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Italian Days: Discover Italy in Kaunas

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On 15-17 September, 2017, Kaunas invites to celebrate the Italian days “Discover Italy in Kaunas”. In the three-day event there will be no shortage of concerts, exhibitions, cookery lessons, educational lectures, style advices, children’s attractions, gourmet dinners to become better acquainted with Italian culture.

“Kaunas friendship with Italy has lasted for nearly two decades. During this period, very close and friendly relations have been established, but this kind of event is the first of such scale in Kaunas. We want not only to invite all the partners from Italy, the Italian community living in Kaunas, but also the townspeople to discover together and to get even better knowledge of the culture of this country, its uniqueness and originality,” – said the Vice-Mayor of Kaunas Simonas Kairys.

The Italian Embassy, twin-cities of Kaunas from Italy: Brescia, Ferrara, Cava de’ Tirreni, the Italian community of Kaunas and all those who love and admire Italian culture are contributing to the organization of the event. The programme of the event will consist of as many as 5 parts: “Festa of Style”, Italian business breakfast “Direction – Kaunas: Gastronomy, Tourism, Business 2017”, “Celebration in Italian Way”, “Discoveries”, wine exhibition – festival “Vinalia Rustica”.

„I am indeed very happy that Italian Days are organized in Kaunas – the city that has historic relations with Italy, partnerships with Italian cities and direct flights. Kaunas is a beautiful city, rich in culture and art. These are the reasons why this city has been designated as the European Capital of Culture in 2022. Concerts of Italian music, exhibitions, movies and many other events will give a possibility for Kaunas citizens to get to know the most important elements of Italian culture: love for beauty, quality and good taste. The long-term experience of Italian companies working in Kaunas shows that this city is an excellent place for business and investment development. Each time I come to Kaunas, I find it even more beautiful, dynamic and full of Italian students – and it makes me so happy“, – said His Excellency, Italian Ambassador Stefano Taliani de Marchio.

More detailed program

September 15th, Friday
9.00 - 12.00 Italian Business Forum „Destination Kaunas: Gastronomy, Tourism and Business 2017“ (Venue: “Best Baltic Hotel” – Best Western Santaka Hotel. Organizers: Kaunas City Municipality, Kaunas IN, Kaunas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Crafts. Partners: Italian-Lithuanian Chamber of Commerce, hotel “Best Western Santaka Hotel”). The event is free of charge.
12.00 - 13.00 Official opening ceremony of Italian Days. Welcoming speeches by: Mayor of Kaunas City Mr. Visvaldas Matijošaitis, Vice-Mayor of Cava de’Tirreni city Mr. Nunzio Senatore, H. E. Ambassador of Italy Mr. Stefano Maria Taliani de Marchio, Vice-Rector for International relations at Vytautas Magnus University Professor Ineta Dabašinskienė. Performances: performance by the Flag-wavers “Sbandieratori Cavensi”, musical performance by the mountain choir “INZINO” Awards ceremony for the lecturer from Vytautas Magnus University and Kaunas University of Technology Dr. Moreno Bonda. The granting of the Order of the Start of Italy for “successful academic work in Vytautas Magnus University promoting Italian language and culture”. (Venue: Laisvės av. 96, near Kaunas City Municipality).
12.00 – 18.00 Exposition of Italian cars “Alfa Romeo” and “Fiat”. Organiser: UAB “Krasta Auto” and CityBee. Venue: Students Square of Vytautas Magnus University, Daukanto street 28.
15.00-17.00 “Italian Quiz". Venue: Putvinskio street 23, Vytautas Magnus University, lecture hall 414. Organizers: students of Foreign Language, Literature and Translation Faculty of Vytautas Magnus University.
18.00 Screening of a movie “The Great Beauty” (director: Paolo Sorrentino, release year: 2013, country of origin: Italy, France). Movie is in Italian with Lithuanian subtitles. Description of the movie: the remarkable movie praises the beauty of the eternal city also including Fellini’s grotesque, critique to the shallowness of the elite, caricatures of their parties, and intellectual discussions. It is one of the most beautiful movies which is definitely worth seeing. (Venue: Vincas Kudirka Public Library of Kaunas City Municipality, Laisvės av. 57. Organised by: Vincas Kudirka Public Library of Kaunas City Municipality). The event is free of charge.
19.00 Wine Festival “Vinalia Rustica” includes wine tasting, culinary presentations, lectures, live music. Venue: Hospitality Complex MONTE PACIS. Organizer: “MONTE PACIS” and Kaunas City Municipality. (Closed event with a possibility to purchase tickets)

