Dante Alighieri Society Brisbane

2007 was the 55th year of the Brisbane Dante’s continuous existence. With branches worldwide, our parent society in Rome, la sede centrale, was founded in 1889 on the inspiration of the great Nobel prize winning poet, Giosuè Carducci. Its two objectives at that time, that we and all branches still pursue, are to maintain and to resuscitate the use of Italian among Italians emigrants in foreign lands and also to diffuse the Italian language and culture among non-Italians.

Our Activities
Monthly Cultural EventsAcross the years these monthly encounters have ranged from concerts, theatre outings, lectures on Italy, past and present, Italian films (subtitled or not, according to need), music, art, cooking and so on. Cultural meetings usually take place in the 3rd. week of every month and are announced in the Dante News. English and Italian feature as the languages of presentation. We encourage initiatives from members outside the management committee to suggest ideas and speakers for functions.

Language and Culture Courses
For the Brisbane Dante, these represent the greatest expression of the Society’s aims and our most important commitment of time and effort. Courses for the most part are year long in duration with an additional intake of new students in Semester two. All levels of language are taught from Monday to Thursday in the evenings and on some mornings. Children's classes are also available. In addition, circoli di cultura are offered fortnightly in Italian including, of course, un circolo dantesco.

Dante Alighieri Society Inc., Brisbane
23 Foster Street Newmarket
PO Box 3107 Newmarket, QLD 4051
Australia Ph/Fax: + 61 07 3356 7731

http://www.dante-alighieri.org.au/English/Main-English.htm

Società Dante Alighiri di Brisbane

Il 2007 era il 55 anno di vita della società Dante Alighiri di Brisbane. Con filiali in tutto il mondo, la nostra società madre si trova a Roma e fù fondata nel 1889 grazie all'ispirazione del vincitore del premio nobel per la scrittura Giosuè Carducci. I suoi due obbiettivi del tempo, ancora perseguiti in tutte le filiali,sono mantenere e resuscitare l'uso dell'italiano fra gli italiani che sono migrati in terre straniere e anche di diffondere la lingua e la cultura italiana tra i non-italiani.

Le nostre attivitàNegli anni questi eventi mensili sono avvenuti spaziando dai concerti, con "incursioni" nei teatri, letture in italiano ai film nuovi e vecchi, con sottotitoli a seconda dei bisogni, musica, arte, cucina e cosi via.Gli incontri culturali di solito avvengono la terza settimana di ogni mese e sono annunciati nel Dante News.L'inglese e l'italiano si presentano come le lingue di presentazione. Noi incorraggiamo tutte le persone che non fanno parte del comitato di amministrazione a darci suggerimenti per idee; c'è anche la possibiltà di fare da speaker (voci narranti) per alcuni compiti.

Corsi di lingua e culturaPer la Brisbane Dante, questi rappresentano i principali obbiettivi sociali e il più importante impegno di tempo e sforzo. I corsi per la maggior parte dei casi sono annuali con addizionali entrate di studenti nel secondo semestre. I corsi, con i loro diversi livelli di difficoltà, avvengono dal lunedi al giovedi di sera e in alcuni casi di mattina. Sono disponibili anche classi di bambini. in più, circoli di cultura, italiano incluso, sono offerti quindicinalmente per un circolo dantesco.

Delhi celebrates Italian language week

New Delhi, Oct 24, (IANS) Italian Language Week is being celebrated in the capital, as in other parts of the world, through film screenings, photography exhibitions and lectures under the theme 'Italian Language and the Sea'.

Organised by the Italian Cultural Institute, the celebrations began Monday and will stress on the intermingling of cultures through the chosen theme.

'It is a week-long celebration in the world at different Italian institutes and embassies,' Patrizia Raveggi, director of the cultural institute here, said late Tuesday.

The sea has been chosen as the focal point of this year's theme because a large part of Italy's history was based on the sea. The sea has inspired poets and artists from many parts of the world, has dictated joyful and melancholic songs to its inhabitants through its various moods.
Patrizia said intermingling of cultures had gained importance in today's world.
'Mixing of different cultures has become very important as it teaches a lot about (each other), helps an individual to grow in terms of education and in finding them better job opportunities,' she said.

The cultural week will include an exhibition of photographs by the Italian Geographical society, Rome, screening of Italian films, lectures and a tribute to late opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who died earlier this year.

The University of Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia, will also be hosting events marking the Italian Language Week celebrations.

