L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 www.italoamericano.com L'Italo-Americano 3 their creations, Italian Stories aims at promoting the excellence of Made in Italy without selling anything. In fact, as the authors explain, the project has nothing to share with usual e-commerce portals. What they offer to the users is an experience, an oppor- tunity to learn about the secrets of Italian artisans directly from their voices and their competent gestures. F rom gold w ork ing to hat making, from baking to wood- turning, these ancient practices are now endangered unless sup- ported and pas s ed dow n to younger generations. For the first time, the focus is n't on the object, that is the final product and its commercial value, but rather on the unique relationship between the master and his or her apprentice. Thanks to funding from the European Community, the plat- form will soon go online and become accessible to both the artisans and all interested visi- tors, who will be able to arrange not only virtual but real tours to the workshops. Most of them are closely linked to the original ter- ritory where the raw materials and the manufacturing tradition come from, and therefore they're still located in small villages or remote areas of th e country. F rom the headquarters at Centrale Fies center for contem- porary arts near Trento, the grow ing team recruited by Eleonora Odorizzi and Andrea Maserocchi is constantly search- ing Italy to discover those hid- den gems and to persuade often- bashful craftsmen to join the net- work and to share their exper- tise. About 30 historical work- shops are taking part in the first test, but the goal is to involve over a hundred throughout Italy by the end of the year 2015. In order to create a wider community, not only the website but also Facebook and Instagram pages have been developed, combining modern technologies and means of communication with a priceless cultural heritage that has contributed to make the fortune of Made in Italy as we On Saturday, January 17 th , it took place the third edition of the Italian National Dialect and Local Languages' Day, jointly o r g a n i z e d b y T h e N a t i o n a l U n i o n : P r o L o c o , L a z i o L e g a u t o n o m i e , t h e D o c u m e n t a t i o n C e n t e r F o r D i a l e c t P o e t r y " V i n c e n z o Scarpellino", the International Center "Eugenio Montale" and N.G.O. School as an Instrument of Peace – E.I.P. Italy. The event, which is going to span from the period immediately before till well after the actual date, is chaired by the eminent Italian linguist, Professor emer- itus, and former Minister of Education, Tullio De Mauro. Its mission is to raise general awareness about the gradual "extinction" of the cultural and traditional heritage, represented by the local, dialectal varieties all over Italy. This worrisome tendency is vividly captured by confronting the data, collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), respec- tively from families in 1995 and 2012. From the mid-nineties, when 23.7% of Italians almost exclusively spoke dialect within the family units, the decrease has been drastic. According to the most recent data, only 9% of Italians still employ dialect within their families. One of the main deterrents, in order to fight this impover- ishing trend, is the awarding of t h e n a t i o n a l l i t e r a r y p r i z e : "Save Your Local Language" ( w h i c h w i l l t a k e p l a c e o n F e b r u a r y 6 t h , i n t h e P r o t o m o t e c a H a l l , i n t h e C a p i t o l i n e H i l l , R o m e ) t o authors who distinguish them- selves by writing published or unpublished dialectal works, both in prose and poetry. Among the laudable initia- tives, traditionally aimed at s a f e g u a r d i n g t h e R o m a n dialect, the weekly periodical, Il Rugantino, since its constitution in 1848 has been giving voice to the most eminent dialectal writers and poets, like Trilussa, who, in 1887, published his first p o e m o n t h e R o m a n newspaper. Another interesting project, supported by the Italianistic D e p a r t m e n t a t R o m a T r e University, is the Vocabulary of Contemporary Roman Dialect, co-directed by Professor C. Giovanardi and Professor P. D ' A c h i l l e . R e f e r r i n g t o m y experience as their student, in the academic year 2002-03, I distinctly recollect their passion at the beginning of the project, which back then consisted in the completion of the entries under the letter "I" of the work. Italian Dialects: endangered varieties know it today. Powerful social media resources can be used by craftsmanship enthusiasts to exchange information, opinions, and contacts , as w ell as by craftsmen to connect to each other and to reach out to the public. F or the former, this opens a window onto an almost- forgotten world and knowledge; for the latter, this represents an incentive to keep moving with the times. The innovative initiative has already drawn the attention of potential partners in Europe and may become also a TV produc- tion, narrating stories of Italian artisans and their art. Learn more at http://www. italianstories.it/. For the first time the focus isn't on the object and its commercial value, but rather on the unique relationship between the master and his or her apprentice VALERIO VIALE Continued from page 1 The creation of an instrument The ancient practices are now endangered unless passed down to younger generations

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