SEGMENTO MAGAZINE ISSUE VII by Segmento

Issue VII

December/February 2016

GISELLA Cozzo bringing two worlds together

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Founder and Managing Director Daniele Curto

DANIELE CURTO

EDITORIAL

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Associate Editor Ivano Ercole

Cortesia Italiana THE LEGACY OF A FORGOTTEN PAST

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Graphic Artist Aurora Delfino Creative Consultant Imbarani Poonasamy Photographers Paco Matteo Li Calzi, Daniele Curto. For features, articles and editorial submissions: segmento@segmento.com.au 041 8891 285

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mmediately after I met my wife the path that led me from celibacy to the conjugate status had been really short. Only a month passed since we started dating and we were already living together; six weeks had been long enough for me to decide to propose to her (and for her to say the fateful ‘yes’); the following year for the first time in my life I was visiting Australia and my future family. All of this eventuated with no real communication. Of course one might consider a conversation between two lovers ceaselessly interrupted by the consultation of the Italian-English dictionary a sweet tête-à-tête, however the ability to convey the plot of your favourite film is a dialogue of a different kind.

Cover photo credits

A few months after this tsunami swept us away we decided that it was time for my then Australian fiancée to be introduced to my family.

www.pacomatteolicalzi.com

Both of us were excited for yet another adventure, however we had curbed our enthusiasm. My then fiancée a few steps away from my parent’s home asked me: “In what way should I greet your parents?”

Photographer Paco Matteo Li Calzi

Hairdresser & Make-Up Artist Nathalie Prince www.nathalieprince.com.au

Contributors Valentina Bonatti Agata Grimaldi Hayley J. Egan Laura D’Angelo Ilaria Gianfagna Archimede Fusillo Salvatore Rossano Marco Maria Cerbo (Consul General of Italy) Ivano Ercole Elizabeth Wisser Enrico Massei Gerardo Papalia Nelli Altson Celeste Gullace Bridget Borgobello

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“Well”, I observed with candour “my parents aren’t formal at all, but as they are elderly you should address them with a ‘courtesy pronoun’. I mean in the third person singular.” The English language is more pragmatic than the Italian one (the personal pronoun “thou” is a formal archaism and respect is shown in other more simple address forms such as “Madam” to a woman or “Sir” to a man); Italian has three forms of address - “you” - Tu (second person singular known as informal and familiar expression); “she” or “he” - Lei (third person singular) and “you” - Voi (second person plural) are instead a pronoun of courtesy (or even reverential). In Italy, unless you do not want to be considered rough and ill-mannered, it is taken for granted to address elderly people, professors, doctors or simply a stranger in the second person singular. For instance, I would never enter in a public office addressing the worker behind the desk with an abrupt Tu - especially if they appear to be elderly and have never seen before. But above all if I want to be promptly served… In any context today in which respect and social distance is required, the pronoun of courtesy is a given.

I recall my father addressing my nonno in the most formal second person plural Voi, and typical from southern of Italy. Those were clearly the old days, and this is demonstrated by the concern that wanders between the advocates of the Cortesia Italiana. Italian writer and essayist Umberto Eco has recently expressed his discomfort about the progressive use of the colloquial Tu between the younger generations. The Lei and Voi, according to Mr Eco, has become an eerie reminder of a flattened and generic past. In fact, if we quickly trace the past we find out that in Ancient Rome only the familiar Tu existed and that the Lei originated during the Renaissance period and thereafter raged throughout the peninsula. Things changed with the advent of Fascism. The regime had imposed the use of the Voi, considered more virile than the third person singular, which was never appreciated by the fascist legislators because of its Spanish origin. A past that seems articulated and so far away and that is sadly often out of reach for the youngsters. As a matter of fact, according to Mr Eco, the increasingly frequent use of the Tu reflects the short historical memory of young people. Let us get back to my wife.

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As might be expected my wife peered at me sideways and conveyed to me her thoughts and feelings. First she misunderstood, and then she was taken by surprise. I also caught a veil of despair that she scrupulously tried to hide. Nevertheless things worked out when I explained the situation to my parents and that it would be too complicated, if not cruel, demanding that my fiancée conjugate the verbs in the third person singular. All’s well that ends well, except perhaps for my Italian brother-in-law who had to wait 20 years before he was granted permission to address my parents with the familiar Tu…

CONtents

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19 14 Cover Story

Gisella Cozzo, bringing two worlds together with the art and joy of singing

by Nelli Altson

by Valentina Bonatti

Two years in Australia that changed the life of a young man from Friuli

Amalsa, pursuing the higher education

The secret power of chocolate

by Gerardo Papalia

The science and practice of tomato sauce making

A Future in their Past

by Home make it

by Archimede Fusillo

Soggetti Sonori

Ten Years a Stranger

Australian Diary

by Salvatore Rossano

by Hayley J. Egan

by Ivano Ercole

“Il Sorpasso”, the film that speaks of a different Italy that shook off its post-war past

by Agata Grimaldi & Chef Domenico De Marco

The man behind the spectacular Presepio Vivente by Laura D’Angelo

by Ilaria Gianfagna

by Enrico Massei and Elizabeth Wisser

Meet Luca Zingaretti, alias Inspector Montalbano by Bridget Borgobello

Regulars Living La Bella Vita

Features

Dante Alighieri , the sommo poeta who emphasized the importance of our moral choices and elevated Italian as a noble language by Marco Maria Cerbo (Consul General of Italy)

The Abruzzo Club Renaissance

The young man who has Italy’s destiny in his hands

by Celeste Gullace

by our correspondent from Italy I. E. Laudieri Di Biase

Meet the best-selling novelist Simonetta Agnello Hornby by Laura D’Angelo

Looking for my own private enlightenment at the EXPO 2015 by our correspondent from Italy Omar D’Incecco

AVPN acknowledge Circa900 Pizzeria by Daniele Curto

“Il Grande Olio d’Oliva” The blindtasting contest that awarded the best boutique olive oil

by Daniele Curto

Segmento Magazine December/February 2016

Always With You

www.segmento.com.au

WORDS VALENTINA BONATTI

LIVING LA BELLA VITA

How to make decisions with ease

fter 6 years spent in Melbourne, I recently moved back to my homeland, Italy.

A strange feeling, that I could not put my finger on, arouse around Easter this year and then, the idea of going back home for good became more apparent day after day until June, when the idea finally became a decision. My heart knew it, however my head needed more time to accept it.

In September, I kept saying to everyone that going back could be an option. Now, it's October and my head has accepted this call to go back to my roots and I am now balanced in my emotions. Unlike many others ‘migrants’ I didn't have visa issues at all (as I am now an Australian citizen) however I started to feel that I didn't belong enough to everything around me.

I missed my culture, the beauty of the landscape, old buildings and people dressing up every day. I missed my family and the deep connections that family and friends make. As a coach I started to ask myself WHY I was doing what I was doing, and when the answer is "I don't know", I knew it was time to change direction of my life.

From my work and knowledge as a Life coach, I made a fast, easy and smooth decision. It didn't create too many problems as I have followed these 3 steps on how to make decisions:

The most important part of a decision is that it has to be based on your • Believes • Values • Purpose • Mission • Feelings • Outcome Whatever you decide you have to get close to your dreams. If you are not clear about the 6 points above, the decision can be painful on all levels and often it will be life deciding for you, rather than you deciding for your life.

“

Ask yourself: what is the worst-case scenario? If you can handle this, then you can make the decision with more ease. Whatever decision you make, you will always lose something. Even the fact that you have decided to read this article is making you miss doing another thing. The word ‘decision’ comes from Latin and means de-cidere, to cut off. Therefore, every decision is a cut off, of something. Remember: even not making a decision is a decision.

“Successful people make decisions fast and change their mind slowly” Valentina Bonatti

Valentina Bonatti was born and raised in Piacenza, in the north of Italy. After living in Melbourne for the past 6 years, she has decided to move back to Italy. With her knowledge of Life and Business Coaching she is now helping expats around the globe to live a balanced emotional life so they may truly live their Bella Vita. She is also helping students to re-gain motivation towards studying as well as to find their future direction in life whether through university studies or work. She is the author of the manual “Powerful Change. 12 steps to re-light your inner fire.”

For more tips about this topic: vale@livinglabellavita.com.au

Contact www.livinglabellavita.com.au Website www.valentinabonatti.com

You don’t need to know all the facts before you can make a decision. Basically, say YES to opportunities and then figure out HOW to make it work. Successful people make decisions fast and change their mind slowly. On the other hand, unsuccessful people make decisions slowly and change their mind very quickly. You won’t know if a decision you make today is going to be successful or not. But, if you do make decisions fast, the possibility to be successful in life will increase because you are an active participant of your life. And, even if something goes wrong, where is the problem? We make progress, we learn from our mistakes. And, if that’s the case, you can ask yourself: what can I learn from it? What can I do better next time?

Decision-making is a very important skill in any area of our life. These 3 steps above, if applied, will increase the quality of your life and your success. Now, some homework for you. Answer these questions: What decisions have you been pulling off? Which decision are you going to make and how will it change your life?

