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Mar.16 - Mar.23, 2012 |
Fight against funding cuts to Italian language and culture
CGIE protest in Rome: drastic reductions that have very serious repercussions in Canada too
By Letizia Tesi
Originally Published: 2010-11-28
“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.”
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