Diplomatic World_nummer 56.

potentialities to explore: From the innovation of the
traditional “Made in Italy” to the attention to high-tech
cooperation in sectors such as ICT, bio-technologies and
space, with a particular regard to the start-up world.
With reference to scientific cooperation, last November we
have organized the first meeting of the Italian researchers
in Belgium, in the presence of Philippe Busquin, former
Belgian European Commissioner for Research from 1999
to 2004, and Massimo Inguscio, President of the Italian
National Council for Research (Consiglio Nazionale della
Ricerche, CNR). We have mapped out a very high number
of professors, senior and junior researchers, who are a
great asset for our work and represent natural bridges
between the two Countries.
Italian language is wide-spread in Belgium. It is taught
in all the schools which are covered by the Partnership
Charter signed between Italy and the Wallonia-Brussels
Federation, but also by the courses organized by the
Italian Institute of Culture in Brussels, along with other
associations.
The historical and cultural links between Italy and Belgium
are well known. The reciprocal influence of Italian and
Flemish Renaissance is one of the many examples that we
can take into consideration. The exhibition “Spanish Still
Life”, which is currently at Bozar, shows how the Flemish
and Italian models of “still life” had a great influence on
the wider development of painting in Europe.
We have a very active Italian Institute of Culture and
our goal is to organize as many cultural events as we
can in cooperation with Belgian cultural institutions.
For instance, we are working together with the Vrije
Universiteit Brussels (VUB) to present the legacy of Rocco
Chinnici, the Italian judge who set up the judiciary and
investigative mechanisms which are still used today in the
fight against organized crime. The event will include a
panel discussion between Italian and Belgian experts and
the screening of the movie on Rocco Chinnici, interpreted
by famous Italian actor Sergio Castellitto.
This year, we would also like to bring to Belgium a theatre
piece called “Italiens. Quand les émigrés c’etait nous”,
which will be shown in Brussels and Liège. The show,
by telling the stories of many Italian migrants that have
crossed the oceans and seas in the last centuries, has also
an educational value by reminding us the never-ending
30
Venice, Italy, gondolas with snow in front of the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore
© Shutterstock