L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano T he ties between S e a t t l e a n d Perugia, capital city of Umbria, g o b a c k m o r e than 25 years when a pact of f r i e n d s h i p w a s s i g n e d b y both mayors. As with many new friendships, there was an immediate interest to get to know one another by sharing i n f o r m a t i o n , s w a p p i n g events, even visiting in per- son. T h r o u g h t h e S e a t t l e - P e r u g i a S i s t e r C i t y A s s o c i a t i o n , o v e r t h e decades the two cities have exchanged art exhibits, wel- comed ceramic artists under the dePoi artist exchange program, awarded scholar- ships for members to learn Italian at Perugia's Università per Stranieri, and sponsored the latest Italian films at S e a t t l e ' s p o p u l a r C i n e m a Italian Style. In 2017, Seattle inaugurat- ed Piazza Perugia, a gath- ering space located in a quiet corner of a Seattle public park. Ceramic tiles incorpo- rating traditional Umbrian d e s i g n s , i n c l u d i n g t h e Perugino griffin, were a cen- tral artistic feature, created under the direction of Giorgio M o r e t t i , t h e o w n e r o f L'Antica Deruta, a ceramics studio outside Perugia. When the pandemic struck in early 2020 and first Italy, then Seattle, started to close restaurants, shops, museums and cultural organizations, it was difficult to see how the two cities could maintain close ties. Enter the sister city association board. In May, the 13-member b o a r d l a u n c h e d a v i r t u a l series of conversations for its members called — what else? —"A Casa" ("At Home"). Once a month, a special guest from Umbria joins Seattle residents as part of an online video chat to discuss how the pandemic is affecting their city, how they and their fami- lies are coping, how their lives have changed, and what their hopes are for the future. "This spring, we had to quickly re-evaluate what ben- efits we could still provide to o u r m e m b e r s , " s a i d J e n Provenzano, Seattle-Perugia board member. "We came up with the idea of speaking w i t h o u r c o l l e a g u e s a n d f r i e n d s i n P e r u g i a u s i n g videoconferencing software. What we quickly found out is t h a t o u r c i t i e s s t i l l s h a r e many things in common: we a r e b o t h f e a r f u l f o r o u r health, our jobs, the econo- my. But we are also feeling creative, we are finding a sense of community, and we are experiencing closer ties w i t h o u r n e i g h b o r s a n d friends. It's exciting to hear and share positive viewpoints between our cities." Each month, a new guest is selected. The first three "A Casa" guests were small busi- ness owner Giorgio Moretti; Umbria's director of local e c o n o m i c d e v e l o p m e n t Michele Fioroni; and a well- known Italian artist, Rossella Vasta. M o r e t t i , w h o s e D e r u t a ceramics studio provided the tile installation for Seattle's P i a z z a P e r u g i a , e x p l o r e d what it was like to manage a small business during the lockdown. Not surprisingly, Moretti called it "a nightmare f o r s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s l i k e ours." H e c o n t i n u e s t o w o r r y about the trickle-down effect. "This spring, we had a big c o n t r a c t w i t h a h o t e l i n Taormina, Sicily," he said. "They were going to use our tiles on outside tables. But when their guests started canceling reservations in the spring, they had to cancel their order with us. That's just one example. With no money, with people losing t h e i r j o b s , y o u c a n ' t j u s t r e s t a r t t h e e c o n o m y . I t ' s going to take a while." A busy politician, Michele Fioroni, deputy president of local economic development for the region of Umbria, usually spends his days run- ning from office to office, meeting colleagues, business owners and other govern- ment officials. When Italy was locked down, he found he had more time with his family. "It's been great to share experiences with my kids," he said in the video- conference. "My son learned to cook; my daughter learned more about my work by lis- tening in to the business calls I made from home. Our fami- ly played Monopoly and we e n j o y e d s i n g i n g w i t h o u r neighbors." One downside for Fioroni was that during the lockdown h e f o u n d t h e c i t y s i l e n c e depressing. "It was not the same silence that you get at night," he said. "It was an unusual day-time quiet, a dif- ferent kind of silence. That to me was very strange." Despite the quiet, Fioroni could see a silver lining in the arrival of the global public health crisis. "I think the younger generation will grow up and be stronger as they go through the pandemic," he said. "It's similar to the older generation, our parents, who lived through World War II. They were resilient as well. It is our generation who has not been tested in the same way." J u l y ' s g u e s t w i l l b e Rossella Vasta, an artist born in Palermo and now resides outside Perugia where she c o - f o u n d e d t h e P i e v e I n t e r n a t i o n a l S c h o o l , a n exchange school for students and artists based at her fami- ly villa in Corciano. Vasta is a m e m b e r o f t h e b o a r d o f d i r e c t o r s a t P e r u g i a ' s Academy of Fine Arts, stud- ied and lived in the US, lec- tured at several American universities, and has had numerous art exhibitions abroad. The "A Casa" program has been so successful that the sister city board has expand- ed the concept to host other virtual events. In July, there will be a cooking demonstra- t i o n b y A s s i s i c o o k b o o k author, Letizia Mattiacci, who runs the Alla Madonna del Piatto cooking school and o f f e r s s p e c i a l t y t o u r s i n Umbria. The Seattle organi- zation has also moved its twice-monthly language con- versation group to a virtual format as well. " T h e l o c k d o w n h e l p e d many of us see how easy it is to communicate on virtual platforms and we think we will continue this effort into the foreseeable future," said board member Provenzano. RITA CIPALLA Video conferencing amid pandemic helps sister cities stay in touch Quando la pandemia ha reso impossibile viaggiare e persino incontrarsi, la Seattle-Perugia Sister Association ha inaugurato una serie di video-conferenze: il primo protagonista è stato Giorgio Moretti, direttore de L'Antica Deruta (SPSCA) SEATTLE ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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