REGULARS 5

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words BRIDGET BORGOBELLO

Luca Zingaretti alias Inspector Montalbano, Believes that the stories of Italian migrants in Australia could inspire great cinema

8 CELEBRITY

“

“I would like to portray and even direct, the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi.” Luca Zingaretti

ward winning Italian actor Luca Zingaretti was recently in Melbourne for the 16th Lavazza Italian Film Festival (LIFF), hosted by Palace Cinemas. Known in Australia for his leading role in the popular series, Inspector Montalbano, which broadcasts on SBS, Luca Zingaretti featured in two evoking films during this year's LIFF: Edoardo De Angelis’ “Perez” and Marco Pontecorvo’s “Partly Cloudy With Sunny Spells!” And during his short stay in Melbourne, he was interviewed by Segmento's Bridget Borgobello. Is this your first visit to Melbourne? Yes, and the very first time in Australia. I was supposed to visit at least two or three times in the last ten years. A very close friend of mine spoke very highly of Australia and tried to get me over here. My friend does travel documentaries for Rai and he travels the world doing this. He had plans to come to Australia and I was going to join them but unfortunately it never happened. Now this opportunity came along to participate in the film festival and although I'm a new father to a baby girl of only 50 days, my wife said, "Go, go see Australia!" and here I am. I really want to come back here with my family and take the time to see everything with them. Now that you have had a taste of Melbourne, what genre of movie or type of story would you film here? So many! Melbourne is much more European compared to Sydney and so is its atmosphere. With its ambiance and architecture, Melbourne is a great set for a lot of different types of films. In these few days I have heard some fascinating stories from Italo-Australians, which are all worthy of being told. Stories born of hardship through to joy and all of them could easily inspire great cinema. In Australia you are well known for your work as Inspector Montalbano, however in your career you have played many leading roles in films, including infamous characters who have shaped the history of Italy. Is there an outstanding historical figure that you would like to play? I would like to portray and even direct, the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Here is such a strong Italian character that has never been retold, not in a modern or non-historical way. His is an amazing story. They say he was a courageous General with a crazy idea of wanting to go to war in every reachable angle of the world. It really is a powerful story and he's a great character

to get your teeth into. Let's talk a little about the film “Perez”, where you not only played the leading role but also produced this film. Was this the first time you put on the producer's hat? Yes it was my first time as a producer. I thought that producing would be more about finding money and budgeting to make a film but instead I had to change my thinking. Firstly, because a producer is actually an entrepreneur who works in the cinema industry; secondly it really is a creative job. The producer is the one who guarantees the life of the film, not only economically but also with the story development. It really is a pivotal role. Now looking at the your performance in the role of “Perez”, which was a very complex and deep character, can you explain how you approached this role? The very talented director of “Perez”, Edoardo De Angelis came to me with only half a page and after reading it I was already willing to work with him on this project. I've always been drawn to stories or roles that are moving and follow a complex journey. I was especially attracted to this role, which portrays a man who has decided to no longer exist. He's a little lost and melancholic but then something happens which bring back the spark in his eye and the will to come back to reality and fight for his daughter. On the other hand in the film “Partly Cloudy With Sunny Spells!” you worked with some great comedic actors. What were the highlights of working with such a great ensemble? Working on this film was a series of laughs, one after another. First with the director, who's adorable, then with Lillo who is one of the most famous comedians in Italy and rest of the ensemble. Everyone was dynamic from the beginning, they set the stage for the theme of the film and it was lot of fun. It's a film totally different to “Perez” and incorporates the themes of lifelong friendships mixed with magical realism. It also tackles the current issues that many Italians are facing now, with the economical crisis but it approaches this theme with a sweet lightness.

Thanks to the assistance of Creative Producer, Edoardo Campanale.

CELEBRITY 9

words & Photos DANIELE CURTO

‘The MAGNIFICENT SEVEN’ competing for the

BEST BOUTIQUE OLIVE OIL “IL GRANDE OLIO D’OLIVA 2015” THE BLINDTASTING CONTEST THAT PLATFORMED SEVEN AMATEUR OLIVE OIL MAKERS

The seven olive oil producers with the Italian Consul, Marco Maria Cerbo

Allow me to begin by saying a mea culpa! When I discovered that seven of the most influential Melbourne based Italian-Australian businessmen owning their own olive groves, were gathering to compete for the “Grande Olio d’Oliva 2015”, the first thing that came to mind was the provocative aforism of Frank Capra: “The amateurs are playing for fun when the weather is nice…”. However, after attending the event and conversing with the men I immediately had second thoughts. Their passion for producing olive oil and their continous strive to succeed and maintain their cultural heritage, (Sicilia and Calabria) is immensely intense. They also produce their oil with Italian machinery, the only equipment that can guarantee superior quality. Therefore I am guilty as charged! The contest was organized under the Patronage of Italian Consulate General in Melbourne and heavily supported by the Italian Consul, Marco Maria Cerbo and Tony Schiavello, the largest manufacturer of office furniture in Australia. Mr Schiavello from Calabria competed in the contest and won the Award for ‘Favourite voted by the public’.

The four judges (Marco Maria Cerbo - Consul General of Italy, Mr Josh Elias, Ms Jill Clemenston and Ms Jenny Polack), were charged with determining the best olive oil among the below listed participants: Mr Sam Tarascio Uff. Tony Schiavello Gr. Uff Paolo Mirabella Cav. Vincent Verduci Cav. Del Lavoro Sebastiano Pitruzzello Mr Sam Trovatello Mr Nick Saraceno

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LET IT BE.

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After a scrupulous evaluation, the judges (epitomized the role of inspired sommelier), issued the verdict and crowned the Trovatello family’s as the ‘best olive oil producers’. The Calabrian Trovatello brothers, who have origins back in Nicastro, the province of Catanzaro, possess an olive grove in the Macedon Ranges composed of 8,000 olive trees. If it is true what the ancients said: “Mediterranean begins and ends where it is possible to cultivate the olive”, then these seven paladins of Italian legacy have demonstrated, with their resilience and respect for their cultural heritage, that the Mediterranean (understood as the cradle of civilisation) is not confined to a narrow and specific geographic area. However, it has stretched its borders until our beloved Australia. As a matter of fact “The production of olive oil”, as stated by the Italian Consul while bestowing the prize “is one of the Italian traditions that have marked our presence abroad the most."

Mr Tony Schiavello receives the award for 'Favourite voted by the public'

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words and photos Home Make It

The science and practice of

tomato sauce

making

e/ pa ss at a H ow to m ak e to m at o sa uc GETTING STARTED

am sure at some point we have all had a go at recreating our mamma’s or nonna’s tomato sauce recipes. Some may have been lucky enough to have gotten close, but for most of us, try as we may, we’ll never be able to perfect the tomato sauce that we so fondly recall from our childhoods. There is a science to tomato sauce making; a tried-and-tested formula that took them years to master. Time well spent don’t you think? Every great tomato sauce recipe story begins with the humble and perfectly ripened tomato, which is then pureed and transformed into passata. Traditionally, Italian families come together for their cherished annual passata making days and will make enough to see them throughout the year. It’s a family-fun day of cutting, squeezing, boiling and pulp extracting of hundreds of tomatoes followed by the bottling and preserving of the freshly made tomato puree. The busy day is usually finished off with the families sitting down to a nice big bowl of pasta with homemade sauce and a glass of vino or two! It is this pre-prepared passata that is then used throughout the year as a base to creating the families’ favourite tomato sauce dishes. There really is no comparison in flavour and quality of dishes which comprise the homemade passata. For those keen on learning the “science” of tomato sauce or passata making, Home Make It can help. “The staff at Home Make It have been assisting families and teaching nonna’s secret tips of passata making for many years” says Adrienne, Home Make It’s BDM. For the beginner passata maker, Adrienne recommends starting off with the Homemade Tomato Sauce Kits. These come complete with all the equipment required as well as easy to follow step-bystep manual.

12 REGULARS

Tomato selection Roma tomatoes are the most common variety used for making tomato sauce. Other varieties can be used for making sauce, preferably small size and pulpy varieties, which will yield best results. Inspect and wash the tomatoes and remove any blemished, bruised or soft parts on the tomatoes. If tomatoes are mouldy, discard those as well and remove any stems and green leaves if required.

Sterilising jars and lids Submerge the jars that you will be using in a pot of water and bring it to a boil for 5 minutes. Then remove them from the water using the jar lifter and place on clean surface or cloth. Lids can be quickly washed and dried and placed on clean tea towel.

PREPARE Removing the tomato skins Place tomatoes in a large pot of boiling water, for just long enough to soften the skins. This should only a take a couple of minutes. Then safely scoop out tomatoes using a straining ladle and cut the tomatoes into halves.

PU RE E Removing seeds and water from the tomatoes Secure in place your manual press or automated tomato machine. Place a bowl at both outlets of the machine; one to catch the seeds and skins and the other to catch the pulp. Then puree the tomatoes through the tomato machine. This will separate skins and seeds from the pulp. Place a handful of tomatoes in the hopper of the tomato machine, we recommend to only 3-quarter fill the hopper. Whilst turning the handle of the manual tomato machine, you should see skins and seeds being discharged into one bowl and the other bowl filling with puree. If you find that the tomatoes in the hopper are not moving down and very little pulp is being extruded, you can use a plunger of some sort to push the tomatoes down to help process them. Continue this process and puree all your prepared tomatoes until finished.

BO TT LE Filling the jars with tomato sauce As the sauce is hot, take precautions not to burn yourself and use a ladle and funnel to fill the jars. Tip: Ensure that the jars are warm before filling the hot tomato sauce into them to prevent any breaking. Continue to fill the jars with the tomato sauce within 10-12mm from the top. Wipe down the thread of the jars to make sure that no sauce has been left on the thread, this will ensure that you get a good seal when preserving. Now place the lid on the jar and make sure that it is secured hand tight onto the jar. Do not over tighten the lid, as this will cause the jar to over pressurise during the preserving process and sauce may pour out of the jar. Preserving the tomato sauce Simmer some water in an appropriate sized stock pot and then place the sealed jars using the provided jar lifter into the pot, making sure that they are immersed with at least 30mm of water to cover over the top of them. Now turn up the heat and bring water to the boil. Once the water has started boiling, keep the jars in the boiling water; for about 35-40 minutes for 500ml jars and for about 40-45 minutes for 1 litre jars. Ensure to keep the water over the jars during this preserving process. Any jars that have opened up during this process should be discarded when cooled and safe to do so.

And for those keen to or already processing large quantities of tomatoes and looking to produce an abundance of passata supply, enquire about Home Make Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advanced large-scale and motorised tomato processing equipment online or instore. Contact the Home Make It team for further information or assistance with this process and recipe.

Bringing the tomato puree to a gentle simmer Place the juice and pulp you have collected into an appropriate sized pot. Boil some of the water off and thicken the sauce, gently simmer the tomato puree until it reaches the consistency that you like for the sauce. The sauce should be like a thick, but runny cream sauce. You should not have pools of water visible on the surface of the sauce but it should not be as thick as a tomato paste. Tip: If you wish, you can add some fresh washed basil, dry spices or some salt during this simmering process. Ensure to work out your ratio of spices to the amount of tomato sauce you are doing, as certain spices can be quite powerful and should be added in small amounts and adjusted to taste.

