Art and Politics: Italian Illustration for the Europe of Peoples

The 'Art and Politics' project was managed by the Istituto Affari Internazionali in collaboration with the DG "Public and Cultural Diplomacy" of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI). The initiative was associated with the exhibition "Europe. Italian illustration recounts the Europe of peoples" which was organized by the Fondazione Torino Musei at different Italian diplomatic representations all over the world to promote the values of the Council of Europe and the European Union. In collaboration with Torino Musei and MAECI, the Istituto Affari Internazionali organized three roundtables, providing political commentary on the works of art on display.

As part of the initiative, the EU-Taiwan Center hosted on May 9 a lecture by Dr. Nicola Casarini, IAI associate researcher, on the current relations between Brussels and Taipei in the wider landscape of contemporary international relations. Davide Giglio, who represented the Italian Economic, Trade, and Cultural Promotion Office, Marc Cheng, Executive Director of the EU-Taiwan Center, and several Taiwanese academics attended the conference.

On the same day, in celebration of Europe Day, the Italian Consulate of Freiburg and the Dante Alighieri Society hosted the event "Europe: between tradition and modernity" at the Freiburg City Library. The event was remotely attended by dr.Federico Castiglioni, a researcher at the IAI's program "EU, Politics and Institutions", and Dr. Angela Benotto of the Fondazione Torino Musei. Students from Freiburg and the province of Padua competed in an art competition on Europe as part of the same initiative; this competition enriched the reflection on art as a form of political expression.

The Italian Embassy to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Permanent Representation of Italy to the EU, and the local Cultural Institute hosted the vernissage titled "Europa: Italian Illustration Tells the Europe of Peoples" on May 10 in Brussels.  Ettore Greco, the vice president of IAI, and Dr. Rosa Balfour, the director of the Carnegie Europe think center, participated in the initiative. The discussion at the round table centered on the relationship between art and values, with particular emphasis on the role of Italian illustration in the narrative of the European integration process.

Funding: Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation