A Report on the Third Biennial ACIS Conference, Treviso 2005
At the end of June 2005 a large Australian contingent arrived in Treviso for the Third Biennial conference of the Australasian Centre for Italian Studies (ACIS). The Cassamarca Foundation had generously made its sophisticated convention centre in Casa dei Carraresi available for the conference, along with Palazzo dell’Umanesimo Latino, both magnificent palazzi restored by the foundation. Casa dei Carraresi is located immediately behind the Foundation’s headquarters in Ca’ Spineda and combines impressive state-of-the-art technology and elegant modern furnishings with the charm of a beautifully restored late medieval structure.
Treviso itself proved to be an excellent site for a conference. Its compact centre meant that most participants were within walking distance of the venues, and its pretty squares and courtyards housed many good bars and trattorie. And despite the organising committee’s initial misgivings about the number of researchers and students who would be able to travel the great distance from Australasia, there was a particularly large number of participants, including postgraduate students. Participants travelled not only from Australia and various parts of Italy, but also New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and France in order to present papers or simply listen to those of others.
The conference theme was L’Italia globale: le altre Italie e l’Italia globale, a theme that was able to encompass the wide range of research interests represented under the broad umbrella of “Italian Studies” and tie in with the Cassamarca Foundation’s mission to keep Italian culture alive in the world. Overall there were nearly ninety papers presented on topics as diverse as Dante, Australian culture in Italy, and migration studies. To accommodate the number of submissions, there were three parallel sessions organised according to research themes. At one stage this resulted in the curious effect of the dulcet tones of Kylie Minogue, whose music was played during a presentation on Australian music in Italy, wafting through to a neighbouring panel session on aspects of Medieval and Early Modern culture.
Three keynote speakers were invited, each representing a different research area, including Italian literature, sociolinguistics and the contemporary Italian economy. Professor Joe Farrell, from the department of Italian Studies at Strathclyde University, Scotland, presented a very lively paper on the role of the actor in the Italian theatrical tradition, and its impact on the role of the playwright. Dr Ada Valentini, researcher in Glottology and Linguistics at the University of Bergamo, presented a paper on migrant communities in Italy and language usage, a paper with broad appeal. Professor Ferruccio Bresolin, a Treviso local already known to many ACIS members because of his previous visits to Australia, spoke on the position of the Italian economy in the global market. All three papers gave rise to lively discussion in question time, often prompting researchers from entirely different fields to provide another perspective on the subject. This exciting exchange of ideas is exactly the kind of result that organisers of such an interdisciplinary conference hope to stimulate.
The first day of the conference was the most formal. As is natural, the organisers welcomed the participants in the morning, but the more official launch of the conference was held in the afternoon, when the president of the Cassamarca Foundation, Dr Dino De Poli, and His Excellency Mr Peter Woolcott, Australia’s Ambassador to Italy, could both be present. Dr De Poli was invited to officially open the conference, and Mr Woolcott accepted the invitation to launch the books. Their presence lent great dignity to the occasion, as did that of Professor Alan Robson, Vice Chancellor of The University of Western Australia, who joined us as a mark of respect to the Foundation for its outstanding support of Italian Studies in Australia. ACIS is administered from UWA. It was gratifying to see an Australian Vice Chancellor throw his weight behind Italian Studies by speaking at the launch and participating actively in many of the conference sessions.
For those who had met Dr De Poli before, his speech confirmed that he was a man of great vision, as he outlined some of the Foundation’s many activities and concluded by expressing a desire to see ACIS organise an event on “Europe and Australia”, perhaps in Melbourne. This is an exciting idea and one which the ACIS committee will give considerable thought to. Following the official opening, everyone assembled in the foyer of Ca’ dei Carraresi, drinks in hand, while the ambassador spoke briefly about the importance of ongoing Italian-Australian ties and read out the titles of the books he was launching. Most of these books formed part of a display. [A list of these titles is attached]. The book launch provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the very palpable results of the Cassamarca Foundation’s investment, as many of the authors were Cassamarca lecturers or ACIS committee members.
The following evening the conference dinner was held, and Professor Richard Bosworth, author of (among other things) a renowned Mussolini biography, made some humorous reflections on the conference and research activities in the field. Presentations were made to our keynote speakers and the Cassamarca Foundation to thank them for their involvement. We were infinitely grateful to the Cassamarca Foundation, not only for the venues, but also for the efficient technical support and help with that essential ingredient of any good conference - the catering.
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