Storing th e tomato sauce

e, led for the appropriate tim Once the jars have been boi jars ove rem , heat has dissipated turn off the heat. Once the . e overnight to cool completely asid set and r with the jar lifte e hav y the t tha e sur to make Once cooled, check the jars the centre of the lid down. g hin pus Try ly. per pro sealed it has not sealed properly and If you hear a pop, then it has pop no If s. safety reason should be discarded for sn be labeled with the proces the can lid the rd, been hea t spo l coo board or stored in a ing date and placed in a cup be n the uld sho them. These until you are ready to use s, depending on the quality nth mo 2 6â&#x20AC;&#x201C;1 hin wit consumed rage conditions. sto of tomato sauce made and

En jo y! Clayton Store: (03) 9574 8222 Reservoir Store: (03) 9460 2777 info@homemakeit.com.au www.homemakeit.com.au REGULARS 13 11

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“I wanted to challenge the Italian artist in me…to demonstrate to the Italian listeners that I can and do sing in Italian as well” Gisella Cozzo

You can find Gisella’s new album “Double” and the 2015 special edition of “Joy” on iTunes and at all major digital music stores. www.gisellacozzo.com 14 Music

WORDS Nelli Altson photos PACO MATTEO LI CALZI

Bringing two worlds together

with the artand joy of

singing The Milan-based Italian-Australian singer & songwriter Gisella Cozzo was recently in Melbourne to launch her new album titled “Double”, a unique collection of old and new songs both in English and in Italian.

or those who grew up hearing the iconic song for Coppa Del Nonno’s commercial, “Joy, I feel good, I feel fine,” Gisella Cozzo’s voice might already be endeared to those childhood memories and fondness for ice cream. In person, she is petite in stature and exudes a grand openness and graciousness that feels welcoming to be around. It is in her smile, I thought, vibrant and genial, already greeting you as a friend though you are meeting for the first time. On a surprisingly sunny day in Melbourne’s mid-winter, I caught up with Gisella after her interview with Rete Italia radio in Fitzroy, where we ducked into a nearby quaint café.

Gisella Cozzo rose to prominence in the late 80s, when she won Australia’s longest running talent show, “Young Talent Time”. At the tender age of 16, she toured with renowned Italian singers and performed live as their support act in Australia, giving her the recognition as a bonafide singer. “It was a time where I was trying to find myself, my direction as an artist and discovering my talents”, she says of her experience working with established singers of the 80s and 90s. Her musical aspirations took flight, literally, taking her to London and, later, Italy, where she worked with leading Italian songwriters and producers. It was in Milan, where she was able to truly expand professionally. For an emerging and foreign artist, to sing in Italian proposed another level of difficulty. Gisella candidly laughs, recalling the translation mistakes she made in her early career learning the mother tongue. “But being bilingual has given me great strengths and great characteristics in my career”, she says of her story of being an Australian singer making it in Italy. “They know me as the Aussie in Milan”, she says proud of that distinction, for Italians support her double identity enabling her to build on that uniqueness. With more than two decades of experience in the entertainment industry, the breadth of Gisella’s work is vast and varied. She is a singer; English vocal coach and producer of her own label “Mamigi Publishing”. Interestingly, her most extensive work as a singer is in television commercials. Her crisp and warm voice has been the audible campaigner for global giants such as Coco-cola, Levis Jean’s, Nutella, Mercedes and most recently Chiquita Banana commercials in Europe. She is a favourite strategy employed by television advertising. In Italy today her name has become synonymous with the title of the “Queen of Jingles”. Despite enjoying much success as a jingle singer, Gisella wanted to develop her recording career, especially in the Italian language. “I wanted to challenge the Italian artist in me…to demonstrate to the Italian listeners that I can and do sing in Italian as well”, she emphasizes. Gisella Cozzo is in Melbourne to promote her latest album, “Double”. The title is derived from her concept of recording songs in her spoken languages English and Italian. The album comprises her original tracks and remakes of golden oldies from the two cultures, such as Tony Renis’ “Quando Quando Quando” and Australian rock band, Moving Pictures’ “What About Me”. In this way, Gisella is honouring her dual Anglo-Italo heritage and paying tribute to the singers who have taken

the songs to an international stage. Notably, it is on this album where Gisella recorded more songs in Italian than she ever had before. Though she features well-known English and Italian music of yesteryears on her album, Gisella gives these oldies a new pulse and takes them on a new modernized spin. Her collaboration with music arranger and producer, Carlo Palmas, resulted in the creation of backing tracks that are up-tempo, dance and pop, effectively repurposing the backbone of the song and revitalising its lyrics. With the songs recorded in a second language, the English lyrics meet their Italian counterparts, and vice versa. However, this does not mean it is a direct translation of the lyrics. Instead, the songs are adaptations previously recorded by other artists, and newly interpreted with her artistic touch. “Double Gisella” also includes an original track, “Only Inspiration”, with the Italian version “Senza Fiato”, co-written with Paolo Petrini especially to enhance the new bilingual project and Gisella's song-writing instinct. “I hope listeners can appreciate the bilingual nature of the album… feeding their curiosity and letting them choose which version they prefer to listen to”, she says, bringing to mind an Aussie Italophile clicking on iTunes “Per Ricominciare”, the Italian cover version of Gloria Gaynor’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”. Indeed, for some listeners, it might come as a surprise to find an originally English song sounding even better when sang in its Italian rendition. With her musical talents encompassing languages of two countries, she might be Australian and Italy’s answer to Celine Dion. The fact that Gisella is able to rework timeless pieces competently is because she herself is a veteran of producing enduring music. As the writer and singer for one of the longest running commercial jingles in Italy, she knows the renewable qualities of a catchy song. Now in its 20th anniversary, “Joy” is celebrated once over for its continued limelight. It is currently on air for the 2015 campaign with Coppa Del Nonno. In October “Per Ricominciare”, Gisella's second single from her album “Double”, will be released on all Italian radio networks. This track is the Italian version of one of the classics “Can't take my eyes off of you". A real gem for her Italian fans as this track sets off a new start to Gisella's recording career singing also in Italian. Only Mina, the Italian icon and songstress, sang it live in 1968 but only live. “Per Ricominciare” will be one of Gisella's first time ever full Italian recordings.

nellyaltson@gmail.com www.galeriadenomad.com

MUSIC 15

WORDS & Photo DANIELE CURTO

CIRCA900 PIZZERIA

awarded by the “TRUE NEAPOLITAN PIZZA ASSOCIATION” (AVPN) Marco and Anna holding the Certification issued by AVPN

“To be a pizzaiolo napoletano in Melbourne is an honour”, states Marco proudly. “My wife Anna and I are in this business together and we live by pizza keeping the traditions and educating people of the real Neapolitan pizza. It’s a true blessing for us.”

Making a pizza is like an alchemical process in which various elements play their part to transform humble flour into a golden and succulent disc of dough. Selecting the most suitable flour, rising time awareness, cooking time attentiveness, specifying condiments, the quality of water and even the climate are factors that a good pizzaiolo must take into account.

About two years ago Marco and his wife Anna were able to open their own pizzeria called “Circa900” in Kew, Melbourne. They recalled the many sacrifices made and focussed on their experience accumulated. No long after the pizzeria reached a peak in popularity and a success unthinkable a few months earlier. In addition, Anna and Marco’s loyalty to ancient traditions and the resistance against ‘industrialization’ of pizza drew the attention of the AVPN.

he only gospel for a Neapolitan pizzaiolo is to knead by traditional methods!

The recent visit of the “True Neapolitan Pizza Association” (AVPN) in Melbourne opened my eyes to the fabulous life of expert pizza masters who ‘travel the world, spreading the word’.

It is with this spirit that in 1984 the AVPN was founded in Naples. Ever since the non-profit organization, it has been committed to protecting the verace pizza napoletana. The genuine product is made, in accordance with the characteristics described in the “International Regulations”; a severe protocol drafted by a committee of experts who are consulted to certify the ingredients used and ultimately the finished product. As a matter of fact the protocol establishes that only Campania products must be used.

Last October, while the AVPN was making its first appearance in Australia, “Circa900” received the Certification of “True Neapolitan Pizza”’ and became a member of the elite of the veraci Neapolitan pizzerie scattered across the world.

A pizzeria that aspires to acquire the “Pizza D.O.C. AVPN Certification” has to match all the requirements that the Association put in place, and believe me there are many! However for those who refuse to standardize the process and invoke experience and tradition to refine the art, is awarded the prize of acknowledgement.

During my interview I learnt that the pizza secret lies in the dough rising. Accordingly I have hurried, in vain, to learn the recipe. However “the recipe doesn’t exist”, clarify Vincenzo Pace, President of the “True Neapolitan Pizza Association”. “Dough rising changes according to the climate. For instance”, Mr Pace continues “if it’s cold, you need hot water and a little salt; if it’s hot you need less salt since it slows down the rising. These issues must be taken into consideration the night before, when preparing the dough.” Discouraged by his words…since I thought, mistakenly, I knew how to make a good pizza... what stood at the front of my mind was: the experience that refines the art. Circa900’s art is offered to each and every customer when they enjoy any one of their pizzas.

Marco Capparella is one of the fortunate pizzaiolo’s who have been bestowed with the certification. Faithful to the Protocol and a devotee to the Associations philosophy, Marco was born in 1978 in Naples. From a young age he worked at the family pizzeria in Naples where he mastered the art of pizzaiolo. In 1990, Marco landed in Australia and worked with various pizzaioli napoletani. The down under experience allowed him to further perfect his skills. 16 FOOD&WINE

“The Award from AVPN”, Marco says, “is the most prestigious praise for a Neapolitan born pizza maker and a recognition for our hard work driven by an absolute passion. To be given this Award by the Association itself is an indescribable feeling.”

WORDS laura d’angelo PHOTOS DANIELE CURTO

The man behind the spectacular

Presepio Vivente, the live nativity scene held every year in Melbourne From left: Giuseppe Pilone, Elio Pilone and Nicola Vetere re-enacting the "Three Kings" Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar

“

I wanted to create something beautiful

that could please all the communities and involve them emotionally. Virgilio Marcianò

The Marcianò’s have been musicians for generations. Virgilio in particular inherited the passion for music directly from his beloved grandfather. His childhood piano still lies at his birthplace and a special collection of accordions are hosted in his music shop in Northcote.

