The Week of the Italian Language in the World promotes Italian as a great language of classical and contemporary culture. Every year the diplomatic and cultural network of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy chooses a theme for this initiative and organizes a series of events in the third week of October. In 2016, under the High Patronage of the President of the Republic of Italy, for the XVI edition of the Week of the Italian Language in the World - October 18 through October 24 - the chosen theme is "L'Italiano e la creatività: marchi e costumi, moda e design" ("Italian and creativity: brands and costumes, fashion and design").

As part of the series events organized, the Embassy of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Washington DC, in collaboration with the Department of Italian at Georgetown University, COM.IT.ES, and Italians in DC/Parolab invite you to the presentation of "Made in Italy and Culture: Survey on the Italian contemporary identity" edited by Daniele Balicco, in dialogue with Jhumpa Lahiri, author of "Three Last Metaphors" and Gianni Cicali, who explores the theme "Castiglione's Sprezzatura: A Long Journey".

"Made in Italy and Culture. Survey on the Italian Contemporary Identity", edited by Daniele Balicco, is a collection of 22 studies on contemporary Italian culture, and it includes several disciplines: economics, fashion, design, agriculture, advertising, literature, philosophy, cinema, music, and education.

"Tre ultime metafore" ("Three Last Metaphors") was written by Jhumpa Lahiri in Italian and delivered at her acceptance of the honorary degree in Italian language and culture that she received from the University for Foreigners of Siena in April 2015. The lecture, conceived as an epilogue to "In Altre Parole" ("In Other Words"), further investigates the implications of the author's decision to write in Italian instead of English.

Prof. Cicali will talk about Castiglione's "Sprezzatura: A long journey". In the small but extremely sophisticated court of Urbino, Castiglione wrote Il Cortegiano (1528), the "handbook" for the perfect courtier - a key figure within the aristocratic political system. It was immensely successful in Europe, and the "sprezzatura" is one of its most famous ideas. The Italian Renaissance was not only about paintings and sculptures, but also about know how. For example, in that period Brunelleschi created modern architecture and the mathematical perspective. In Renaissance Europe, and later, not only did Italian artists travel abroad, but also the Italian language. It was one of the most diffuse languages among royals. Prof. Cicali will discuss the Sprezzatura and the connections between the ingenuity of a glorious past which is still living in the beauty of Italy today.

Gianni Cicali is Associate Professor of Italian Theatre at the Department of Italian of the Georgetown University.

To RSVP for the event please visit the following link: http://www.iicwashington.esteri.it/iic_washington/en/gli_eventi/calendario/2016/10/made-in-italy-and-culture-survey.html