7th “Italian Language Week Worldwide”

The Italian Language and the Sea (22– 28 October 2007) “The Italian Language and the Sea” is the theme of the 7th “Italian Language Week Worldwide”, which will be taking place from 22 to 28 October 2007. The event is being organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the network of Embassies, Consulates, Italian Cultural Institutes, university departments of Italian, and Italian schools abroad.

The initiative, which enjoys the patronage of the President of the Republic, has since 2001 been the main international event promoting the Italian language. It has grown ever-more successful, with 1300 events in 80 countries for the 2006 edition. The Accademia della Crusca, which provides specialist advice and input, the Dante Alighieri Society and the RAI broadcasting corporation, with a focus on Rai International and Rai Educational, also cooperate closely in organising the “Week”.

Why devote the 7th edition of the Language Week to the sea? Because Italy’s sea has inspired artists and poets the world over. It has encouraged explorers and seen millions of Italians set forth for far-off lands in search of fortune. The history of Italy has largely been built on the sea, from the colonies of Magna Graecia to the Maritime Republics. And through the sea, the Italian language has acted as a bridge playing a vital role in spreading a knowledge and appreciation of Italy abroad.

Italian Language Week: The Art of Words Annual Project

Italian Language Week: The Art of Words Annual Project Celebrates the Italian Language Join the Discussion "Italian, on a par with Spanish, has bestowed the greatest number of words on the Anglo-American tongue"KIAORA3 "L'Italiano e le arti della parola" (the Italian language and the art of words). That's the theme chosen for the second annual "Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo" (Week of the Italian Language in the World), which will take place from October 14th to the 19th in Italy. The project is being organized by the Ministero degli Affari Esteri (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the management of the ministry's Cultural Promotion, with the collaboration of the Accademia della Crusca, the Società Dante Alighieri, the Fondazione Corriere della Sera, RAI International, and RAI Educational.

Institutions Promote Italian Language and CultureThe initiative, inaugurated with much success in 2001 both in Italy and abroad, renews the commitment of Italian institutions to the promotion and diffusion of the Italian language and culture in the international arena. To underscore the importance of the cultural initiative, a number of institutions, such the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, the Ministero dell'Istruzione, the Unione Latina, and the Fondazione Cassamarca all actively support activities and events during the Week.

Events to celebrate Week of the Italian Language in the World include a nation-wide writing contest, a video conference, radio and television shows on RAI, and special online multimedia features.

Number of Foreigners Learning Italian RisesThe Settimana della Lingua Italiana nel Mondo comes at an auspicious time for the Italian language. According to a recent study, there has been an increase in the number of people outside Italy studying Italian. In the last five years, the number of foreign students studying Italian at cultural institutes has increased by almost 40%. And, according to the university La Sapienza of Rome, the number of pages in Italian on the Internet has also increased to 3.96% of the total. Although Italian ranks nineteenth in the world for the number of persons who speak it, the data shows that Italian is in roughly fourth or fifth position in the number of courses attended by foreign students.

Much of the increase in demand has come from commerce, industry and tourism. However, traditional motivations for learning the language remain: Italian is still considered a language of culture and also a way for Italian immigrants to maintain contacts and ties with their distant homeland.

7th week of Italian language opened in Astana

October 23. KAZINFORM /Bauyrzhan Mukanov/ The 7th week of the Italian language

Italian language and sea has been opened today in the National Academic Library in Astana, Kazinform correspondent reports.

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Italy to Kazakhstan Bruno Pasquino took part in opening the event.

“The week of the Italian language is being held in Kazakhstan for the second time. The opening of an exhibitions on 'Salgari Sea' (Italian writer) and 'Amerigo Vespucchi' (ship) took place within the frame of the week,” he said.

An Italian film will be demonstrated within the frame of the event.

UNE celebrates 'Italian and the Sea'October 23, 2007

The University of New England is participating in a world-wide celebration of the Italian language and Italian culture this week.

The theme of this year's celebration – the seventh annual Settimana della lingua italiana nel mondo ("Week of Italian Language in the World") – is "Italian and the Sea".

The Italian Section in UNE's School of Arts has organised a half-day program of short illustrated talks, Italian music, poetry, food and wine, and finally an Italian feature film, on Thursday 25 October in Arts Lecture Theatre A2, beginning at 1 pm. Everyone is welcome to this free public event.

Benjamin Thorn and Cecile Michels will perform the music on authentic instruments (ocarinas, recorders and harp), and illustrated talks by Eric Acheson and Anna Cavallaro will evoke the maritime history and architectural splendour of Sicily.

Brennan Wales (Convener of Italian at UNE) will give some short poetry recitations, two students will read brief, sea-inspired Italian compositions of their own, and another student will sing an early 17th century love song with a sea-related theme.