he “presepe” or “presepio” (also known as Christmas Crib or Nativity Scene) had been for a very long time the only Christmas adornment of the Italian families, a humble and genuine way, deeply-rooted in our culture, to celebrate Jesus's birth before the advent of Santa Claus and the decorated trees. Yes, modern society seems to be truly devoted to consumerism and even though nativity scenes fell in disuse for a while, they are back in vogue and even more, in a real-life version! You would not expect such a thing to happen during the hot Australian Christmas, but here it is instead. The “Walk Through Bethlehem” is a unique event that has been running successfully for more than 10 years in Melbourne. This living pageant is the result of a man's dream, Virgilio Marcianò, “the man behind the scenes” as he likes to define himself; a bit funny considering that he is a professional conductor! In addition, please, when you pronounce his surname, do not forget the accent on the final “o” as he likes to point out... Native of Corigliano D'Otranto in the Apulia region, Mr Marcianò moved to Australia in his twenties. “My first Australian Christmas was quite weird! The weather was hot; people were celebrating at the beach! There was something missing, all the traditions I grew up with like the simple act of putting on a presepio, give life and meaning to those little statues... I felt so sorrowful!” In the '70s, the only nativity scenes available in Melbourne were a couple of wooden statues standing motionless in front of a curious crowd of visitors at Myer (retail store). “I wanted to create something beautiful that could please all the communities and involve

them emotionally.” “In 1978 I was the president of the Puglia Club where I set up my first presepio. Its immediate success pushed me to continue and do better.” The following editions were held in Carlton and Parliament House, and in both cases, Virgilio had not enough time to build up the scenes and achieve the results of authenticity he was hoping. Until he found a perfect venue at the St. Peter’s Primary School in Epping (and a very special thanks goes to this school that makes the event possible!) Every year more than 400 volunteers are involved in the preparation. Virgilio is the event co-ordinator but he is not alone: he can count on a huge team that includes electricians, carpenters, plumbers, tailors and cooks, to name a few, who set up the best scenery. Nothing is left to chance for Virgilio who, with details, takes care of every aspect of the Christmas pageant: footlights and soundtrack, uniforms and clothes, Roman chariots and centurios. The sumptuous Erode court, ancient crafts faithfully reproduced like wool weavers, blacksmiths, wine makers and bakers, all at work together with the Three Kings and of course the stable with baby Jesus, St. Mary and Joseph and the inevitable ox and donkey. About the animals: “I personally choose the best sheep, goats, horses and camels, to take part in the scenes... they all must be fit, no excuses, otherwise my presepio vivente would be a comedy and not a convincing representation!” He even travelled to Bethlehem so that his presepio vivente would resemble reality. Virgilio has always been so meticulous in preparing the “Walk through Bethlehem” and this is a reason why pictures and videos are not allowed: “I don’t want anything to distract my actors during the representation. I want the best of it, dedication, authenticity and contemplation.” As a result the “Walk Through Bethlem”

Virgilio Marcianò

gives you the illusion of a time travel back to King Erode period, over 2000 years ago, an evocative portrayal made even more magic by the symphonies of the Palestrina Choir scattered through hundreds of hidden speakers. Since the early editions, an average of 60,000 visitors a year have been walking completely astonished through the old Bethlem. Virgilio’s presepio vivente has, as we can imagine, a Catholic connotation, but even more, it has cultural and anthropological meaning. The participants, even if of different beliefs, feel part of a bigger community, a family where no barriers exist. The “Walk Through Bethlem” 2015 will take place at St. Peter’s Primary School, 32 Wedge St. Epping, for three nights from the 18th December, 9 pm to 12 pm

lauramartina.dangelo@yahoo.it www.thealrightplace.wordpress.com

WORDS CELESTE GULLACE Photos Daniele Curto

The Abruzzo Club

Renaissance

TUSCAN CAFE' & RESTAURANT The heart and soul of a timeless lifestyle

Open for breakfast and lunch 6:30am to 5pm Dinner for bookings of ten or more people Friday and Saturday Aperitivo 5pm to 7:30pm 636a Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, VIC 3122

Authenticity... it's only the beginning!

osteria@maccaronitop.com.au www.maccaroniosteria.com.au Maccaroni osteria italiana 201 Queens parade, Clifton Hill 3068 Phone 03 90770377

Guglielmo Monteleone, new Manager at the Abruzzo Club

words Marco Maria Cerbo (Consul General of Italy)

Left: Mary Incani, Timmy Incani's wife (one of the Committee members) Right: Luisa Pezzi, Ugo Pezzi's wife (previous President of the Club)

ROOTS&ROUTES

Dante Alighieri the sommo poeta who emphasized the importance of our moral choices and elevated Italian as a noble language!

How would you describe the Abruzzo Club? “The club is not just a committee, the various subcommittees, the volunteers and staff; the Club is all of us! It is for you, for your family, for your children and friends."

ack in the 80s, Ugo Pezzi, one of the past presidents of the Club, could not find a better definition for the club. More than ever, this place represents a meeting point for a entire generation and the club wants to return to its glorious fame, the one it enjoyed in the past years. Thanks to an unconditional love for the homeland the club was founded in 1967 with the aim of bringing together friends and acquaintances under the same roof, helping each other and speaking their native language. In those days, there weren’t many public places where you could speak Italian, let alone the Abruzzese dialect. The idea to create the club came from the desire to help a widow, who had to face the loss of her husband and take care of her children. As a result, people came together to help her and the proceeds from the event were donated to the family. Funds from the various members and the work of other people had turned a simple idea into a real project, based on cultural and social aggregation. From the beginning, the club had always had a women committee with the task of organizing regional, cultural and social events. The founders of the club Ugo Pezzi, William Febbo, Dino Di Iorio, Tony Di Iorio, Rocco di Zio, Joe Cardone and Aldo Basile worked hard on the wonderful project. Back in the 80's, the club was one of the greatest Italian Clubs in Melbourne. Famous politicians, singers, consuls, all passed through the Club. There are now just over 270 members and the founders try to pass the unbridled love for the club on to their children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to keep that spark alive, but the present Committee is not giving up, and after years in the shadows, at the dawn of its forty-eighth birthday, the Abruzzo Club is being revamped, putting into play everything. The staff and the new manager in charge Guglielmo Monteleone are going to bring a breath of fresh air with a new restaurant and thanks to the tenacity and passion of the elders, nothing and nobody can prevent the club to rise more glorious than ever. The restaurant is now renewed with a pizzeria, a lounge bar and an incredible love for Italian food. No effort is being spared to make the Abruzzo Club the best Italian club in Melbourne. Ideally located on Lygon Street, East Brunswick, just ten minutes away from the city, its staff is eager to serve you and make you feel like you were in Italy. Come and experience the Abruzzo Club Renaissance!

015 marks the 750th anniversary of the birth of Dante Alighieri, the Sommo Poeta (Sublime Poet) as Italian students learn to call him from early on. His writings include profound essays and enchanting short poems; however, he gained enduring fame as author of the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy), a masterpiece in Italian and European poetry. Dante’s life was shaped by conflict. In the aftermath of one of the many skirmishes that Florence’s two rival political powers (the Ghibellines and Guelph) recurring in the XIV century, Dante was sent on an ambassadorial mission to Rome to help negotiate peace terms. While he was in the Papal States, his own party was defeated and his political enemies seized control of the city, as a result, Dante was punished and eventually banished from Florence. He would never again return home. For the next twenty years, Dante lived in exile until his death in 1321, during which time he penned one of history’s greatest literary works. The Comedy recounts how, in the middle of his life, Dante finds himself lost in the dark woods of sin and error. In desperation, he seeks to return to the right path and true life in God. His quest takes him through the realms of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise to the beatific vision. Along the way, Dante encounters sinners, penitents, saved souls: some are great and well-known figures from history or from his own time, other humble spirits never known beyond the small circle of their peers. Such a comprehensive assortment of characters was unprecedented and offers both an insight into Italy’s daily life of the late Middle Ages and a powerful collection of inspiring imageries about what humanity truly is. What makes La Divina Commedia stand out amongst most poetry before its time is its complexity, condensed in an exceptional capacity to overcome a long-established idea of poetry, which had been revolving around a few simple naturalistic concepts. Dante’s work, instead, is made of many layers. On the surface, the poem describes his travels through the Underworld, but at a deeper level, it represents the soul's journey towards God. At the end, what is so important about both poem and this fine book is the emphasis on free will and the importance of our moral choices. With God's grace, we determine our own destiny. The transcendental message is so important that Dante’s contribution to metaphysical meditation and religious contemplation has been recognized by the Catholic Church itself, at the highest level. Pope Francis has recently stated that “Dante Alighieri is an artist of the highest universal value, who still has much to say and to give, through his immortal works, to all those who are willing to walk the path of true knowledge.” Furthermore, credit for the foundation of Italian literature goes to Dante, whose impact resulted in elevating Italian as a noble language of poetry and prose. Before him, the Italian vernacular was seen as dialectal, therefore cast aside as a literary language. Dante, knowing Italy was neither politically nor culturally united, proved Italian possessed the same authoritative features as Latin. After 750 years we can rightfully celebrate Dante’s immense legacy. His poetry showed no boundaries in its time, nor does it today. The use of Italian instead of Latin and a more than noteworthy technique of combining reveries with realism laid the foundation for the Florentine Renaissance and the richest future seasons of Italian and European cultural flourishing. Moreover, he left to us a strong political message, paving the way to the ideal of Italian unity, together with a rich religious heirloom. Many scholars have tried to epitomize Dante’s lessons, but I believe that his spirit is best encapsulated in another work of art: Auguste Rodin’s famous sculpture, “The Thinker”, which is as much of an icon of the strength of the human intellect as the man who first inspired it.

REGULARS 19

Pizza is the of Naples!

A Pizza è o ‘core e napule Address 321 High Street, Kew VIC 3101

Phone 03 9853 5155

Website www.circa900.com.au

WORDS ENRICO MASSEI & Elizabeth Wisser

AMALSA MAKES THE LAW WORK FOR YOU Student Visa subclass 573 Pursuing the higher education From the Director's desk – Enrico Massei

da and Sara, (fictitious names), 31 years of age are two of the many young Italians who visit our shores each year in search of “opportunities".

Many of them come to Australia equipped with various degrees, masters and in certain circumstances a PhD. Unfortunately, these young enthusiastic Italians soon realise that their qualifications, work experience or skills do not necessarily provide them with access to work opportunities in Australia. Many are faced with the dire task of having their academic qualifications translated into English and then trying to fit into

an occupation, which may allow them to find employment. In most cases their skills will need to be assessed by a relevant Australian assessing body ...not an easy feat to understand or navigate through.

perhaps enrolling in a Higher Education course may be an extra feather in their bonnet for these young Italians in search of opportunities, be it in Australia, or any other country.

At times in frustration these young Italians decide that it may be best to complete a Degree or Masters in Australia to then ensure their "skills" will be recognised. The Subclass 573 visa allows for study in Australia at the Bachelor or Masters level. Australia enjoys the luxury of many reputable and world class recognised Universities, and

What's the student visa subclass 573? How does it work ? Our migration pr actitioner will ex plain...

