EEF 2019. New Horizons for Italy

Darya KLIMENKO

Italy will make its first appearance at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok on September 4-6. The Italian Embassy to Russia organizes an exhibition "Botticelli. Master of Universal Art. Madonna della Loggia" with Russia's Sberbank support on this occasion.

This year's EEF in Vladivostok has a special significance to Italy. An Italian economic delegation led by Ambassador Pasquale Terracciano will visit the Far Eastern Federal University, the venue of the forum's main events.

The delegation will include representatives of the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce, which celebrated its 55th anniversary in June. Also Vladivostok will be visited by heads of the Enel company, the major Italian investor in Russia, and Maire Tecnimont. The latter concluded the all-time biggest contract in the strategic area of gas refinery two years ago. The subject of the contract is situated in the Far East or, more specifically, in the Amur region. The region offers vast opportunities. Italian companies undertaking the role of pioneers are set to contribute to the long-term industrial development of the territory by means of their innovative and competitive know-how.

Over the past five years, production localization in Russia has been the crucial and necessary step in the new economic paradigm of the country, which is based on quality re-industrialization. Government officials and economic actors from the Italian delegation plan to use the Eastern Economic Forum for broadening their horizons with the territory, which is geographically remote from Moscow but has a growing strategic significance in the federal context and from the angle of access to the Far Eastern markets.

BOTTICELLI TO VISIT VLADIVOSTOK

The unique cultural initiative will make Italy's participation in the forum equally important.

The Italian Embassy in Moscow often indulges Russian public with Italian art masterpieces exhibited in Russian museums. The embassy decided in 2019 that it would go beyond Moscow and St. Petersburg where masterpieces of Caravaggio, Titian, and Rafael, antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and many other items have been exhibited in recent years.

On the occasion of Italy's first attendance of the Eastern Economic Forum, Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece Madonna della Loggia (circa 1467) provided on exclusive terms by the Uffizi Gallery in Florence will be demonstrated in the forum pavilion of Russia's Sberbank, the general sponsor of the project, and, later on, in the Primorye State Art Gallery (on September 8 - November 6, 2019). The painting's journey will not be over then. It will travel across Russia and will be exhibited in the State Hermitage Museum from November 17 till February 16.

Sandro Botticelli's masterpiece Madonna della Loggia (circa 1467)

"The exhibition of Sandro Botticelli's Madonna della Loggia is an opportunity to demonstrate the remarkable masterpiece of Italian Renaissance in the remote region of Russia where the Italian embassy has never exhibited works by Italian fine arts masters before," Italian Ambassador to Russia Pasquale Terracciano said. "The painting will first be exhibited in the Primorye State Art Gallery in Vladivostok, and later on, in November, will be put on display at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg upon the completion of an exhibiting journey across the country. This is a unique event, which has an important, symbolic meaning and represents our intention to promote Italian culture even in the most remote regions of the Russian Federation and to boost the accessibility of our art to numerous fans of Italy around the country."

One of the most significant paintings of Italian Renaissance will for the first time be displayed in Russia, which has not had much of Botticelli's exhibitions till now. There are only four of his works in Russian museums (the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and the State Hermitage Museum). Paintings of Botticelli, a true symbol of Italian art and global, universal culture, rarely leave their museums and even more rarely travel outside Italy, since they are deemed to be priceless cultural heritage of the country.

The demonstration of the Botticelli painting will enrich cultural life of Vladivostok and the entire Primorye Territory. The global-level project will bring the city's cultural life to a whole new level, which is particularly important in the light of the government's initiative to develop the cultural cluster in Primorye. The project envisages the opening of a museum and exhibition complex in Vladivostok to unite branches of four major museums: the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Hermitage, and the State Museum of Oriental Art.

A catalogue with articles by major Italian and Russian art critics dedicated to paintings of Italian Renaissance and, especially, Botticelli, has been prepared for the exhibition. The host museum has organized an additional program of conferences, lectures, and film shows.

The demonstration of one masterpiece will enable museum visitors to see and appreciate the piece of art through direct, profound and highly personal interactive experience. The exposition will tell visitors about the master of Renaissance and universal art, Botticelli, and will demonstrate abilities of culture as a universal language of diplomacy and inter-state communication in the international context.

The initiative sponsored and supported by the Italian Embassy in Moscow is organized by the Uffizi Gallery, the Primorye State Art Gallery in Vladivostok, and the State Hermitage Museum together with the MondoMostre company and with the assistance of the Roscongress Foundation.

A source: The magazine of CCIR - RUSSIAN BUSINESS GUIDE ITALIAN-RUSSIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, September, 2019

CCIR site