September 16th, Saturday
12.00 – 20.00 “Festa of Style” presentations of the Lithuanian and Italian fashion brands (venue: in Laisvės avenue from the fountain in the crossroad of Laisvės av. and S. Daukantas street to Kaunas State Puppet Theatre, Laisvės av. 87A. Organiser: event organizer Meda Kišonė)
12.00 – 20.00 Exposition of Italian cars “Alfa Romeo” and “Fiat”. Organiser: UAB “Krasta Auto” and CityBee. Venue: Students Square of Vytautas Magnus University, Daukanto street 28.
13.30 – 15.30 Concert “Italian Celebration”. The concert includes performances by music bands and flag-wavers from Italian cities, Youth String Quartet “Mozaika” from Kaunas Juozo Naujalis music gymnasium, and staging of the Venice Carnival procession (Kaunas State Musical Theatre provides costumes, “Aura” dance group and volunteers perform). Venue: garden of Kaunas State Musical Theatre, Laisvės av. 91. Organiser: Municipality of Kaunas City.
13.30 - 15.00 Creative thematic workshops for children: meeting with characters of “Pinocchio” together with the artists of Kaunas State Puppet Theatre. (Venue: garden of Kaunas State Puppet Theatre Laisvės av. 87A, )
15.30 -16.00 Fashion show by Italian designers (Venue: garden of Kaunas State Musical Theater, Laisvės av. 91. Organiser: event organizer Meda Kišonė. Collections are presented by the store CHIC, make-up and hair is done by KIGSA (association of hairstylists and beauty artists), models are from “Futura Oggi” and others).
16.00-17.00 Lecture by Dr. Moreno Bonda “Italy in the Context of the Mediterranean”. Venue: Vytautas Magnus University, Putvinskio street. 23, lecture hall 310 17.00-17.30 Coffee break
17.30-19.00 Lecture by the Italian language lecturer Assoc. Prof. Dr. Stefano Maria Lanza “Italy: Language, Culture, People”. Venue: Vytautas Magnus University, Putvinskio street 23, lecture hall 310. Organiser: Vytautas Magnus University.
16.00-18.00 Screening of the movie “Deepwater Horizon” (directed by G. Rossi, release year: 2016, length: 108 minutes) in movie theater “Romuva” (Kęstučio street 62). Description of the movie: the movie presents the refugee crisis and harrowing journeys of the migrants from Africa and the Middle East trying to reach Lampedusa Island in Italy. The movie was elected as the best documentary of 2016 by the European Film Academy and is the first documentary to ever win “Golden Bear” award in Berlin Film Festival. Organiser: Kaunas movie theatre “Romuva”. Participation with invitations (distributed free of charge at the cash desk of the theatre).
18.00 Italian music concert by Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra conducted by the Italian composer and conductor Vince Tempera who was the conductor of the Sanremo Music Festival. During the concert music pieces by Nino Rota from the movies by Federico Fellini will be performed. The event is gifted to the city of Kaunas by the Italian Embassy and the institute of Italian culture. Organiser: event organizer Enzo Fornaro.

September 17th, Sunday
11.00-11.45 Concert of Choir INZINO (Brescia, Italy) at St. Michael the Archangel's Church (Garrison Church) after the morning mass. Venue: St. Michael the Archangel's Church, Nepriklausomybės av. 14A.
11.00 “Discoveries”: presentation of the new tour “Discover Italy in Kaunas” (Organizer: Kaunas IN, “Dante Alighieri”). The Italians have been fancying Kaunas for centuries. It is possible to find the evidence of Italian culture in Kaunas even from the 16th century. There are a lot of historic sights related to religion and famous people from the Middle Ages onwards in the Old Town of Kaunas. Even the contemporary architecture of Kaunas has Italian heritage. During the inter-war period the two most famous Lithuanian architects studied in Italy and it greatly influenced their work which will be seen in the tour.
Kaunas city has a lot of beautiful sights related to Italy, so we invite you to join the tour of Kaunas and discover Little Italy in Kaunas!
Registration before the tour is necessary!
Phone: +37061623828
E-mail: [email protected]
The tour is free of charge.
Duration of the tour – 2.5 hours

13.00 – 14.00 “Celebration in Italian Way”. Performances by music band “Stefano Bottoni Quartet” from Ferrara and flag-wavers “Sbadieratori Cavensi” from Cava de’Tirreni. Venue: The City Hall. Organiser: Municipality of Kaunas City.
13.00 – 16.00 “Discoveries”: Italian culinary workshops with the cook Kim Soon Kee Mantovani from Brescia (Italy). Venue: Čiop Čiop Kaunas studio, V.Putvinskio street 50. Organiser: Čiop Čiop Kaunas studio. Participation with tickets.