From our Migration Practioner’s Desk – Elizabeth Wisser LL.B, GDLP, Registered Migration Agent MARN: 0959122 The Higher Education Sector Student Visa (subclass 573) For those who are interested in pursuing higher education courses in Australia, the Higher Education Sector Student Visa is the visa to apply for. This applies to international students who seek to complete their Bachelor or Associate Degree, a Graduate Certificate or Graduate Diploma, and Masters by course work in any Australian university. How long can an individual stay in Australia under the visa 573? Elizabeth Wisser & Enrico Massei

www.amalsa.com.au enquiry@amalsa.com.au 22 REGULARS

Individuals who are granted this visa may study and reside in Australia for the duration of their course that must be registered with Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses (CRICOS) for Overseas Students. They are however required to be able to maintain an adequate attendance at university, perform satisfactorily in class and complete the necessary requirements of their education provider. Failure to attend classes on a regular basis and unsatisfactory progress in course work will definitely be noted and reported to the Department of Immigration. What is satisfactory and unsatisfactory in terms of attendance and progress is dictated by the education provider, not the department. Aside from the individual who is pursuing higher education in Australia, a dependent member of the family may also come along with the 537-visa holder, and if they choose to, the

dependent member, may enroll in courses with up to three-month duration. Can the 537 visa holder work at the same time? Yes, once the individual has started the course, they are allowed a maximum of 20 hours of work per week during the course period. However on school breaks there is no limit to the number of hours that the individual is willing to work. The 20 hours/ week work allotment is also true with the individual’s dependents/family members. There are some other requirements for studying in Australia using 537 visa. Financially, the individual must prove the ability to provide enough funds for their tuition, travel and living allowances as well as that of their dependents/family members. They must also be able to secure their family’s health insurance while in Australia. Medical and hospital insurance may be obtained with the Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC). Finally, persons who applied for their first student visa on or after 5 November 2011 may be eligible to apply for the Post Study Work Stream Subclass 485 visa, provided that they have completed a course at Bachelor or Masters Level for a duration of at least 92 weeks. More to come…

words AGATA GRIMALDI Recipe Chef Domenico De Marco

The

secret power of

chocolate I

recipe

Chocolate textures

Chocolate sauce 100 ml water 40 ml malt 3 ml corn flour 20 ml cocoa

Chocolate aero 2 whole eggs 4 tablespoons water 100 ml melted 90% dark chocolate

Chocolate mousse 1 whole very ripe avocado ¼ cup agave nectar

Mix warm water and malt in a pot until dissolved then bring to boil. Add sifted corn flour and cocoa in the pot whilst on the heat. Whisk for about 1 minute until it starts to thicken. Cool down in a bowl, put in the fridge.

Whip at high speed for a minimum of 10 minutes until it at least is 3 times the size. Turn off, and very gently fold in cooled melted chocolate. Pour the mix into a deep container 5–7 cms deep then put in the freezer until frozen.

Remove seed and skin from avocado and put it together with the rest of the ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

(can be found at health food shops)

¼ cup almond milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ cup cocoa powder

Fermented cherries 250 gr fresh-pitted cherries 40 ml white rum 9 ml lime juice 20 ml balsamic

Licorice gel 100 ml thickened cream 100 ml milk 10 ml licorice roots 150 ml milk 4 ml agar-agar

Marinate for 48 hours, then, add lime juice and balsamic vinegar. Cook over low heat, ensure cherries keep their shape but the liquid has thickened. The cherries can be kept in the fridge in the liquid for up to a week.

t's four in the afternoon and you have that report to go through and you keep repeating to yourself: "If I could just lie down for a pennichella (an afternoon nap...).” Now, before you go to the office’s kitchen to make yourself another cup of coffee, or fall asleep at your desk, try a small dark chocolate bar instead. In fact, according to a new research published on “NeuroRegulation”, cacao has the ability to boost the brain's alertness. Larry Stevens Ph.D., and his team conducted this study at Northern Arizona University. 122 study participants underwent an EEG, a process where the activities of the brain are recorded by placing electrodes on the scalp. Now, before you sprint to the vending machine at your office, and stuff your face with chocolate bars, hold on and keep reading. In order to become more attentive at executing cognitive tasks, you should consume a chocolate bar with at least 60% cacao. I am afraid, consuming a chocolate bar high in sugar and milk will certainly not be as good. So, an hour after consuming a bar with a high content of cacao, your brain should register a boost in focus and alertness. The most interesting result was from a group of participants who ate a 60% cacao chocolate bar with L-theanin, an amino acid that is found in green tea and promotes a feeling of calm and relaxation. In fact, L-theanin, which acts as a relaxant, lowers the blood pressure into a normal range, without generating drowsiness. Don't look for chocolate with L-theanin in the aisle of Coles or Woolworth's as this product is not available as yet. But, why not accompany your treat (recipe on the left) with a cup of green tea to increase calm and attentiveness?

Buona merenda! Infuse 100 ml thickened cream, 100 ml milk and 10 grams licorice roots in a pot overnight, then add 150 ml milk bring to boil in a pot then add 4 grams of agar-agar and cook for 1 minute. Stir till agar-agar has dissolved then put in a flat baking tray to set.

Assemble

Assemble on the plate with a pastry brush; brush a line or a design of your choice on the plate with the chocolate sauce. To start cut a chunk of the aero and arrange in the middle of the plate. Add a scoop of chocolate mousse and a couple of strained cherries. Use a cookie cutter to cut a circle of the licorice gel. You can garnish with some baby herbs or edible flowers.

www.laltromondo.com.au 125 Victoria Avenue, Albert Park Melbourne

REGULARS 23

WORDS laura d’angelo PHOTOS DANIELE CURTO

The Sicilian woman who has

Become a best-selling novelist while practicing law

in England Simonetta Agnello Hornby

nternationally acclaimed Italian author, Simonetta Agnello Hornby was a special guest at the Melbourne Writers Festival 2015 and participated in a special event at the Italian Culture Institute of Melbourne (IIC), which was centred around the topic of “Travel and Inward Journey”. Born in Sicily, she studied English at Cambridge before obtaining a law degree in Palermo. After furthering her studies in the United States, she moved to the UK to start a legal career and married an Englishman with whom she had two children. As well as being a successful lawyer, Simonetta Agnello Hornby is an accomplished novelist. Her first novel, La Mennulara (The Almond Picker), published in 2002, became a bestseller and has been translated in twenty-four languages. During her stay in Melbourne, she kindly made herself available for an interview by Segmento's Laura D'Angelo. Mrs Agnello Hornby, after getting a Degree in Law in 1967 you moved abroad (USA, Zambia and London). How has the travel experience helped you to become a writer? I met my husband in England and this is why I left Sicily. I have never regretted this choice. Everyone can live happily regardless of the location and express their own potential. If you had stayed in Italy, would you have become a writer? Who knows? I became a writer by chance, or maybe this was my destiny. I am a pragmatist, while a writer's career can be very dicey; it forces you to travel around the globe, an aspect that does not suit with being a mum. Anyway writing is amazing and meeting the readers is the best part.

Coca Cola Pavilion at the Expo 2015

onfucius once said, "If you buy a man a fish you will feed him for a day, but if you teach him to fish you will feed him for a lifetime". Ever since I heard about Expo Milano 2015, this illuminating idea of Confucius has abided with me and still influences me. THE FIRST STEP

The vast mission of this World Fair reveals its intentions and somehow traces where our path will lead, an instant before we take our first step: "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life". These are its main themes! We shall soon see whether these goals are achieved! The long wait to get in gives me the opportunity to think about the reasons why the Italian government, despite the country's economic crisis, decided to invest 6 billion euro in a colossal event to tell the world "how to fish". Perhaps even Confucius would have his doubts. Personally, I would have spent this money to really feed the planet.... but that's another story.

Cooking makes us feel human, as we usually cook what we eat, different from animals. This act reaffirms my human nature.

The key ethical objective of the event is to facilitate the creation of a new global economy capable of putting humanity and its needs (water, food, air) in the forefront (and no longer just financial interests). A world where there will be no more waste and where the key ideas will be knowledge and innovation, with local economies to be based on concepts like identity, history, creativity and quality and being able to shake off the yoke of multinational corporations and their logic of profit at all costs.... "Good!" I think as the queue moves closer to the entrance: "I like this idea of the new economy based on ethical and even aesthetic principles." I take my first fateful step into the Expo and I find myself in front of two huge signs that invite me to their pavilions: McDonald's and Coca Cola.

Writing can be an inward journey. In your case, do you write to ‘stay’ or to ‘go’?

THE EXPLORATION

Even though you settled in London, all your novels are placed in Sicily. Where do you call home? London is my home, even if my sacred place, my Uluru, is Monte Pellegrino. I couldn't live without it for long. Does the “journey” involve issues like loneliness and isolation? Not necessarily. For sure, it brings remoteness. You even wrote a kitchen book... what's the solace you get from cooking?

When I do it I don't move at all! More then travelling I dig within to find myself and ‘that’ myself is my home. Have you ever thought of moving back to Sicily? I would go back there only if my children did it. I wouldn't like them to take long trips just to visit me. Today travelling is very easy and accessible. On the other hand, refugees from underdeveloped countries undertake a journey, which is more similar to a frantic odyssey. What is the real essence of traveling? I do not have any answer for that. In the past people couldn't leave easily or, on the contrary, there were forced to do it (as the refugees today). A one-way journey desperately looking for something to eat. Nowadays we privileged have many chances to go easily, the most important thing is to have clear ideas about the choices we undertake. To go means accepting positively all the changes and be eager to integrate in the new country to avoid disharmony.

lauramartina.dangelo@yahoo.it www.thealrightplace.wordpress.com 24 CULTURE

The circa 80 pavilions of the Expo (145 participating countries) line the way along the sumptuous east-west axis about one kilometre long, covered by environmentally friendly artistic canopies. All of this lies under the watchful gaze of the huge work titled "Tree of Life", the true icon of this Expo. Let us return to my quest for illumination, focussing only on aesthetics is not enough. There are also ethical considerations. What have all these people come to find? What do they want to learn? The food? The earth? Those that designed the Expo want to tell the visitors the truth or instead want just to show them a glossy postcard of the world? Surely visitors will be able to play a great game: stamp your "fake" passport (5 euro per document) at every country-pavilion that you visit, see the largest pizza in the world, take a refreshing walk in the shady forests of Austria. It is possible to travel up and down the dunes imaginatively provided by the Saudi Arabia, write your name using coffee beans or buy souvenir bracelets made from seeds. Nevertheless, do not ask who cultivates the coffee. Do not ask yourself how many wells

by our correspondent from Italy Omar D’Incecco

A fairground attraction or a TRUE DESIRE for KNOWLEDGE? Looking for my own private enlightnement at the EXPO 2015

