Fight against funding cuts to Italian language and culture

CGIE protest in Rome: drastic reductions that have very serious repercussions in Canada too

“No government had ever revealed itself to be so insensitive as the current one is because all previous ones focused on promoting the Italian language and culture as an expression of one’s identity and as a vehicle for the image of Italy in the world.”
Alberto Di Giovanni, Toronto’s Centro Scuola director, shares his perspective; he was among the CGIE (Consiglio generale degli Italian all’estero, council for Italians abroad) demonstrators who took to the Italian piazzas to protest against reduced funding for the promotion of the Italian language and culture.
The procession started from the Museo dell’Emigrazione, proceeded to the Vittoriano, and ended at the Palazzo Chigi where demonstrators met with some Parliamentarians – among them former minister of Italians abroad, Mirko Tremaglia, Pd (political party) president Rosy Bindi, Gino Bucchino, Franco Narducci, Aldo Di Biagio, and Anna Finocchiaro.
“Various political alignments were represented, but there was no one from the Pdl (political party),” Di Giovanni specified.
Once outside the parliament offices, the demonstrators sang “l’Inno di Mameli” (Italian anthem) several times, “a shout-out of love towards Italy,” to make the government understand that Italians living abroad have a voice and that the dialogue with the mother country should not and cannot be interrupted. Along with Di Giovanni, the Canadian delegation in Rome consisted of Carlo Consiglio, Giovanni Rapanà of Montreal, Domenico Marrozzi of Edmonton, and Rocco DiTrolio of Vancouver.
“This government has not properly understood what the important priorities are, because, instead of wastefulness, it’s cutting essential voices,” emphasized Di Giovanni as he made comparisons to other European countries – Germany and France spend over 200 million Euros per year for the promotion of language and culture, Holland spends over 100 million, and Spain, despite struggling through a crisis period that is more serious than Italy’s, invests well over 60 million per year. It’s a moment of blindness on the part of many politicians, and that’s why we’ve been asking for some time for the removal of foreign affairs under-secretary Alfredo Mantica, who has not displayed any sensitivity to the issues of language, culture, and the Italian image in the world.”
An insensitiveness that can be measured with fund-cutting swipes: foreign investment in culture dropped from 35 million Euros to 14 million, a reduction of 60% “that becomes almost 65% if one considers the losses due to an unfavourable exchange rate.”
“Drastic reductions,” Di Giovanni further charges, “that have very serious repercussions.” In Germany, many support courses have been cancelled while in Brazil, all training courses have been cancelled. In Canada, some classes in York Region Catholic pre-schools have been cancelled “and further courses are expected to be dropped,” said Di Giovanni. Furthermore, there are situations in some European countries such as Belgium where, along with the closure of many courses, there’s been a drastic reduction in class time. Above all, a concerneed Di Giovanni emphasizes, in Canada “it’s the first time that such a thing occurs.”
There are no doubts for the Centro Scuola director who says, “It’s a moment of regression because along with the cuts to organizations that administer funds, one must also include the cuts to the Italian Cultural Institutes – which have had their funding reduced dramatically. Even contributions to the Dante Alighieri in Rome have been halved – all signs of a very regressive and dangerous process.”
Also present was Carlo Consiglio, CGIE councillor, who does not hold back his criticism of government policies towards our fellow nationals living abroad, although he speaks “as a man of the right.”
“One certainly cannot live politics from the opposition point of view,” he points out. However, he does not understand how one can be “so petty and minimally far-seeing. It’s indefensible that over three years they’ve cut over 30 million Euros, about 52-53% of contributions distributed in 2008,” Consiglio continues. “And it’s indefensible that funds are being cut for language education – important for keeping our communities alive, the bonds with Italy, as well as the ‘made-in-Italy’ brand and everything involving commerce and exportation. These cross-sectional cuts are suicide.”
Adriana Frisenna, vice director of the Italian Cultural Institute, echoes his concerns from Toronto.
“Next year we’ll have to reduce activities because we’ll have less funding available. We’ve have to focus on certain significant events – those that best highlight was Italy produces in art sectors, but we’ll have to renounce dialoguing with other important interlocutors who have requested our cooperation.”
In 2011, cinema, contemporary theatre, and language, will be privileged, while the collaboration between the Institute and the Festival internationale della letteratura (IFOA, international literature festival), “one of our historic partners,” Frisenna specifies, “is a window on contemporary Italian that cannot be renounced.” This is at the expense of many other sectors “where unfortunately we have to renounce intervening and taking forward the contributions of Italian authors and artists.”
Consul General Gianni Bardini, without diminishing the gravity of the current moment, invites everyone to be “creative” in managing the reduced budgets. “It’s a challenge and a commitment for everyone because cuts weren’t done surgically but linearly and we’re all in the same boat,” says Bardini, also referring to other Toronto offices such as ICE, ENIT, and the Italian Cultural Institute. This has been a difficult year, the Consul specifies, for meeting current expenses at the Beverly Street headquarters – a building requiring constant maintenance “that, however, we cannot allow ourselves.”
“If this situation isn’t corrected in 2011, and expectations tell us it won’t be, we will not be able to offer the same level of service in quantitative or qualitative terms.”
“Italy has a beautiful language and a very beautiful cultural tradition,” comments Anthony Mollica, Professor Emeritus at Brock University. “Unfortunately, the Italian government appears to appreciate neither one nor the other. It doesn’t realize that promoting the Italian language and culture abroad also promotes ‘made-in-Italy.’ The true ambassadors of the Italian language and culture are us – the Italians abroad.”
It’s no longer acceptable that the government and the majority continue to toy with our fellow nationals abroad,” declared Eugenio Marino, Pd employee for Italians in the world. “In election campaign words and letters, they define them as an asset, then with deeds they massacre any policy and funding dedicated to them.” Marino, who defined the cuts “another shameful offence,” wanted to emphasize the fact that “no exponent from the government and the majority has done the courtesy of giving representatives from our community any attention, nor have they listened to what they have to say.”

Publication Date: 2010-11-28
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=10728