On a warm Monday evening, the Italian Cultural Institute of New York threw open the doors of its elegant Park Avenue townhouse for the start of Zig Zag: A Visual Bridge Between Italy and the United States, a five-day illustration festival marking 250 years of friendship between the two nations. Artists, editors, educators, and art lovers gathered together for what proved to be a genuinely spirited conversation about pictures, borders, and the quiet diplomacy of images.
The evening’s program opened with remarks from Claudio Pagliara, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York, who set a celebratory tone, framing the festival not merely as a cultural exchange but as a living testament to a long transatlantic bond.
