Art exhibition – “Italia”

Alexis International Fine Art, 57 Mandeville Street, Riccarton, opens on 10 Apr.

Following on from his 2006 success in New York, 2007 has seen Keith Morant enjoy even greater success in Europe. Keith was presented with the ‘Premio alla Carriera’ –‘The Lorenzo Il Magnifico Award for a Lifetime Achievement in Art’.

This time the Alexis International Fine Art presents what Keith terms the “fruit of his foray” into Italy. In May he opens in Bologna through his Italian curators, Trevisan International Art, a show titled ‘Little Treasures’. For more information visit www.alexisart.co.nz

Monthly Meetings – House-finding in Abruzzi

Linwood Community Arts Centre, crn. Stanmore & Worchester Rds, Wed. 9 Apr., 7:30pm
Since visiting regularly the Abruzzi region and helping lots of Cantabrians find the home of their dreams there, Gail Hopkins has plenty of stories to tell and pictures to show. Abruzzi, where the spaghetti western movies are filed, is the latest real estate hot spot following Tuscany and Umbria. Abruzzi is unspoiled, with harsh mountains and mellow sea, Roman ruins and Medieval towns...and plenty of good food and hospitality.

After the talk there will be complimentary supper - Spaghetti with Sauce Abruzzi style and coffee made with our new Bialetti mega-caffettiera.

March Activities!!!

Rather than our regular meetings, we start the year with two very different but equally exciting activities.

On Monday 10 March at 7:30pm there is a concert by Italian pianist Filippo Faes. Filippo Faes is professor of chamber music at the Conservatory of Castelfranco Veneto. He holds masterclasses in Europe and the USA (North Texas University) and is often a member of the jury of international competitions. Since 1999 RAI SAT Television has already broadcasted three times the ten sequels of "Conversations at the piano with Filippo Faes", a program he created and played in. He is one of the candidates for the current Piano vacancy in University of Canterbury; and we wish him all the best. The concert is at the Great Hall of the Arts Centre, tickets cost $15 or $10.

On Saturday 15 March the Dante Society will again join the other ethnic communities for the Culture Galore (12pm - 4pm,Ray Blank Park, Maidstone Rd). Please come and have some real espresso and to know more about our activities this year. No matter you are Italians living in Christchurch, students of the Italian language, or someone just being interested in the Italian culture, we are looking forward to seeing you there!!

Cartolina

Cari amici, welcome to the new year of Cartolina programs “for those who remember Italy and who dream of it”.

Some of you have already discovered the convenience of listening in their own time, through the internet, simply visiting here. Select “Cartolina” and you’ll get the list of all available programs.
If you are keen on the actual radio broadcast, tune in on PLAINS FM 96.9 on alternate Wednesdays at 7.30 pm, or listen to the repeat program on the following Monday, at 10.30 am. Contents of the single programs are on the “Radio Program” page of the Dante website

The upcoming programs are:

Tribute to Pavarotti. In four programs, from 23 January to 5 March, Cartolina celebrates Pavarotti’s artistic life playing some of his famous and less famous recordings, interspaced by comments from a number of people with connection or interest in the opera world: Beverley Cock and Dame Malvina Major (23 January), Luca Manghi and Ruth Todd (6 February), the former Italian Ambassador, Liana Marolla, and Christopher Doig and Suzanne Prain (20 February), and Antony Ernst and Denis Walker (5 March).

Mercatini (19 & 24 March). Guests Lis Burt & Frans Huysmans, owners of the Mercatini shops in Auckland-Newmarket and in Christchurch at 216 Madras St., talk about their expeditions through Italy to source great furniture, made by artisans who follow traditional hand craft methods. Recipe: prawns with cannellini beans. We’ll play a song, just received from a young Italian song writer, Gerardo Amato: “Cha cha cha della nostra Italia”, and more music, from the Tuscan folk repertoire.

Abruzzi (2 & 7 April). Gail Hopkins tells how to find and buy a house in the Abruzzi, an Italian region full of great secrets. From her first trip there, to the connection with “il Trovacasa”, and then establishing “the Housefinder”, it’s all an adventure connecting New Zealand with Roman-founded Sulmona and the Peligna Valley.

Italian Children's School

The Italian Children's School has started on Friday afternoon the 15th of Feb. in Opawa at the Risingholme Community Centre. For more information about the school please write to Maria Fresia at mariafresia1@hotmail.com

Authentic Venetian Masks

If you have come to the Italian National Day dinner last year or the our Christmas stand at the Arts Centre, you might have seen the beautiful Venetian masks made by our Venetian friend Alberto. Now you can buy them at a very reasonable price at the furniture store Mercatini, 216 Madras St. (click "read more" to read more...)

Mercatini (and its twin shop in Newmarket, Auckland) sells wonderful artisan's furniture imported from Italy. The owners of Mercatini are happy to keep the masks for decoration of their shops and to sell them on our behalf. Please go there and have a look if you are considering getting a mask or a beautiful piece of furniture!