EXHIBITIONS FOR VISITORS
September 15-17 Exhibition of the paintings by the remarkable artist Pino Mantovani. Venue: Kaunas State Drama Theatre Hall (Daukanto street 28). Organiser: Art Gallery “Aukso Pjūvis”. The exhibition is open from September 1 to October 1. The visitors will be able to visit the exhibition during the plays.
September 15-17 Exhibition of photographs by E. Molinari. Venue: Vytautas Magnus University, hall of the ground floor, Daukanto street 28. Organiser: Art Gallery “Aukso Pjūvis”. The exhibition is open from September 11 to October 11. Open hours: from 12.00 to 18.00.
September 15-17 Exhibition of the graphic works of sculptor and painter Ugo Nespolo. Venue: BCL business centre. Organiser: Art Gallery “Aukso Pjūvis”. The exhibition is open from September 11 to October 11. Open hours: from 10.00 to 17.00 on weekends and from 9.00 to 18.00 on workdays.
September 15-16 Books exhibition “Italian authors” in which various books by Italian authors will be displayed. The exhibition includes famous books such as “Decameron” by G. Boccaccio, “A Profile of Ancient Rome” by F. Conti, and “Pape Satan Aleppe: Chronicles of a Liquid Society” by U. Eco. Visitors of the exhibition will have an opportunity to borrow the books from the library after the exhibition. Venue: Vincas Kudirka Public Library of Kaunas City Municipality, Laisvės av. 57. Organiser: Vincas Kudirka Public Library of Kaunas City Municipality. The exhibition is open from September 11 to September 24. Working hours: from Monday to Friday – 9.00-19.00, Saturday – 10.00-16.00
*Movie “Deepwater Horizon”
The movie by the Italian director Gianfranco Rosi, who is a master of documentaries, presents the refugee crisis and harrowing journeys of the migrants from Africa and Middle East trying to reach Lampedusa Island in Italy. “It is a movie which I started without a clear script” – the director confesses, saying that the greatest investment when directing documentaries is time. “First of all, I find a place which attracts me in some way. Later, I need to find people in that place who finally become the characters of my movie. I try to create long-term relationship with the people I am filming, so after a while they forget they are followed by the camera and it becomes a part of their life and their life becomes a part of a movie” – the director says.
While presenting the movie in Berlin Film Festival, the director Gianfranco Rosi stated that by this documentary he desired to show that the greatest tragedy after the Holocaust is happening in front of Europeans. According to the director, the refugees can be stopped only by the better conditions in their home country, not the borders.
The movie “Deepwater Horizon” movie was selected as the best documentary of 2016 by European Film Academy and is the first documentary to ever win “Golden Bear” award in Berlin Film Festival.

PARTNERS OF THE EVENT
Partners from Italian cities:
 Municipality of Brescia City
 Municipality of Ferrara City
 Municipality of Cava de’Tirreni
Partners:
 Italian Embassy in Republic of Lithuania
 Institute of Italian Culture in Vilnius
Other partners from Lithuania:
 UAB “Krasta Auto”
 UAB “MONTE PACIS”
 Official representative of Lavazza in Lithuania “AMOKA”
 Vytautas Magnus University
 Kaunas University of Technology
 “Dante Alighieri”
 ”Bella Italia”
 “Piccola Italia”
 “Ajo makaronai”
 Event organizer Meda Kišonė
 “MB Litintour“ and „Ciao Italia“
 „Čiop Čiop“
 “Marzotto LAB Group“ companies in Lithuania „Liteksas“, „Lietlinen“ and „Lietvilna“
 Municipal Theatre of Contemporary Dance in Lithuania „Aura“
 “Futura Oggi”
 Chamber of Commerce of Italy-Lithunia
 Kaunas Juozo Naujalis music gymnasium
 Kaunas State Drama Theatre
 Kaunas State Musical Theatre
 Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra
 Kaunas State Puppet Theatre
 Kaunas State Filharmony
 BEST BALTIC Hotels( Best Western Santaka hotel)
 “ Kaunas Hotel“
 KIGSA – association of hairstylists and beauty artists
 Vincas Kudirka Public Library of Kaunas City Municipality
 Kaunas movie theatre “Romuva”
 Art Gallery “Aukso Pjūvis”
 Store CHIC
 Hotel Park Inn by Radisson Kaunas
 St. Michael the Archangel's Church
 www.stasiukaitis.lt (the creator of interactive lighting with Italian Flag colours of the fountain in Lasvės avenue Tomas Stasiukaitis)