Refreshments, served at 2 pm, will be followed by the screening of the film Mediterraneo (directed by G. Salvatores) – a romantic drama set on a Mediterranean island during World War II.

Short addresses by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Professor Margaret Sedgley, and the Head of the School of Arts, Associate Professor Kerry Dunne, will begin the program at 1 pm. Brennan Wales said that UNE's participation in this year's "Week of Italian Language in the World" was made possible – as in previous years – by the generous support of the Italian Consulate General in Sydney. "Our relationship with the Consulate continues to be a very productive one," he said, "and is of great benefit to us and our students."

Italian Government Awards Cuban Professor

Havana, Oct 23 (acn) As part of the 7th International Week of the Italian Language, the Government of that European nation will bestow the Star of the Italian Solidarity Order on Regla Arango Polanco, Cuban professor at the University of Havana.
Cuban News Agency
Commercial and cultural counselor at the Italian Embassy in Havana, Marco Giomini, said this decoration is awarded every year by the Italian President.

The official ceremony will take place in Salon 250 of the University of Havana, where the Italian ambassador in Cuba, Domenico Vecchioni, will invest Arango Polanco, who is also General Coordinator of the Postgraduate Course on the Italian Language and Culture, with the First Degree Knighthood.

Giomini noted that the Italian Foreign Minister, along with the Academia della Cruzca, have organized a program of activities throughout this week to take place at the University of Havana, the Dante Alighieri Society, Ruben Martinez Villena Library, and the Havana Historian’s Office.

The week, called "The Italian and the sea", will run until Sunday 28.
It will include talks, lectures and the screening of films that will be donated later to the bibliographic funds of the Dante Alighieri Society in Havana.

Giomini also said Cuba is putting the finishing touches on the program of the 10th Italian Culture Week in Cuba, which this year will be dedicated to Giuseppe Garibaldi on the occasion of his 200th birthday.

Tbilisi Celebrates ‘VII Week of Italian Language and Culture in the World’

“Our main goal is to satisfy the thrust for Italian language,” said Ambassador of Italy to Georgia, Vittorio Sandalli, at a news conference on October 19. The Week for Italian Language and Culture in the World is held annually worldwide with Georgia participating every year as well. This is the 7th week of the event.

The Italian embassy to Georgia organized the event in collaboration with the Embassy of Switzerland, and the Georgian Ministry of Culture, Monuments and Sports. “The Italian Language and the Sea” is this year’s theme, chosen by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sandalli said, “We have picked this motto because for us – Italians– the sea is a very sensitive and most important topic. The sea almost surrounds our country and we don’t just use it for commercial purposes. The sea has given Italians a way to access any place in the world in search of happy life.”

According to the embassy, for the VII annual Week of Italian Language and Culture in the World a number of events will be held at different cultural and educational sites in downtown Tbilisi. The week will open on Monday at the Tbilisi History Museum Karvasla at 6pm, with the photo exhibit “A Window over the Sea.”

According to M. Rita Giancola, an organizer of the photo exhibition, they selected three photographers: Davide Caporaletti, Roberto Sardo, and Alessandro Eusebi, because all three of them, “have very different views and are very interesting.” For example, one of them uses very old methods of developing film. The exhibit is dedicated to Italian Maestro Luciano Pavarotti, she added.

On October 22, Tbilisi State University will host Professor Paola Gilardi, representing University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He will give a lecture on Italian language and its various dialects spoken in Switzerland.

On October 23, at the Cinema House at 6.30pm, Dr. Gilardi will give a public lecture about the sociolinguistic situation of the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland. At 8pm, Esilio e passione. La saga dei Bruni (Exile and passion. The legend of the Brunis), a documentary about a Swiss family that emigrated to the Russian Tsarist Empire 200 years ago will be shown.

On October 24, at the Italian Cultural Centre, Ilia Chavchavadze State University’s Professor Glauco Maria Marfuri, will give a lecture: The Italians and The Sea, about the history of the Italians on the sea particularly referring to Italian ships and navigators, the sailors’ language and the languages of the sea.

On October 26, at 6pm, Shota Rustaveli State University of Theatre and Cinema will hold a conference on Italian masterpieces, narrating the changes and evaluations in Italian art from ancient to modern times.

On October 28, at 5.30pm, at Iv. Javakhishvili State University, Professor Franco Cardini, historian, writer and winner of several national and international prizes will close the VII Week of Italian Language and Culture in the World with a lecture: “Europe, the Mediterranean Sea and the Caucasus: Similarities and Differences.”