The “Week of the Italian Language in the World”, now in its 15th edition, will run from 19 to 24 October 2015. This event, which takes place in the third week of October each year, is central to the promotion of the Italian language abroad.
The “Week” is a collaboration by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC), the Accademia della Crusca and the Swiss Confederation.
The Week of the Italian Language in the World, which enjoys the patronage of the President of the Republic, is a highly visible event with a lively cultural resonance. It is eagerly anticipated each year by the many admirers of Italy, its language and its lifestyle, and by communities of Italians abroad and people of Italian origin.
Events in five continents
This year’s theme linking the hundreds of events promoted and coordinated by the MFAIC in the five continents through its diplomatic, consular and cultural network, is “The Italian of Music, the Music of Italian”.
The fifteenth edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World will be celebrated in Beijing through an extensive programme of initiatives. The first event on the agenda will be the play in one act “The friend of Galileo”, freely adapted from the novel by Isaiah Iannaccone, which will take place at the Italian Cultural Institute in the presence of the author and under the artistic direction of Anna Netto and Wei Yi. The play is produced in collaboration with the Department of Italian Studies at the University of Foreign Languages of Beijing and the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research.
The programme continues on October 20 with the screening of the film “Farinelli” by director Gerard Corbiau; on October 21 the conference “Language and Italian character” by Prof. Federico Castigliano is scheduled at the Beijing International Studies University. On October 22 it will be the turn of the “Dictionary of Food”, translated in three languages (Italian, English and Chinese; Plan editions, Academia Universa Press) and presented by Martha Valentini from Confucius Institute in Milan and Franca Bosc from the University of Milan.
On October 23the Italian Cultural Institute will host the screening of the film “Piano Solo” by Riccardo Milani. To close the Week’s events, on October 24 there will be a competition on Italian language and culture among all students of university courses in Italian language in China, in collaboration with ENIT-National Tourism Agency, and a final concert in collaboration with the High School of the Central Conservatory of Music.
Throughout the week, the ‘Italian Institute of Culture will also host the exhibition “Dante, the life, the work, the fortune”.
Other related initiatives
“Music speaks Italian” – The unbreakable bond between the Italian language and music in a film produced by the Farnesina in collaboration with ANFE and “ I-Italy”
“Music speaks Italian” is a video produced by the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Directorate General for Italians Abroad and Migration Policies in collaboration with the National Association of Emigrant Families (ANFE) and created by the “I-Italy” network in New York.
The film, shot in the streets of the city of New York, is an instrument whose strong visual impact is testimonial to the bond existing between our language and music, while communicating the pleasure and importance of knowing the Italian culture and language.
The film was made for our fellow Italians and their descendants, for whom the Italian language, besides representing a link to their roots, is a source of pride and sense of belonging. This also goes for all non-Italian enthusiasts about our country and about music, of which Italian is an “official” language”.
“The Italian of music in the world”
On the occasion of the 15th Week of the Italian Language in the World, the Accademia della Crusca presents “L’italiano della musica nel mondo,” edited by Ilaria Bonomi and Vittorio Coletti.
The Italian language has contributed to the establishment of a formidable specific vocabulary of classical music; it has long been identified with opera, whose masterpieces, often sung by foreign artists, are still performed in all opera houses in the world; it has for decades spread through songs, even in dialect, a friendly and peaceful image of Italy and its traces are still recognizable in the pop music of many countries.
The book will be available for Free Download from October 19 through October 24!