The 23rd edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World was officially opened in Chisinau during a get-together devoted to the famous Italian-Swiss architect Alexandru Bernardazzi. The event entitled “Bernardazzi: Poetry in Stone” was staged by the Embassy of Italy in Chisinau and the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova at the center of culture and arts “Ginta Latină”, IPN reports.
Italy’s Ambassador to Moldova Lorenzo Tomassoni said the Week of the Italian Language in the World is celebrated in over 100 countries, Italian being the fourth most studied foreign language globally. The promotion of Italian is important also for the Republic of Moldova. In the country, over 2,400 students study Italian in universities and schools. The event centers on the figure of the Italian-speaking architect Alexandru Bernardazzi, who was one of the most important architects of the 19th century. Alexandru Bernardazzi left an imprint both on the architecture of Chisinau City and on society in general.
Guido Beltrani, director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Moldova, said that Italian is his native language. In Switzerland, there is a region where they speak Italian and the family of architect Alexandru Bernardazzi was from that part of Switzerland. The cultural event organized together with the Embassy of Italy in Chisinau included a recital of poetry by Fabiano Alberghetti – the Italian-speaking Swiss poet who is also from the Italian part of Switzerland. The poems devoted to Alexandru Bernardazzi were presented in the public for the first time. The program included a performance of music by Italian composers who were contemporaries of Alexandru Bernardazzi. The event centers on the architect’s figure, but also is designed to promote the Italian language and culture and the culture of the Italian part of Switzerland.
The personality of the chief architect of Chisinau was promoted through an exhibition of paintings and graphics inspired by Alexandru Bernardazzi’s works. One of the authors of the exhibition, Vitalie Grishchuk, said the 24 exhibits represent mainly buildings that were designed, conceived or built by Alexandru Bernardazzi. The goal of the exhibition is to display the poetry of the old Chisinau, the state of spirit of the inhabitants of Chisinau.
Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan through a video said that Moldova and Italy are tied by profound feelings of friendship and comradeship inspired by the common Latin roots of the languages. Not accidentally, most of the Moldovans who live and work abroad chose Italy as the host country. Over the past two years, the number of young people who study Italian grew by 35%. Italian is the first foreign language in three lyceums in Moldova. “This fact is not only a method of enjoying the Italian culture that we love so much. It is also, primarily for young people, a way of gaining an additional work instrument – an aspect needed in a multilingual and multicultural Europe, including in the context of the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union,” stated the minister.
The Week of the Italian Language in the World is a cultural event staged each year in the third week of October and centers on an issue based on which a varied cultural program is compiled to promote the studying of Italian. The initiative started to be implemented in 2001 in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy and Accademia della Crusca. Switzerland, where Italian is one of the official languages, joined in later.
