June 3 at 6:30 pm at the Italian Cultural Institute686 Park Avenue at 68th Street, free admission
Reservation is required: rsvp@primolevicenter.org
download the invitationThis year, Italian National Day is dedicated to the regions of Veneto and Apulia. In conjunction with the celebrations, Centro Primo Levi, the Consulate General of Italy, and the Italian Cultural Institute have invited three prominent scholars to meet with the public in New York and share news and projects concerning Jewish life in their regions.
Shaul Bassi, Gadi Luzzatto-Voghera, and Fabrizio Lelli will offer geo-cultural insights on the Jewish past of Venice and Lecce, situated at the extreme north and south of the Italian peninsula's eastern edge. They will also share with us some of the activities in progress, addressing public access, education, public debate, and exchange with Israel.
Professors Luzzatto and Bassi will discuss plans for the Renato Maestro Library and Archive of Venice's Jewish community, as well as the Venice Center for International Jewish Studies, in relation to the broader Venetian cultural forum. This forum's offerings range from the Biennial to the Film Festival and has most recently come to include the "Incroci di Civilt�" literary festival, an offspring of the University C� Foscari.
Prof. Lelli will illustrate two
academic projects
that delve into four centuries of linguistic and social history in
Salento. He will offer a reading of Apulia's recent rediscovery of
Jewish practice in the context of its multilayered cultural landscape.
The event is made possible in part through the generous support of Regione Veneto and Regione Puglia. The public program of Centro Primo Levi is made possible through an annual grant of the Cahnman Foundation.
