Istituto Di Cultura - Dublino

According to historiography, the economic boom in Italy started officially in 1956: 11 years after the end of World War II, Italy had thus been rebuilt and was propelled toward its own destiny of industrial leadership. However, the Italian territory continued to show signs of what had happened: bombed cities, shattered...

The story of the Jews of Italy is characterised by successful cultural innovation and an exciting intellectual tradition. The presence of Jews in Rome pre-dated Christianity and, while the ghetto of Venice marked a period of separation, it was the rise of fascism and the introduction of the racial laws in 1938 that led...

This event marks the publication of two new books exploring Italy’s recent history from different angles. Patrick McGauley’s Matera, 1945-1960: The History of a ‘National Disgrace’ is a case study of Italy’s ‘southern question’ and ideas of national shame, while Love, Honour and Je...

The “man who didn’t change history” was a university professor: Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, esteemed Italian scholar of Roman art, a founding father of modern archaeology and staunchly anti-fascist. Things came to a head over Hitler’s famous journey to Italy in 1938, when Bandinelli was invited to acc...

In 1909, while famous opera composer Giacomo Puccini is totally engrossed with the writing of La fanciulla del West, a complex intrigue swirls around him, his step-daughter Fosca, the young maid Doria, Fosca’s mother Elvira, and Giulia, who works as a waitress in the “Chalet da Emilio” in front of Pucci...

Every year at Christmas time the good witch Befana flies on her broom delivering toys to all the well-behaved children of Italy. But this year Befana falls ill and is forced to hand her delivery duties over to the sneaky and conniving Scarafoni, her evil assistant, who only wants to please the children of the rich who have...

Geppetto the carpenter carves the object of his hidden desires out of a log: a puppet that will keep him company and will be like a son to him. He calls him Pinocchio. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that the puppet moves and is gifted with a life of its own. But the lively Pinocchio gets carried away by bad company...

In 1966 Cathy Berberian — called ‘Callas of the avant-garde’ by numerous contemporary composers — was in search of new vocal stimuli. With the support of Umberto Eco, her friend and admirer, she composed and performed a “Comics Opera” made of a series of comic-strip onomatopoeias. The pa...