Dec. 13 – In the United States, 2013 will see Italy take the lead. With the exhibition of the famous “David-Apollo” by Michelangelo in the prestigious setting of the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Year of Italian Culture in the United States has officially started. The project was born from the initiative of the Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata, and enjoys the patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano. The event, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in collaboration with the Ministry of Heritage and Culture, Economic Development, University and Research, the Agency for Overseas Promotion (ICE) and the National Agency of Tourism (ENIT Italy), will consist of more than 180 events organized or supported by the Italian Embassy in Washington and various Consulates and Italian Culture Institutes in over 40 U.S. cities, including: Washington, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. It will be a collective effort involving some of the most famous cultural and scientific institutions of the two countries – about 70 American institutions are involved – distributed along several areas: Science and Technology, Art, Music and Theatre, Cinema and Photography, Italian Language and Literature, Italian Brand and Design, Italian Cuisine, Italian Territories, and New Generations. The program focuses on young people, awarding them various scholarships and university programs.
