Italian Culture Week returns to Cuba

Playing as a symbol of close bilateral ties, the Italian Culture Week returns to Cuba, from November 25 to December 1, the Italian ambassador in Cuba, Roberto Vellano, announced Friday here.
 
He told a press round in the classy Miramar neighborhood, that 18 artistic and diverse events have been scheduled on the occasion.

Vellano stressed that the event mainly aims to strengthen cultural relations between the two countries, in addition to promoting the exchange between Cuban and Italian artists, with the latter coming in touch with local audiences.

As part of bilateral celebrations, he noted, the centenary of the death of Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) will be commemorated.

As a prelude to the thick of the Italian week, the Cartelón group, in the Vedado neighborhood has displayed 24 posters by young Cuban designers, 12 of them inspired by the composer’s operas and 12 dedicated to his centenary.

On Saturday, the Universal Arts Building of the National Museum of Fine Arts will host maestro Marco Lo Russo offering a solo accordion concert, joined by Retazos Dance Ensemble, in a choreography inspired by the Vissi d’arte aria, from the opera Tosca, also by Puccini.

The Italian Week will open its theoretical section with the “8th Historical Seminar on emigration and Italian presence in Cuba”, at the Palacio del Segundo Cabo, in the Plaza de Armas, headquarters of the Center for the Interpretation of Cultural Relations Cuba-Europe.

The project “Traces of Italian sculpture in Cuba” will present a map featuring the locations of statues by Italian sculptors in Havana, the Italian Embassy indicated.

“Living for love, dying for love” will be staged on Monday at the Hubert de Blank Theater Hall, as a theatrical tribute to some women in Puccini’s opera, the result of a workshop given by director Gianluca Barbadori, in collaboration with the University of the Arts of Cuba and Impulso Teatro Ensemble.

To the delight of the Cuban public, the Week of Italian Culture will continue next week highlighting more proposals, ranging from visual arts to cinema and music.

The event has been organized by the Italian Embassy in Cuba, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture of Cuba and the Office of the Historian of Havana, all supported by several Italian and Cuban companies and institutions.