“

Slow Food Pavilion at the Expo 2015

have been destroyed in occupied Palestine. Do not dare find out who works in the fields of Mozambique and Burundi. The Expo is not the place to ask these questions and certainly not the place where you will find answers. The “Pavilion Zero” is the most popular of them all. Its sign reads: Divinus halitus terrae or “The divine breath of earth”. Inside visitors can take a journey through the history of humanity from a food and agriculture perspective, all very beautiful, as well as emotionally moving and well-designed, full of interesting ideas. But you feel as if you are in a fairground attraction, everything is too mechanically engineered to inspire awe, an aspect common to almost all the pavilions. Technology is always used as part of the scenery. The vast amount of information, dazzling multi-visual displays and macrostructures, is carried along in a procession with big fundamental issues whose purpose is only to catch the spectators' eyes. Despite the enormous deployment of LED lighting and other ingenious devices, the pavilions contain none of the light I was seeking. All proclaim the same issues: sustainability, recycling, energy saving, zero kilometres, slow vs. fast, local vs. global, but the overall impression is that of a series of repetitive slogans. THE FOOD Given that the central theme of the Expo

is food, I must focus most of my attention on it. So moved by hunger (in the sense of appetite) and thirst for knowledge, I begin to patrol the refreshment areas of many pavilions. Tacos in the Mexican Pavilion, Tijne lamb in the Moroccan one, an Israeli Majadera, a Turkish kebab, a purple coloured roll in the Vietnam pavilion, South American potato chips, coconut cheese in the Netherlands stand, Siberian herring and chips, a crocodile tail fillet in the Zimbabwe style, a Japanese Fugu, Cambodian palm wine and some Baobab juice in the Angola Pavilion. After this kaleidoscope of shapes, colours and flavours, I begin to wonder how a gigantic multi-cuisine restaurant can teach future citizens to save the planet by respecting its rhythms and its precarious balance. Some may argue that the “Charter of Milan”, an international memorandum of understanding to ensure the right to food for all citizens of the world, was drafted and signed precisely to give some moral grounding to the entire event. This appears to be a wonderful idea but it risks ending up like the fight against world hunger in the 1980s, or the Kyoto Protocol, which no one remembers any more. My last visit is at the “Slow Food” pavilion, the international non-profit association that for 30 years has been committed to giving back to food its true value by respecting those who produce it and by protecting biodiversity. The pavilion is completely unlike the others.... this pavilion is spartan! Every aspect of it has been designed to facilitate the visitor's path through knowledge. In other words, knowledge

Those that designed the Expo want to tell the visitors the truth or instead want just to show them a glossy postcard of the world?

Omar D’Incecco

is placed at the centre of everything and not special effects. For 30 years “Slow Food” has been saving foods and crops neglected by the globalized markets because it considers them true "books of human history” functioning as vessels, which preserve and pass on human culture to future generations. These books are full of flavour and life, both past and future. The pavilion's lighting is minimal in contrast to the excessive dazzle of the other pavilions. It is ironic that in this poetic twilight, I found the light that I had been seeking throughout my visit. In short, the place where they used fewer bulbs was in fact the most enlightened!

omardincecco@gmail.com

FROM ITALY 25

You are what you eat. So, today I am Pizza!

romadeli.com.au

www.

Phone (03) 9840 6975 Address 904 Doncaster Rd, Doncaster East VIC 3109

THAT’S AMORE CHEESE SHOP - NOW OPEN

Open every day from 8AM - 5PM

THAT’S AMORE CHEESE 66 Latitude Boulevard Thomastown, 3074 Follow us today! thatsamorecheese.com.au

by our correspondent from Italy I. E. Laudieri Di Biase

The Young Man

who has Italy's Destiny in his Hands

e is the youngest ever-Italian prime minister and has been set out to transform his outdated and ailing country into a leading European nation. His name, of course, is Matteo Renzi and his sheer optimism and confidence are reminiscent of the early days of Silvio Berlusconi’s rise to power. With a difference though: he made it to the top without being the owner of a media empire and without being the richest man in Italy. Renzi comes from a middle-class family, is a devout Catholic married to a like-minded woman who has bore him three children. At nineteen, he was a contestant on Italy’s version of “Wheel of Fortune”, won three weeks in a row and took home some thirty thousand euros in prize money. At twenty-seven, he became the local leader of the Margherita center-left coalition that in 2007 merged with the newly created Partito Democratico, born from the dust of the Italian Communist Party. At twenty-nine, he was elected president of Florence’s provincial council and five years later, he successfully ran for the position of mayor.

His supporters call him “Italy's only hope”, skeptics see him as an “illusionist” and his political enemies have tagged him as a “windbag.” Before becoming prime minister, he made a name for himself as il rottamatore, the demolition man. He used to say that much of Italy’s public administration and political system needed to be scrapped. He meant the deadly bureaucracy, the outrageously slow pace of the justice system, and the culture of cronyism, the political perks and payoffs, tax evasion, the casual everyday criminality. Not to mention the various mafias, from the Cosa Nostra to the Camorra and the ’Ndrangheta, that still hold much of the economy of the South (and now also some of the North) in thrall. In January last year—a month after winning the leadership of the Democratic Party and a month before being appointed prime minister by the then president of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano - he struck a deal with Silvio Berlusconi that put his party's old guard’s nose out of joint. The deal was essential to get his reforms approved by the Italian parliament and was negotiated at the Democratic Party headquarters, an ancient building that used to be occupied by a boarding school called Collegio Nazareno. For that reason it became known as the Nazarene Pact, and even if its terms were never officially disclosed, they soon leaked to the Italian media. Berlusconi pledged his Forza Italia party's support for two of Renzi’s key reforms. One was a new electoral system that would guarantee a majority and the other required amending Italy’s postwar constitution, a document based on an extreme idea of democracy with its overbearing checks and balances. Renzi’s is the sixty-third government of the sixty-nine year old Italian Republic. His idea is to reshape the Senate; greatly reducing its size and transforming it into an assembly that would deal mainly with regional affairs, play no part in the creation of the country’s governments, and leave the legislative power in the sole hands of the chamber of deputies. In return, Berlusconi would have a say in the selection of the country’s next president and regain some political credit after his involvement in a long series of judicial proceedings and sex scandals. While the socialist left of the Democratic Party cried betrayal and Berlusconi cheerfully waited for absolution, Renzi quietly pushed the presidential nomination of a Constitutional Court justice named Sergio Mattarella. He, at seventy-four, had spent his life battling Italy’s criminal world (Mattarella’s older brother, a reform governor of Sicily, was gunned down by the Sicilian Mob in 1980, at the age of forty-five). The Democrats’ recalcitrant leftists fell in line behind Mattarella, and then was Berlusconi who cried betrayal. Mattarella became president in January this year and the Nazarene Pact became outdated. Then came Enrico Letta, a gentleman politician who fifteen years earlier had been the youngest minister in the history of the Italian Republic. He was a highly respected member of the Democratic Party and was to lead a government with shaky support from Berlusconi's

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Matteo Renzi

His supporters call him “Italy’s only hope”, skeptics see him as an “illusionist” and his political enemies have tagged him as a “windbag.” I. E. Laudieri Di Biase

party. He lasted ten months as prime minister until rumours spread that Renzi, who had won the Democrats' leadership, was getting ready to take over. Renzi reassured Letta with a condescending tweet: “Stay calm! Nobody wants your job.” The next day, Letta drove to the Quirinale to offer his resignation to Napolitano and by evening, Renzi was the new prime minister. Renzi wanted fresh and appealing faces in his cabinet to signal the end of the old Italian style of politics and he opted for youth and women (eight of the sixteen ministers he appointed were in fact young women.) It worked. A few months later, riding the wave of Renzi’s popularity, the Democratic Party won forty-one per cent of the vote in Italy’s European parliamentary election. It was a spectacular victory for Renzi - better than any Italian party had done in any election since 1946, and certainly enough of a mandate to negotiate his reforms. It has been said that Renzi’s “Rome” is the elevator between his office on the first floor of Palazzo Chigi, the Renaissance building that hosts the government’s headquarters, and his official apartment on the third. His wife remains in Florence where their three children go to a state school and where she teaches Latin and Italian in a high school. Most weekends, Renzi flies home to see them. On the few occasions when the family spends a weekend in Rome, Renzi joins them at a seventeenth-century villa in a tranquil, outlying Roman park, which for years has served as one of the Prime Minister’s official retreats. Twenty months have elapsed since his appointment as prime minister and he has been able—amidst a growing hostility from the left of his own party and all opposing parties like the ramshackle Forza Italia, the populist Movimento 5 Stelle and the right-wing Northern League—to reform the electoral system, labour law, education and the bank industry. After five years of continuous recession, Italy’s economy is finally showing signs of recovery and even unemployment is slowly but steadily decreasing. Possibly Italy has started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Renzi is sure about it that he has recently announced the abolishment of the property tax on primary home (Imu) in 2016, a further reduction of corporate taxes in the same year and a cut of income taxes from 2017. FROM ITALY 27

WORDS and photo Salvatore Rossano

SOGGETTI SONORI

Marranzanu the decline and the revival of an iconic instrument and its traditional repertoire

he fire glowed against the soot covered walls, blackened from years of work. I watched Ignazio’s hands deftly manipulate a piece of metal as streams of sparks flew illuminating his weathered face. The sound of the hammer echoed throughout the dark room, flattening the piece of iron, giving rythm to this ritual: the birth of the Marranzanu. As if by magic, an inanimate object becomes a musical instrument, ready to provide solid accompaniment to a friend’s song, ring out over the crowds of summer festivals and come to life in the mouth of its owner.

I’ve been in my native Italy for nearly two months now, on a fellowship from the “International Specialised Skills Institute”, which is giving me the opportunity to conduct research on Italy’s folk revival. The idea is to improve my own skills for performance back in Australia, as well as report (in the form of several short documentaries) on what is happening here regarding traditional folk music. I’d come to Catania to interview Luca Recupero, and learn about the role of the Marranzanu in Sicilian music today. We met in a Piazza close to the historic centre, an ex-carpark that had been occupied by a cultural organisation. It was transformed into an outdoor library inviting the donation of second-hand books to be freely taken and swapped for others. Luca and I sat on pallet furniture painted in bright colours and he explained the history of the Marranzanu, as we examined over ten different models, none much bigger than the palm of his hand. Then he put one to his mouth, and with an impressive demonstration of rhythm and respiratory technique, he showed me, (and the kids playing nearby) the beauty of an instrument so apparently simple. Luca is no stranger to the firey scene I’d witnessed in the workshop that afternoon. He has been playing the Marranzanu for years, and, simultaneously, researching the instrument that exists, in some form or another, throughout the entire world. He travels internationally with his band I Percussonici on a mission to bring freshness and innovation to an ancient instrument. Luca introduced me to another young and extremely talented musician, Giorgio Maltese. He is focused on recording elderly players and reviving a traditonal repetoire, driven by his passion for a musical culture that not many people know about today. Thanks to 28 REGULARS

him I had the opportunity to meet Ignazio Verona, a smith who learned the job from his father. When he drove me back from Ignazio’s workshop he confessed to me that he was concerned about the future of the traditional music in his region. For it must be acknowledged that the Marranzanu is in decline in Sicily. In souvenir shops there are many toy versions of the instrument to be found next to ceramic figures or tea towels printed with maps of the island. Beware, and do not be fooled, these are not professional instruments. The real Marranzanu is very difficult to find and not many Sicilians will know where they can be bought. They are the objects like the one I felt honoured to witness take shape in Ignazio’s workshop. They are formed by artisans like him, skilled in a craft that is thousands of years old. I am usually saddened by the decline or disapearance of any musical tradition, but thanks to my meetings with Ignazio, Giorgio and Luca, I didn’t leave Sicily with any regret about the Marranzanu. The tradition is certainly not what it once was, but it has been transformed by modern times and is the source of new inspiration. There may not be many players left, and even less artisans capable of forming these instruments from silent strips of iron, but they do exist, and they are incredibly good at what they do. As we say in Italy, “Sono pochi, ma buoni!”

