The Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Giorgio Silli, visited today the compound that houses the Italian Cultural Institute and State School in Addis Ababa.
During his visit to the IIC in Addis Abeba, Undersecretary Silli, accompanied by Ambassador Agostino Palese, was warmly welcomed by the Director of the Institute, Semen Kumurzhi, and his collaborators.
The Director introduced the cultural and linguistic activities to the Undersecretary and, in particular, showed the rich library and the modern Auditorium, which these days is hosting the first Training Course “Prehistory & UNESCO Archaeological Sites” for the benefit of 50 tourist guides of the ETGPA – Ethiopian Tourist Guides Professional Association. This is a full immersion educational project held by a joint team of 10 scholars and university professors (with whom the Undersecretary wanted to speak) and organized on the occasion of the recent inscription, on the UNESCO World Heritage List, of the site of Melka Kunture, where an Italian-Spanish archaeological mission operates.
The Undersecretary of State also visited the art exhibition “So Close, yet So Far” by the famous Italo-Ethiopian painter Yared Olivelli and appreciated a series of murals, some in augmented reality, created by the IIC in AddisAbeba with the aim of embellishing the compound, giving it a modern Italian artistic imprint.
The visit of Undersecretary Giorgio Silli enhanced the fruitful cultural dialogue underway between the two Countries, giving new impetus to the cultural and linguistic promotion of the Institute, carried out together with the Embassy and in collaboration with the other Italian institutions in Ethiopia.
