Celebrating Italy’s passion for life
Since the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Italy in July 1947, the friendship between these two nations and their people has increasingly grown deeper over the decades.
As Italian Ambassador to the Philippines Giorgio Guglielmino noted, Filipinos and Italians have something in common: passion. Passion for family, passion for food, passion for the arts and passion for life.
Ateneo Art Gallery director and curator Boots Herrera, Ambassador Giorgio Guglielmino and Ateneo de Manila University president Fr. Jett Villarin, SJ.
This passion and zest for life was very much evident during the recent 73rd celebration of the Festa della Repubblica or the Republic Day of Italy held at the iconic Arete building at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City. Joining the celebrations were diplomats that included US Ambassador Sung Kim, Israeli Ambassador Rafael Harpaz, Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev, Norwegian Ambassador Bjorn Jahnsen and Hungarian Ambassador József Bencze, among many others.
The Festa lived up to its name as the event became a lively family celebration with guests bringing their children, who were delighted to experience the cultural fair. The Prosecco liberally flowed, with guests enjoying samples of street food from the southern parts of Italy, as well as the selection of high-quality specialties from Northern Italy, including risotto with Castelmagno cheese, polenta with sausages and cotolette, a meat dish — all of which could be perfectly paired with the very popular Spritz cocktail.
Ambassador Guglielmino greets Rustan Commercial Corp. president and CEO Nedy Tantoco. With them in photo is Patrick Jacinto.
Adding to the festive atmosphere was the Saturday Night Live Band, whose music left many moving and swaying to the beat. Celebratory but casual, the Festa was a perfect opportunity for the embassy to showcase everything that makes Italy such a spectacular country, and make Filipinos experience the European nation and understand it in a deeper way, beyond popular fashion brands such as Gucci and Prada, or food like pasta and pizza.
The event also highlighted the evolving trends that are happening in Italy and the way it is adapting to and paving the way for various innovations in the art, food and design industries.
(From left) Francis Liwanag, Maria Claudio, Ailene Co and Sean Monzon.
As the creativity and innovation hub of Ateneo, Arete as a venue was spot-on. It houses the Ateneo Art Gallery, which the Italian Embassy partnered with to help striving artists pursue their passion. According to Guglielmino, it is his dream to have a collection of artworks made by budding Filipino artists.
This year’s Festa della Repubblica is one more proof of the flourishing relationship between the Philippines and Italy, with cultural and people-to-people ties continuing to bloom in the years to come.
(From left) Norwegian Ambassador Bjorn Jahnsen, Romanian Ambassador Mihail Bujor Sion and wife Laura with Sandra Jahnsen and Mervat Ezzat.