My meeting with Luca! Watch the video on www.segmento.com.au

santataranta@gmail.com www.salvatorerossano.com

Luca Recupero

Some technical details The Marranzanu (also know as marauni, marranzuni, marrucchinu, cacamarruni, malularruni, ‘ngannalarruni, ‘ngannalatruni, ‘ngangalarruni, mariolu...) is one of the most icononic instruments of Sicily’s musical tradition. It is a part of a family known as scacciapensieri (literally, ‘banisher of thoughts’) an instrument of extremely ancient origins (and diffused throughout the world.) It’s a difficult instrument to categorise. It could be considered a lamellophone, given that its composition of a flexible piece of metal attached to a frame, but also a free reed aerophone. The sound is produced by moving the flexible piece of metal and making a vibration. The frame is held between the teeth and the mouth then amplifying the sound, functioning as a resonator. The vibration transmits through the entire head and the tongue modifies the tone. The volume and the intensity of the notes are controlled by breathing. In the past the instrument was used throughout Sicily but also throughout the peninsula. Apart from Sicily it is still played in Sardinia (where it is known as the runfa, trumba, marrancuni, callaruni, zapurra, zampurra, or ganganarruni), Calabria and Campania, where is associated with the gypsies, well-known as musicians and smiths. The instrument is, infact, known there as the tromma, or chitarra degli zingari (literally ‘gypsy’s guitar’) in Calabria, or tromma, tromba degli zingari (‘gypsy’s trumpet’) in Campania.

WORDS and Photo Archimede Fusillo

A future In Their Past part 5 Enzo Vivarelli

ne of the most endearing qualities of Mr Enzo Vivarelli was his frank honesty. He made no lie of the fact that life in Australia for Italian migrants in the early 1960’s was, from his perspective at least, difficult. Nor did he shy away from making it clear that the cultural differences between Italians and the countrymen of their new homeland sometimes ended in physical violence.

“Da qua, é un paradiso” he told me over the phone from his home just outside of Prato where I was a guest of the Monash Centre Prato. “Da lontano (é tutto bello) perché il mare é un filtro.” (From here in Italy, Australia seems like Paradise. From afar it’s all beautiful, because the ocean acts as a filter). Born in La Spezia in 1932, Signor Vivarelli is a cultured and well-educated man, who has lived a life of hard work, opportunity and sound choices. Starting his working life in Italy in electronics he took the opportunity to travel to the United States early on to further his study and experiences. It was an experience that whetted his appetite for travel and adventure. So much so that it was on a whim that he decided to forfeit everything he had in Italy on his return and set out for Australia. “La mia non era una storia tipica” Signor Vivarelli told me. “Non avevo bisogno economico di emigrare. Avevo un buon lavoro e buona paga. Tutti mi dicevano che ero pazzo. Ma la vita in Italia non mi soddisfaceva”. Interestingly enough, the trigger that set off the final resolve to go to Australia was a passage from the Mark Twain novel “Tom Sawyer”, where the main character, on receiving money from his father to return home, is told by the train conductor that he has obviously chosen to return to the mundane and ordinary of life. (Mine was not your typical migrant story. I had no economic reason to migrate. I had a good job. I was well paid. People told me that perhaps I was a little crazy for leaving. But life in Italy didn’t completely satisfy me.)

c’era bisogno di lavorare sempre!” (There was always a certain suspicion of us on the worksites. It was impossible to defend oneself against false impressions, against the propaganda from the war. We did humble work. And how could one learn the language when one was always working, always needing to work). And yet Signor Vivarelli rose above all the small mindedness and prejudice. He made a decision to settle in Australia after meeting the woman who become his wife shortly after he arrived in the country and abandon his electronics background for a very different career. “I sold encyclopaedias to Italians,” he told me in unencumbered English, the irony of this not lost in his tone. “And then I realised that if I could sell encyclopaedias I could sell insurance, which was more lucrative.” With initiative and drive the young Enzo Vivarelli progressed quickly through the ranks of insurance salesmen, moving from Victoria to NSW, helping establish offices in prime Italian communities and building his first family home. By 1968 when his daughter Francesca was born, the Vivarelli family was financially established, had a home in leafy South Yarra, and had put down firm roots in Signor Vivarelli’s adopted homeland. More personal success followed on the heels of hard work and the Vivarelli family were well and truly ensconced in the Australia of the 1970’s, their daughter confidently negotiating school, ultimately graduating and, like so many of her generation, drawn back to the country of her parents’ birth to see grandparents and relatives, and to take in the land she had heard so much about. And like many before her, the Vivarelli’s only daughter Francesca, met and fell in love while in Italy, deciding that she would return there to make a life. Therefore Signor Vivarelli found himself making the full circle back to his roots.

He had no family in Australia. He knew no one. But he was enthusiastic to take on the adventure. But his enthusiasm was dashed not too long into his “adventure”, as he put it.

Interestingly he referred to this call back home as the “Call of the Wild”, referencing the image of the salmon that instinctively returns to the same place over and over, as though by some innate instinct.

“Mi sono trovato male, male” he confided. “Si idealizzano le cose. La realtá é diversa. Noi emigranti eravamo visti come nemici. Era ancora poco dopo la guerra. C’era questa mentalitá verso di noi che noi rubavamo il lavoro agli Australiani.” (I found myself badly off. I think we idealise things. Reality is quite different. As migrants we were seen as the enemy. It was not along after the war. There was this notion that we were taking jobs from the Australians).

When pressed about whether he regretted the decision, and whether he ever missed Australia, Signor Vivarelli paused noticeably before telling me, “Ci sono giorni, si...L’Italia é trascurata. L’Italiano non si indegna. Protesta e basta. C’é un certo provincialismo. Peró sono sicuro che l’Italia si riprenderá. Ci vorrá tempo, non lo metto in dubbio.” (There are days when yes, I think about Australia. Italy has been rather neglected. Italians don’t really involve themselves. They do little apart from protest. There is a certain provincialism about Italians. Yet I am certain that Italy will recover from her malaise. There is still time for this. I have no doubt whatsoever).

“Gli Americani avevano giá assorbito una generazione di emigranti”, he explained, not unreasonably. “L’ Australia era ancora a quel tempo, monolitica. Non aveva comprensione di coloro che non erano Anglosassoni. (The Americans had already absorbed a generation of migrants. Australia was still at that time, monolithic. It had no real understanding of those who weren’t Anglo-Saxon). “Sul lavoro c’era sempre sospetto”, he continued. “Non ci si poteva difendere contro i pregiudizi, contro la propaganda degli anni della guerra. Facevamo lavori umili. E poi, come si poteva imparare la lingua quando

Archimede Fusillo

REGULARS 29

WORDS GERARDO PAPALIA

IL SORPASSO the FILM that speaks of an Italy that

“Hey Roberto, forget about being sad. Do you know what the best time of your life is? I'll tell you, it is the one you are in now.”

magine this: you have some tedious work to do on a midsummer's public holiday: a university exam to prepare for, completion of work left over from a week at the office, a tap to fix, and, everyone in your neighbourhood has left for the beach or the countryside. You are struggling to concentrate on the task at hand and trying not to think of the long lonely day ahead of you. Then you hear the roar of a sports car draw closer and closer. It stops right outside your apartment. A tall dark handsome guy gets out of a Lancia Aurelia B24 Spider, a powerful sports car, both a little worse for wear. He sees you staring at him from the window and asks if he can use your telephone. He is so charming you let him in. At the point of leaving, he asks: “What are you doing here closed up in your apartment? It's a public holiday, and my plans for the day have gone hay why. How about going out for an aperitif in town?” You are 22 and you are in a Roman suburb. It is going to be the hottest day in 1962 and Italy has just reached the cusp of its post-war economic “miracle”. Anyone who is able to move is either on the road or at their destination, anxious to enjoy their new found and fragile prosperity. What would you have done?

What happens afterwards is the story of this film. Its title is Il Sorpasso, literally meaning “The Overtaking”, but transposed into English as “The Easy Life”. Its original title references the aspirations of Italians to shake off their past by overtaking the 30 REGULARS

cultural roadblocks separating them from what they hoped would be a radiant and prosperous future. Directed by Dino Risi at his artistic peak, it is a key film that moves beyond neorealism to become one of the first examples of the “commedia all'italiana”. It will consolidate the road movie genre and inspire films like “Easy Rider”. Those of us who descend from the post-War Italian diaspora can easily recognise the stories told in neorealist films such as Roma città aperta, Sciuscià and Ladri di biciclette, because they belonged to the generation that left a war ravaged country to make a new life outside of Italy. Instead, the films of the “commedia all'italiana” speak of a different Italy, one that can be hard to decipher for Italian-Australians. Many of us have crossed the oceans, attracted by Italy's siren call, often in the hope of making sense of our fragmented identities: to connect the 'Italian' part of ourselves with Italy through our own private “sorpassi” over our own cultural roadblocks. However, on our arrival it is the Italy of the “commedia all'italiana” that we encounter, not the “neorealist” Italy of the stories handed down by our families. To bridge this gap many of us have sought to eke out the traces of this older more familiar Italy, to read the lingering ruins, to encourage our relatives to talk about a past that once bound all our families together. But it is a difficult if not impossible task and our relatives, even if they lived through those times, are reluctant to dwell on them. They have moved on. We realise that we are orphans of our own “Italian” identities. On our return to Australia we try to explain to our families what

