L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 22, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY T he Italian Cultural In- stitute in San Fran- cisco has been serving the Italian-American community for forty- one years, promoting the Italian language and culture in the United States through the organization of cultural events. By fostering cul- tural exchange between Italy and the USA in a variety of areas from the arts to the humanities to sci- ence, the institute's mission puts at its centre the enjoyment of Ital- ian culture through academic ex- changes, the organization and sup- port of visual arts exhibitions, the promotion of Italian studies, and cooperation with local institutions. 2019 started with a big change, as Annamaria Di Giorgio was ap- pointed as the new Director. Mrs Di Giorgio has been in her new position for eight months, after having served as Deputy Director of the Italian Institute in Germany. We had a conversation with Director Di Giorgio, who shared with us her first impressions about working in a city like San Fran- cisco, as well as her goal and to put Italy at the heart of the city's cultural scene. Annamaria can you tell us a bit about you? I was born in Pescara, a seaside town, which certainly helped shape my personality. I attended High School focusing on lan- guages, then studied Eastern Lan- SERENA PERFETTO tious planning. What's the most exciting project you'll be working on? San Francisco represents a challenge. I used to focus on the Italian cultural and historical artis- tic heritage. Right now, my goal is to create a cross program, by organizing events that go beyond the well known boundaries of the topics we want to cover. Leonardo's anniversary was a good example in this direction. We wanted the American audi- ence to know and appreciate Ital- ian excellence in the contempo- rary sector, from creative industries, to music, from graphic novels to illustration, and possibly focus on exploring the border be- tween art and technology. I al- ways like to remind everyone that the word "technology" comes from the Greek terms "techne" (the know-how) and "logia" (speech). The etymology of the term defines its close relationship with art. It is necessary to deal with different disciplinary expe- riences brought in by art, design, music, performance, network, software, audiovisuals, data, ar- chitecture, augmented reality and biotechnologies, artificial Intelli- gence and machine learning: all industries in which Italian contri- butions are very important. I can- not think of any other city more stimulating and innovative than San Francisco, the world's capital of innovation. What should we expect in the next few months? In the coming months, the cen- tral event for the Institute is surely the illustration exhibition on Gi- anni Rodari, that marks the 100th year anniversary of his birth. The exhibition, which will be held in Portland and San Francisco in September and December, is a far-reaching project, carried out by the San Francisco Institute and the Bologna Book Fair, in collab- oration with the Consulate, the Municipality of Bologna and the Emilia Romagna region, as well as the city of Portland, among oth- ers. The exhibition, entitled "Ital- ian Excellencies II - 20 illustrators for Gianni Rodari," will present sixty pieces of work by twenty among the greatest Italian histor- ical and contemporary illustrators. The exhibition will serve as a starting point for a series of ini- tiatives for children and adults, linked to the production of Gianni Rodari, including translation, kids' literature and movies. In Oc- tober, San Francisco will be home to Elfo Puccini's "Leonardo what a genius!", followed in November by an event with Alessandro Bar- icco and Federico Rampini, with- out forgetting the Weeks of Italian Language and Italian Cuisine in the world. guages at Rome's La Sapienza University. There, I was also in- terested in archaeology and art. I am genuinely passionate about travel and eager to explore what is different in this world. How did you develop a pas- sion about spreading Italian culture around the world? At the age of 25, I was selected by MAECI to work on the cultural promotion of Italy around the world on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I have been working on this since 2008. I spent six years in Berlin, where I served as deputy director of the Italian Cultural Institute: this ex- perience had an influence on who I am today. Relationships between Italian and German cultures are strong, we had plenty of events highlighting the two country's di- verse cultural scenes. Then, I went back to Rome for a couple of years and was later appointed as Director of the Italian Cultural In- stitute in San Francisco. I am now 37 and this is a big challenge for me, as I find myself leading a Cul- tural Institute in one of the most intellectual, yet high-tech cities in America. What excites you the most about San Francisco? How is living in the Bay Area? The thing that strikes me the most about San Francisco and California in general is this feel- ing of living close to nature and being "into the wild." San Fran- cisco is the world's capital of in- novation and tech, yet you can run into coyotes and raccoons right outside your house, you are surrounded by majestic trees: na- ture is powerful here and it really becomes part of who you are and what you do in your daily life. Which were your first reac- tion and thoughts when you moved to the Bay Area at the beginning of the year? I want to be honest here. One thing that, unfortunately and in- evitably, affects the opinion of those who come and live here is the number of homeless people. This is a wealthy city where the gap between the poor and the rich is becoming bigger and bigger. Work kept you and your team busy though… In the first few months, I had to settle down, get to know local stakeholders, historical partners of the Institute, and cultural or- ganizations. It was crucial to learn more about what already existed and to move accordingly. We don't care much about the number of events itself, but rather about the quality, we try to create a con- nection between the program of the Institute and that of our local partners. We want to create a net- work, and not concentrate all en- ergy and time on single events but on topics, anniversaries, celebra- tions (such as the 500th anniver- sary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci). We keep the program aligned with the so-called Piano di Promozione integrata - Vivere all'Italiana, a program launched in 2016 by the Ministry of For- eign Affairs and the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities. Our goal is to implement our communication plans and activi- ties on social media. The collaboration with the Italian Consulate is strong. Can you share a bit more about it? Both the Institute and the Con- sulate work under the umbrella of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs network. What we do must follow the same track and keep the con- nection with Italian Government, following the guidelines of the Promotional Plan, in order to in- volve and engage with all the or- ganizations within the Italian net- work in the Bay Area. The excellent relationship with Consul Ortona, both professional and per- sonal, started also thanks to the mutual passion for food. How- ever, in general, both the Institute and the Consulate staff have been collaborating for quite some time, making our day-to-day job even easier. This has been a very busy time for the Institute. What's the biggest challenge for your team been so far? The difficulties of the Institute are mainly based on the lack of human resources; we are only four employees, responsible for both management and adminis- trative work, and we also plan events and run initiatives for the community. Unfortunately, due to the high rents of the city, our bud- get is never enough to think big and produce an even more ambi- From far left, Director Di Giorgio with Consul General Ortona, his wife Sheila, and Cinema Italia Director Amelia Antonucci. IIC Director Di Giorgio: "This is how we will make Italian culture shine in the most high-tech city in America"

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