(11 October, 2016) “Nature and history are impossible to separate in Italy. Italian natural landscape is practically non existent, throughout the course of many years, nature has been reshaped or marked by mankind”. These are the words of Giorgio Bassani; writer and poet who has left a deep mark in the history of Italian literature as his masterpiece “Il Giardino dei Finzi Contini” demonstrates. An event dedicated to the Emilian writer will take place October 13 at 18:30 at the Italian Cultural Institute of Valletta which has also promoted a conference in collaboration with the Giorgio Bassani Foundation, Italia Nostra and Din l-Art Helwa. For the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Bassani’s birth the ICI of Valletta will celebrate the writer’s life with a three-part seminar titled “Giorgio Bassani and the consciousness for the safeguarding and conservation of the environment between Italy and Malta”. It is an event that will see the participation of Paola Bassani, the daughter of the famous writer and also president of the Giorgio Bassani Foundation. Maria Rosaria Iacono, the Vice President of “Italia Nostra” and Simone Mizzi former president of the Maltese associatuon “Din I-Art Ħelwa” will also participate alongside Paolo Bassani. This event wishes to commemorate Bassani’s efforts for the environment during his time as president of “Italia Nostra” between 1965 and 1980. Bassani was in fact among the founders of “Italia Nostra” (with Elena Croce, Pietro Paolo Trompeo, Desideria Pasolini Dall’Onda, Luigi Magnani, Hubert Howard, Filippo Caracciolo and Umberto Zanotti Bianco) which proposes the enforcement of safeguarding natural heritage sites as well as cultural heritage on Italian soil that are considered sacred due to their cultural, natural and artistic value to the world. (red)
Literature, environment and land: Malta pays tribute to Giorgio Bassani