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SHOOK OFF its POST-WAR PAST

“Films of the ‘commedia all’italiana’ speak of a different Italy, one that can be hard to decipher for Italian-Australians.” Gerardo Papalia

we found only to be met with blank stares or a dismissive wave of the hand accompanied by the words: “Italy is not what it once was.” But if Italy is not what it once was, where does that leave us? Watching Il Sorpasso may help us fill this gap. It crosses the cultural divide from the Italy our parents or our grandparents knew of the Italy of today. We will be able to identify with the diligent young protagonist of the story, naively loyal to his parents expectations and desires, before he is seduced away by the spirit of the dawning age. Just like the protagonist, we will be unable to resist the invitation to bite deeply into the fruit of knowledge. And if we survive this rite of passage, we may even end up identifying with our seducer. In the end, the only Italy we will be able to relate to is the Italy of today that we have discovered for ourselves, as tragic-comic as it often is. We may have to forge another understanding of who we are. In this process what we thought were our exclusively “Australian” parts will become indispensable. Perhaps we may learn to appreciate our separate and ephemeral “best times in life”. Either way, as happens to the two protagonists, our lives will change forever.

gerardo.papalia@monash.edu

WORDS Hayley J. Egan

ten years a stranger STORIES FROM A DECADE LONG RELATIONSHIP WITH ITALY

My kids learning ‘the way’ on the crowded Italian playgrounds

t must be so weird for them to be dragged around all the time. That was what I was thinking, as jetlagged and weary, we walked down to Ostuni’s Villa Comunale, the city’s green space, housing the only play equipment within a 20 km radius. My partner was pushing the rickety stroller we’d bought as a spare 4 years ago. It lives in my mother-in-law’s garage, and today it was filled with a tired child, too big for a stroller, but enjoying the luxury of having parents who were too exausted to argue. I can’t imagine it’s a comfortable ride, being pushed around Ostuni’s streets in that old buggy. The suspension has never been great, but the potholes in the footpath are so deep that occasionally a front wheel falls into one, bringing the stroller to a violent stop like an un-cooperative pony, and throwing my daughter out onto the pavement. The elderly shoot us disaproving glances when this happens and I try to explain that she’s too big to be strapped in. Raised eyebrows. There was another one on my back in a carrier. He is at the age where he points out everything he sees, practising his elastic vocabulary. My daughter does this too, but in a different way. She turns her observations into questions. She is four, the age of the notorious perchè. Why are we in Italy? Why do I have to sit in my car seat? Why is that man so fat? It’s the interrogative pronoun that is enough to drive the most patient parent to distracton. “Mamma, perchè andiamo al parco se è notte?” “Because we are in Italy now, and it’s summer. There are lights at the park here, and lots of other kids.” “Why are there lots of other kids?” “Because they’re having a play after dinner.” “Why?” “…Let’s see who can be quiet the longest.” When we got there we parked the stroller under an ancient tree with exposed roots so big that kids can climb halfway up the trunk. We vowed to get a photo of our children under the tree their father had known since he was their age. It’s a special presence in a place not celebrated for its flora. I released the wiggling boy from his backpack prison and set him down on his own tiny, strong legs. After all his protests for freedom he stood motionless next to his sister, looking around at the play equipment, covered in swarms of children. I watched them both as they seemed to be trying to locate some kind of space for themselves, some piece of equipment with no child already on it. They stood still, and just kept searching, eyes wide. The first thing that hits you when you land in Italy is the crowds. The massive population in such a tiny peninsular, plus the endless visitors, all just trying to have some experience, whether it be a table at a restaurant, a photograph in front of a monument, a space for a towel on the beach. Life is a rush from one activity to the next, which is why in Italy, one cuts in line at the supermarket, weaves triumphantly to the front of the traffic on a scooter while the cars are blocked at a red light, and takes their coffee standing up. I turned to my partner and made a joke about the playground being a good inititation into the real Italian life: “Where do we get our numerino? Our number marking our place in line for the swing?” The laughter I was expecting never came though, because the only adult member of my audience had to lunge forward to scoop up our son, who’d been knocked over by a pair of bronzed and bespectacled six-year olds. It was fitting, this beginning to our stay in Italy, or to what I have

come to call ‘our other life’. We’ve never lived here as a family, and yet, it is a place we arrive every year, settle in, and call home for a few months. Even my partner, who grew up here, is not immune to culture shock. The constant crowds, the constant activity. If you stand still too long in Italy, someone will run into you, so you’d better wake up. There are places for being idle too, of course, like the beach. But you’d better get there early if you want to find a spot. It’s a huge contrast to the walks through the bush to find a playground completely empty, or our picnics on windy beaches with no-one else around. It didn’t take long, though. It never does. These kids, perhaps because they have been dragged around so, are adaptable. They soon realised that the trick to survival is to just keep moving. By our third visit to the Villa Comunale there was no hesitation at all. They ran over to join the herds of children, and we hovered around nearby like the other parents. No leaning back on the park benches for us. They were all taken. After a summer filled with nights like these, we got used to watching our little girl walk around chatting animatedly with a group of new friends, or rescuing our blonde toddler from the clutches of some enamoured nine-year-old. We’ve been away for ten weeks now, and the Italian school term has recommenced. We are travelling around the country collecting material for a music documentary my partner is working on, and though the streets are still full, there is a business-as-usual feel, and our little ones are the only children around during the day. To keep them busy while their father conducted an interview, we walked through the crisp morning to a park at the edge of town in San Giovanni Rotondo, North Puglia, (as it happens, a stone’s throw from San Marco in Lamis, where most of Melbourne’s Pugliese community hail from). The park had a view of the surrounding mountains. The grass was mown and the equipment was new and shiny, surrounded by empty benches providing a perfect view of the entire playground. A fence stood between the play area and the surrounding roads. Aside from a man in a tracksuit circling us on a jogging path, and a grey-haired woman pushing a baby on a swing, it was just us. It was strange, standing in that nearly empty park. It felt safe, but sterile. Relaxing, but lonely. I was exploring my perception of the space, when my thoughts, as usual, were interrupted.

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“Mamma, ma perché questo è un parco… australiano?”

If you stand still too long in Italy, someone will run into you, so you’d better wake up.. Hayley J. Egan

hayley.j.egan@gmail.com www.hayleyeganart.com REGULARS 31

words ILARIA GIANFAGNA

WORDS IVANO ERCOLE

Two years in Australia that changed the life of a young man from Friuli

AUSTRALIAN DIARY

An Australian Prime Minister Who loves Italy and reads Dante

t seems that to rise to eminence in politics one must endure disappointment and failure. This is particularly true for a political leader. One cannot become a good leader without suffering “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” as says Hamlet in his famous monologue.

Davide Degano

raveling, taking pictures and feeling the real Australia. It looks like the perfect life and in a way it is. This is what the photographer, 24 years old, Davide Degano, from a small town near Udine in the north-eastern Italian region of Friuli, has been doing for the past two years in Australia. He left Italy with his camera, not one word of English and a big desire to discover not only a new continent but also new people. Why Australia? “London was too close and, in a moment of difficulty and loneliness, I could be home in a couple of hours – he says – whereas living on the other side of the world forced me to challenge myself and to cope with every problem and become more mature and aware.” Davide is always looking for something: behind every face, every person and every place there is a story - No matter what! Davide captures the soul of every moment and every situation. His thirst for knowledge comes from his Rastafarian faith. No prejudice, respect for diversity and the belief of being part of a big community: the entire world. “My passion for photography is due to the fact that I love to blend things - he explains - and show through my camera the cultural diversity of places that I’ve seen, music that I've danced and people that I’ve met.” The first place that he visited was Byron Bay, where he decided to study English (thanks to Just Australia), live, work on a farm he also worked as photographer for many events, before moving to Melbourne for one year. “If it were for me I would live my entire life in Byron Bay thanks to the energy that place emanates – he explains – but I needed to see new places.” When he moved to Melbourne he started a very interesting project: taking pictures in the hurry of everyday life of people that nobody notices: homeless, street artists, happy people, sad people, babies, families, businessmen. He created a portrait of routine. Thanks to this project, he obtained many job offers and he started working for Just Australia as the official photographer. “This experience in Australia taught me so many things – he says – and I feel I am a different person, I feel stronger, more open minded and more complete as a person. I also learnt that nothing just happens to you, you have to deserve it, and if you don't know English you have to study a lot and be modest and respectful of the people who surround you”. Now his English is perfect, this is because he studied and he spent his time not only with Italian but mostly with international people. Thanks to his experience in Australia, he was accepted at one of the most important university’s in the world for the photography industry: KABK, the Royal Academy of Art in Holland. Davide’s good level of English, quality and the intensity of his pictures speak for themselves.

Climbing too easily to a top position leads inevitably to an early downfall. This was the case of Julia Gillard who rose to the role of leader of the Labor Party and Australian prime minister with relative ease and, as a consequence, was unable to secure her position not even completing a term as prime minister. John Howard is a classic example of a leader who built his eventually successful career on a series of setbacks. In 1983 he ran for the Liberal leadership and lost. Two years later he acquired it only to see it slip away in the face of bad opinion polls. After a number of false starts he was given another opportunity in 1995. Twelve months later he finally became prime minister as an experienced politician and stayed in the job for nearly ten years. In the United States, much like Howard, Hillary Clinton went through a phase of frustrations. Heading into 2008, she was considered the frontrunner in the Democratic primaries, but did not succeed in getting the nomination. Cast as a symbol of the political establishment, she was ultimately overwhelmed by the Obama juggernaut. Almost eight years on, she now looks more credible as a potential first female, American president. Recently in Australia we witnessed the political resurrection of Malcolm Turnbull who replaced Tony Abbott as prime minister. A former Liberal Party leader, he was deposed by Mr Abbott in 2009 and announced his retirement from politics. He then reversed his decision after his supporters convinced him that his time would come and they were right. Socially progressive, Mr Turnbull has long had high public approval ratings but has been mistrusted by many in his party, particularly among the more conservative wing. He is now seen as the political leader who can open a new chapter in the history of Australia and for his party. With a successful and varied career behind him and a great diversity of interests and abilities, he is the right man at the right time for Australia. John Howard famously said that the times would suit him. Then under Tony Abbott the Liberal Party became dominated by outdated views of yesterday’s men scared of the future. At the same time the once-proud Australian Labor Party imploded, also largely as a result of its anachronistic us-versus-them view of the world. In Malcolm Turnbull, Australia has its first ever truly liberal prime minister and he has the goodwill of most of the Australian population. His ascendancy is also good news for the Italians in Australia. Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy are great lovers of Italy which they have been visiting regularly for many years. I remember his wholehearted participation in a fundraising event in Melbourne for the victims of the Abruzzo earthquake. I met him in the foyer of the reception hall at the Docklands where the event was taking place and he read to me a stanza from the Divine Comedy he was going to mention in his speech. We have never had an Australian prime minister who read Dante.

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