L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, MAY 29, 2014 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 3 "Pompeii: The Exhibition" West Coast premiere tiful exhibit on view at the California Science Center through January 4, 2015: "Pompeii: The Exhibition." Most likely, the irresistible fas- cination of Pompeii's history is due to its being clear evidence of Nature's power at once to destroy and preserve, as illustrat- ed in the final and most impres- sive part of the new exhibition, featuring replicas of the victims' plaster casts frozen in time. But let's start from the beginning. In the first century AD, Pompeii was a wealthy and vibrant center located in Campania region, as testified by the remaining artifacts and buildings from that time, and home to about 25,000 inhabi- tants. The town's luxurious lifestyle and refined culture are elegantly reproduced at the California Science Center through a scenic set of faux columns and mosaic floors, dis- playing 150 original artifacts on loan from the Naples National Archaeological Museum in Italy. These illustrate different aspects of daily life in Pompeii, from culinary traditions to religious practices, from bathing habits to social entertainment. Among them are marble statues and busts of Roman emperors, foun- tains decorating the gardens, wall frescoes, gladiators' armor, silver coins, golden jewels, bronze and wooden home fur- nishings, figurines of protective house deities, terracotta amphorae, iron tools used for cooking or gardening, and a bronze bathtub. Also particularly interesting are the informative panels and videos explaining the structure of ancient Roman houses, from the Peristylium (open courtyard) to the Triclinium (dining room) and Vestibulum (entrance hall), as well as some peculiar facts like the origins of fast-food restaurants then called Thermopolia. A restricted sec- tion is dedicated to the explicit art and statuary found in Pompeii's brothels, whose ruins are among the best conserved up to the present day. Discovered at the archaeologi- cal site as a result of the excava- tions started in the mid-1700s, all of these objects are very well-preserved yet extremely fragile and at risk of deteriora- tion due to exposure to the open air and sun. Because of this fragility, even if only a small portion of Pompeii's hidden treasures has been discovered so far, Italian laws prevent contin- ued excavation in order to focus instead on conservation efforts. While walking through the quiet and opulent routine of the town, visitors suddenly find themselves caught in the midst of the catastrophe of 79 AD, when Pompeii and the nearby Herculaneum were destroyed by a violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius, the local volcano. A CGI simulation reproduces the last 48 hours of Pompeii, allow- ing visitors to experience the devastating power and effect of the explosions through special effects such as shaking floors, rumbling sounds, blowing wind, and artificial fog. Nevertheless, both the simulation and the next section of the exhibit, showing casts of the victims, are kid- friendly. As earthquakes were fairly frequent in the area and the vol- cano had been dormant for ages, Pompeii's inhabitants didn't see the disaster coming: over 2,000 people were killed by the extreme heat, toxic fumes, and thick ash that buried them along with the whole town. In a semi- dark room, visitors can see 3-D copies of the original human body casts made in the 19 th cen- tury by Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli, director of excavations at Pompeii. Fiorelli and his team introduced an inno- vative technique, aimed at reconstructing dead bodies buried under layers of ashes and debris by pouring plaster into hollows in the ground. Today, thanks to the latest forensic and archaeological technologies, the new challenge is to reveal the faces underneath these ghostly plaster casts. The exhibition – which according to California Science Center President Jeffrey Rudolph "allows guests to reach across time and gain a deeper understanding and human connection with this ancient culture and its people" - ends with an educational sec- tion, including an overview on different types of volcanoes, compared on the basis of gas and viscosity criteria. Mount Vesuvius represents the so- called Plinian type, prone to explosive eruptions. The name derives from Pliny the Younger who described the 79 AD devas- tation that killed his uncle, a general in the Roman navy, and provided the primary source of information on the event. Other hands-on-science fea- tures explore archaeological conservation methods and Roman engineering. Collateral to the exhibition is also the IMAX film "Forces of Nature", produced by National Geographic Films. It focuses on volcanoes, tornadoes, and earth- quakes for the audience to learn more about detection and pre- vention against these destructive phenomena. "Pompeii: The Exhibition" was first shown at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. From the California Science Center in Los Angeles, it will travel to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle. Continued from page 1 Creating a network to link together all the Italian American communities of the West Coast is not an easy target but it is our ambition, and we believe it is pos- sible with the contribution of our readers. By writing to letters@italoameri- cano.com you can become our cor- respondent for the Italian American community of your area, and be part of our cultural and edi- torial project. In fact, L'Italo-Americano is building upon the big development plan carried out over the last few years to expand its territorial out- reach and become the reference point for all the Italians in the west regions of the U.S. Last week, new columns and pages were added to the Italian sec- tion - written by our contributors in Italy in order to ensure up-to- date and authentic information -, and now we are working to increase our presence in the West Central U.S. Thanks to our web site www.italoamericano.com, to the digital edition recently made available also for tablets and smartphones, and our Facebook and Twitter pages we are able to promote the "Italian life" among the Italians and Italian Americans who live in the United States either temporarily or permanently. The new sections dedicated to the communities of San Diego, Orange County, San José and Portland have been positively wel- comed by our readers, and in the upcoming editions we will also introduce, Salt Lake City, and Seattle. This means covering eight communities in four different States, plus occasionally the large community of Italian immigrants in Vancouver, Canada. Working with contributors in Oregon, Utah, and Washington means not only that the newspaper is expanding its outreach, but also that it will help distant communities to strengthen their rela- tionship, to know each other better, and to preserve their common cultural heritage. Our ambitious project testifies that 106 years don't make the newspaper old but, on the contrary, experienced and ready for new challenges. Step by step, we aim at giving voice to all the Italian American communities of the West Coast, to their leading figures, their busi- nesses, their cultural and social activities. This may also be a unique occasion to reaffirm our shared choice of being Italians in the United States. From the director Uniting all the Italian Americans of the West Coast Gladiator's armor

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