Friday 29 March 2019, on the sidelines of the traditional annual cocktail party, the Turin Consular Corps, in collaboration with the Piedmont Region, organized an exclusive event dedicated to Cultural Diplomacy in the splendid setting of Palazzo Madama.
The conference entitled “Cultural Diplomacy in the Era of Globalization: the Role of Consulates” was moderated by Ambassador Luigi Guidono Cavalchini Garofali and speeches by Roberto Vellano, Central Director for the promotion of Italian culture and language at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and by Marco Ricci, Diplomatic Advisor to the Minister for Cultural Heritage and Activities.
“The good practices” concerning the role of Cultural Diplomacy in territorial development and internationalization were illustrated by Roberto Giacone, Director of the Maison d’Italie based in Paris; by William Graziosi, Superintendent of the Regio Theater of Turin, by Franco Ferraris, President of the Cassa di Risparmio di Biella Foundation, by the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto and by Mauro Gentini, of the property and assets management of Reale Mutua Assicurazioni.
The speech by President Ferraris, preceded by the strong support of the Councilor for Culture of the Piedmont Region, Antonella Parigi, wanted to illustrate the potential of the UNESCO Application of Biella (Creative City of Crafts & Folk Art) which intends to take the path of cultural diplomacy and international collaboration: an opportunity for integrated revitalization of the urban fabric that is based on Biella’s textile mastery, recognized throughout the world, but also on natural and cultural landscape, food and wine, creativity and contemporary art, of primary importance in Biella above all thanks to the tireless contribution of Cittadellarte-Pistoletto Foundation.
In these weeks, the artist Pistoletto recalled in his speech, the great exhibition “Father and Son” is inaugurated, which compares the work of Michelangelo and Ettore Olivero Pistoletto, and which introduces another of the themes proposed by the Application of Biella: that of the transmission of creativity.
The audience, sensitively fascinated by this new enterprise from Biella, then heard the conclusions of Stefano Zanini, Deputy Head of the Diplomatic Ceremonial at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
