On Wednesday 9 November 2022, at 11.00 a.m., the press conference “From Prague to the world: 100 years of cultural diplomacy” was held at the Farnesina, in the Aldo Moro Hall, to present the initiatives organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on the occasion of the Centenary of the foundation of the Italian Institute of Culture in Prague, the first in the world, and to illustrate the programme of events of the network of Italian Cultural Institutes in 2023.

The event, which was introduced by the Director General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy, Ambassador Pasquale Terracciano, was attended by the General Director of Museums of the MIC Massimo Osanna, Dr. Brunella Fusco of the Fondazione Campania dei Festival, Director Claudio Longhi and actor Toni Servillo for the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, and finally the General Director of the San Carlo Theatre Emmanuela Spedaliere.

Cultural diplomacy has deep roots and has evolved with the times, most recently with the creation in January of this year of the Directorate General for Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Farnesina, to optimise and better systemise the offer of Italian language, lifestyle and culture in all its expressions, thanks to a network of 84 Italian Cultural Institutes in five continents, to which six new openings will soon be added: Almaty, Amman, Bangkok, Hanoi, Miami and Sarajevo.

2023 will see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation engaged in a programme of initiatives and events of great importance, organised for the entire network of Italian Cultural Institutes abroad on the occasion of the Centenary and in collaboration with prestigious Italian institutions. These include: the Ministry of Culture; the Accademia Chigiana; the Piccolo Teatro di Milano; the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples; Romaeuropa Festival; the Società dei Concerti di Milano; Cinecittà and A.N.I.C.A; Fondazione Torino Musei; ItaliaFestival and many others.

To inaugurate the centenary celebrations, the Farnesina organised an articulated programme of events in Prague:

– 16-17 November: theatre performance ‘Perché non io ? / Why Not Me?’, directed by Jana Svobodová and co-produced by Fondazione Campania dei Festival, Teatro Archa (Prague) and Napoli Est Teatro.
– 1-2 December: theatre performance ‘Le voci di Dante’, produced by the Piccolo Teatro di Milano at the ABC Theatre, Prague City Theatre, with the participation of Toni Servillo, who will take – part with his film ‘Qui rido io’, directed by Mario Martone, in the opening of the MittelCinemaFest;
– 18 December: concert by the San Carlo Theatre Orchestra conducted by Maurizio Agostini, at the Rudolfinum Auditorium in Prague;
– 18 December: Inauguration of the exhibition ‘The Tale of Beauty. L’immagine del Natale nel presepe napoletano’ (The image of Christmas in the Neapolitan nativity scene), in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and set up in the Chapel of the Italian Cultural Institute.