By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The new director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Seoul said he wants to inform Korea not only about Italian culture but about the whole spectrum of Italian society to help Italy be understood as a whole.
Lucio Izzo, 49, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times, ``We consider Italy as a whole system. And we call it `system Italy.'''
System Italy according to Izzo means anything that belongs to the Italian economy, industry or culture.
He stressed the connection between culture and industry in Italy and the way each betters the performance of the other.
For example, he gave the example of the Italian ballet company ``Aterballetto,'' which performed at the National Theater of Korea last Thursday under the sponsorship of Marella, the famous Italian fashion brand.
``This is not a simple sponsorship because Marella is not just giving money to Aterballetto but it works together to produce its own products. That is added value,'' Izzo said.
He wanted Koreans to understand the philosophy of the interconnectedness of everything, saying, ``This is a secret of the Italian success in certain fields like art and fashion.''
``It is true in the modern world if you want to be a good engineer, you don't have time to be a great painter,'' he continued. ``But Italian culture, Italian system is such that all those things are interconnected. So that's why when we present our activities, we present practically all the different fields of arts.''
As the new director of the institute, Izzo revealed his grand plans to improve operations of Italian culture here.
He plans to move to a bigger building early next year so that the institute can be equipped with a larger library, multifunctional rooms for cinema and other activities for the public. He would like to use the whole building.
Furthermore, the new director plans to open Italian centers in other provinces in Korea.
``I believe that in a country like Korea, you can ask people to come and go to a place. But at the same time you must go to people,'' he said. ``We must go and speak to people and present ourselves to them.''
Izzo said promotion of the Italian language is his chief priority. He plans to set up Italian language course centers together with Korean institutions or universities, similar to its center that operates with Sogang University in Seoul.
Izzo said it is not that difficult for Koreans to pick up the Italian language because many Italian words, such as pizza, are already being used even though some people may not be aware of it.
``When I go around Seoul, I see so many Italian shops in every part of Seoul. But when I speak to Koreans, not everybody is aware of the Italian presence here,'' he said. ``I want them to be aware how many Italian things are in their life.''
There are 90 Italian Cultural Institutes in the world, and the institutes operate closely with the Italian Embassies.
Unlike other independent cultural centers such as the British Council and Goethe Institute, the Italian Cultural Institute is an organization belonging to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Izzo assumes a double job as director of the institute and a diplomat in charge of cultural affairs.
``So the Italian Cultural Institute is the cultural branch of Italian diplomacy,'' he said. However, the institute operates its cultural policy independently from the embassy.