Italian Cultural Institute

The Italian government began to promote Italian culture in the United States around 1954, and two  years later it set up the information office at the Italian Consulate in New York, which was subsequently transformed into the Italian Cultural Institute - officially opened in 1961 by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Giuseppe Pella. The institute quickly evolved from being a special location for residents interested in establishing or maintaining contacts with Italy to becoming a hub for intellectuals, artists, and cultural operators, as well as a key force behind initiatives for cultural cooperation along with New York's major institutions. The New York Times claimed that the office received some 30,000 written requests annually as early as 1965, and that many citizens went there to use the research facilities (The New York Times, 1965).

From 1964 to 1976, under the direction of Giuseppe Zarrillo, the institute carried on the work it had started as an information agency and continued its close collaboration with the Casa Italiana of Columbia University, focusing primarily on the editing of bibliographies, cataloguing of articles, redacting periodical bulletins, and fortifying ties with the Italian-American community in New York. During these years, the institute's main goal was the promotion of Italian culture and exchanges between Italy and the United States. All efforts were meant to present Italy's rich cultural heritage and contributions in the fields of architecture, cinema, design, literature, music, science, technology, theatre and visual arts. To this effect, a series of meetings called Italian Film-makers took place in 1969 - three evenings dedicated to Cesare Zavattini, Marco Bellocchio and Bernardo Bertolucci. Each featured the screening of a selected film followed by a discussion with the director. The institute quickly increased the scope of its activities by planning exhibitions and other cultural events, such as the celebration of Dante's 700th birthday in April and May 1965 in collaboration with the Dante Society of America, as well as the exhibitions of Enrico Cervelli and Mario Sironi, held at Grosvenor Gallery in 1967, or the exhibition of Eugenio Carmi's works in 1980. Additional services, sometimes in the form of financial support for the translation and publication of Italian books, were provided to promote the Italian language and culture. Among the publishing endeavours are Books Translated from the Italian and Books of Italian Interest Published in the United States; 1959 - 1965 (1966) and Italian Visual Poetry, 1912-1972 (1973), in collaboration with Finch College.

An article in The New York Times in 1979 underlined the importance of the Italian Cultural Institute in bringing conferences on Italian art, literature, cinema, and theatre to the United States (The New York Times, May 1979). Beginning in the late 1970s, planned and systematic cultural collaboration and promotion initiatives between Italy and the United States also spread to other cities, thanks to the creation of a network of Italian Cultural Institutes in San Francisco (1978), Washington (1980), Los Angeles (1984) and Chicago (1985) that worked in coordination with the Italian Consulates in the area.

Related Vectors

Documents

• Zavattini at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Prints made at MOMA by Duane Michals in May 1969 (ACZ, photographs 1205-1217-1223-1235-1171)
• Letter from Giuseppe Cardillo, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in New York, to Cesare Zavattini, New York, 23 January 1969 (ACZ, Epistolario Corr. I 120/1)