugurate the permanent exhibition of the archeological finds by prof. Paolo Gallo – Professor of Egyptology at the Turin University and Director of CMAIA – on Nelson Island.
The archeological finds kept in special and high tech display cases are the results of a long term field work led by Professor Gallo thanks to the contribution of Italian Foreign Ministry – Directorate General for the "Country System".