Chi Siamo: [Re]presenting Italian Culture
2023 Programming Series
Digital Archive
In 2023 the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago presented the project Chi Siamo: (Re)presenting Italian Culture, a year-long programming series dedicated to representation, diversity and inclusion in Italian culture, with a specific focus on processes of cross-cultural contamination in contemporary and modern practices.
In response to a growing public interest toward themes that have social and cultural relevance, related to systemic pushes toward more inclusivity, the Institute aimed at unveiling the complexities and characteristics of Sistema Italia, to create a connecting platform for discussions that allows to critically reconsider the modes of representation in Italian creative and cultural fields. Aligned with the institutional mission, the project created synergies with local entities to promote a dialogue on topics of shared interest, and elevated the specific experiences of each historical and cultural context: Italy and the US.
The proposed programming shows how Italy is the core of creative cultural processes developed thanks to the contribution of its excellences, and finds strength in the multifaceted experiences of an historically composite society, increasingly diverse today.
Italian Design Day: Design For All
Thursday, March 9, 2023
On the occasion of the Italian Design Day, the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with Design Museum Chicago, presented an intensive participatory lecture led by the collective Design For All Italia, presenting their design practice in relation to inclusion and diversity. DFA promotes a design for all people, a practice that is inclusive and holistic, and which values individuality, considering human diversity as part of the design process.
In this interview, Francesco Rodighiero and Pete Kercher explain the concept of Design for All and how the collective came to be.
Black Italian Film Showcase
Saturday and Sunday, February 18-19, 2023
Black Italian Film Showcase was presented by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with FACETS on the occasion of Black History Month. The series is the first celebration of Afro-Italian talents in film, showcasing new features, documentaries, and short films and illuminating the historical, social, and cultural aspects of Black life in Italy through film, offering the opportunity to see a diverse representation of Italy. Curated by Italian-Ghanaian-American producer-director Fred Kudjo Kuwornu, this retrospective of Italian of African descent filmmakers deals with questions of colonialism, diversity, global black diaspora, gender, race, and identity that are best answered by those who live Italy’s integration day to day.
In this interview, Fred Kudjo Kuwornu and director Antonio Dikele Distefano discuss the development of Black Italian Film Showcase, and the making of Distefano’s latest movie, “Autumn Beat.”
Italian Biopics
February 23 – April 20, 2023
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago presented a series of long-feature movies inspired by leading figures who have played a major role in the history of Italian culture, with screenings of the following titles:
- Ennio, directed by Giuseppe Tornatore (2022)
- The Bad Poet, directed by Paolo Taviani (2021)
- Leonora Addio, directed by Gianluca Jodice (2022)
- Nico 1988, directed by Susanna Nicchiarelli (2017)
Women History Month
March 2023
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago celebrated Women History Month with an initiative that presented Italian women-run projects, which actively support and promote women’s voices and artistic practices. The initiative was developed in collaboration with RadiOsa, web radio of Casa Internazionale delle Donne, and Immaginaria, an independent film festival dedicated to lesbian and feminist themes.
RadiOsa is an open initiative and the voice of everyone. A collaboration of a network of Women’s Shelters and Centers on site and throughout all of Italy, RadiOsa conveys the needs and questions emerging from women’s movements and collectives of women across the country. This initiative maintains, reinvigorates, builds and connects local, national and international women’s movements and events, starting at those aimed at members of a young age. RadiOsa is an internet radio station geared towards high school students. It operates in collaboration with Radio Bullets, which provides national and international news and specializes in podcasts; Sveja, an online radio station based in Rome; and Frisson, based on the independent newspaper founded in 2019 as a source for speaking about sexuality, feminism, rights and intersectionality.
On the occasion of Women History Month, the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago and RadiOsa presented a selection of podcasts from the columns that are part of the project.
Immaginaria is the first independent international film festival dedicated to lesbian and feminist themes in Italy. Founded in Bologna by Associazione Culturale Visibilia APS in 1993, this festival has repeatedly obtained the support of local and national institutions, as well as the partnership of foreign Embassies and cultural institutes. Immaginaria presents films directed by women with the aim of promoting the artistic production of both emerging and established female directors in Italy and throughout the world. The aim of the Festival is to depict the lives, culture, art, history and politics of lesbians and feminists alike, as well as bold, courageous and rebellious women from our history and those alive today committed to building a different world. Rebelling against forms of oppression, creating new lifestyles and intersectional paths are the common themes of this Festival.
On the occasion of Women History Month, the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago and Immaginaria presented a selection of short feature movies from the festival’s portfolio. The movies have been available online for the month of March.
San Sabba Rice Mill
Presented by Francesca Pitacco
Thursday, January 26, 2023
On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with the American Jewish Committee, presented the history of the San Sabba Rice Mill, the only Italian Nazis camp with a crematory oven. Francesca Pitacco, designated expert of the San Sabba Rice Mill Commission nominated by the City of Trieste, analyzed the historical context that led to the development of the camp in Trieste, all the way to the construction of its National Monument.
Learn about the San Sabba Rice Mill
Black Europe Symposium
March 23-24, 2023
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with Loyola University Chicago, presented Black Europe Symposium, a series of lectures with writers and artists of African descent who have contributed significantly to today’s European cultural life through different media, including music, film, literature, the visual arts, performance, and poetic expressions. Black Europe highlighted the complex processes that forge a new Europe through cross-cultural encounters and identity formation, while emphasizing the importance of the arts and foreign languages and cultures in a world that is also changing through migration.
Participating guest speakers:
- Tristan Cabello, Associate Director of the Master of Liberal Arts at the Johns Hopkins University
- Hope Campbell-Gustafson, MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa
- Hamedine Kane, artist and film director
- Néhémy Pierre-Dahomey, writer
- Karima 2G, writer and performer
- Cristina Ubah Ali Farah, writer
Presented only in Italian
Lingua e cultura italiana: varietà linguistiche e culturali
Presentato dal Prof. Marco Gargiulo
Venerdì, dal 24 marzo al 28 aprile 2023
In questo seminario, presentato dal prof. Marco Gargiulo, docenti di lingua italiana hanno affrontato alcune questioni relative al policentrismo della cultura e del sistema linguistico italiano, e, conseguentemente, alle implicazioni legate alla didattica della lingua e della sua dimensione sociolinguistica.
Partendo dalla storia delle varietà linguistiche che compongono il mosaico italiano si è cercato di mettere in evidenza il carattere tridimensionale e complesso della sua rappresentazione, e di individuare una struttura analitica che sostenga le nostre attività di riflessione e insegnamento, con lo scopo di disegnare una mappa della variazione linguistica e culturale, considerando anche ciò che spesso rimane in secondo piano: l’Italia contemporanea con le sue innumerevoli facce, come un prisma in cui si specchiano, si riconoscono e si mischiano molteplici diversità.
Alla Boara
Saturday, March 4 and Friday, April 14, 2023
The American group Alla Boara seeks to bring recognition and new life to Italy’s diverse history of regional folk music. Their modern arrangements of traditional folk songs are variously surprising, playful, mournful, tender and bewitching. Their dynamic work aims to inspire audiences of all ethnic heritages to treasure their musical roots and consider historical songs’ contemporary cultural relevance. The group has received critical acclaim for its originality and accessibility and was recently featured in All About Jazz, La Gazzetta Italiana, and predicted to have a bright future by Cleveland Magazine.
With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, the concert has been presented by Constellation on March 4, 2023 (Chicago, IL) and by Kerrytown Concert House on Friday, March 14, 2023 (Ann Arbor, MI).
Listen to “Le Tre Sorelle” (2022)