FVG Region at the Turin Book Fair

The first day of Friuli Venezia Giulia at the 37th Turin International Book Fair opened under the best auspices: the special guest at the FVG stand, in the Oval pavilion, was in fact the Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli this morning, welcomed by the vice-governor and Councilor for Culture of the autonomous Region of FVG Mario Anzil. «The Friuli Venezia Giulia Region pavilion is stellar and very rich in varied cultural offerings, from literature to all the other proposals – declared Minister Giuli – On the other hand, for Friuli Venezia Giulia it is a magical moment, it does nothing but win … Two major events are underway and coming soon, the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025 and Pordenone Italian Capital of Culture 2027. But it is the whole of Friuli Venezia Giulia that is experiencing a moment of great cultural dynamism and the effect will be long-lasting: I predict that the region will be at the center of Europe for at least a few years …». The vice president of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region Mario Anzil recalled that «Friuli Venezia Giulia is the region that invests most in culture in Italy: we do it – he explained – because we have a cultural vision for the future. Today at Lingotto we inaugurated the FVG stand, it is larger and more central than in past editions: we are proud to have been able to inaugurate it with the visit of Minister Giuli and with his words of praise for the culture of our region. We are a border land and we want to become a land of culture, a frontier culture that explores the border as an opportunity for exchange and cultural value. This important testimony of the value of culture must be promoted in the iconic places of the cultural scene of our time, starting with the International Book Fair».

The delegation that received Minister Giuli today included the mayor of Pordenone Alessandro Basso and the municipal councilor for cultural policies Alberto Parigi: with them the Minister congratulated them on the very recent nomination of the city to the top of national culture in 2027. And words of praise were also spent by Minister Giuli for an iconic festival of Friuli Venezia Giulia, pordenonelegge, the Festival of books and freedom: «for over a quarter of a century, national literary excellence», underlined Giuli in conversation with the director of the Pordenonelegge Foundation, Michela Zin, and reserving words of appreciation also for initiatives such as the Libreria della Poesia, set up in the stand of the FVG Region, capable of attracting even young readers.

Highly appreciated by visitors and guests, the stand of the FVG Region at the Oval Pavilion is 280 square meters long and built with sustainable criteria, reusing the “schianto” fir wood from the forests of Friuli Venezia Giulia, following adverse weather conditions. In the stand there are many spaces, from the Auditorium that will host over 100 voices of literature, culture and journalism, to the information desks to tell the places, stories, cultural excellence of Friuli Venezia Giulia, together with its two capitals of Culture, the European one GO! 2025 and the Italian one 2027, Pordenone. This afternoon, Thursday 15 May, the events began with the singer-songwriter Simone Cristicchi, inaugural “testimonial” between words and music, together with Maestro Mauro Sivilotti. In the next few days, leading names in the national literary scene are arriving, from Mauro Covacich to Federica Manzon, and also the writer Andrea Maggi and the graphic novel author Sara Colaone, while tomorrow, Friday 16 May, the US correspondent Claudio Pagliara and the essayist Alessandro Aresu will converse about Artificial Intelligence as the needle in the balance between the United States and China: an event curated by Gect GO and GO! 2025 European Capital of Culture.