Sixtieth Gathering of Fiumani in the name of the cultural return to the city of origin, which from the end of October to November 3, 2023 will see them protagonists of meetings, conferences, presentations and convivial moments. The organization sees united various acronyms that together with the Association of Fiumani Italians in the World - Livero Municipality of Fiume in Exile will give life to the events: from the Community of Italians of Fiume, to the Society of Fiumani Studies, the Italian school, the Department of Italian Studies, the ART Kino and the Municipality of Fiume itself which makes the Council Hall available for a moment of great importance.

All eyes on the bilingual box set by the great author from Fiume Franco Vegliani with the presentation of his most famous work “La frontiera” (The Frontier). And also the most current at this time when borders show all their tragic arrogance. Professors from the Universities of Genoa, Trieste and Fiume, as well as journalists and writers, were called to underline the event.

In the year in which the Schengen enlargement has erased the physical barriers between countries, arriving in Rijeka is a moment, savouring an intimate sense of freedom is legitimate, hoping that this situation will consolidate, despite the signs of war coming from various parts of the continent and the Mediterranean, is everyone's commitment, each in the intimacy of their own realities and skills.

What does it mean today The frontier? It is a warning, a starting point for deep reflection, an invitation to review the strategies of the present and the future. The book by Franco Vegliani, published in 1964, tells the emblematic fate of two young soldiers born on the Dalmatian-Kvarner islands who fight the First and Second World Wars having to deal with their belonging. Their consciences are burdened by the world they come from, the harshness of history that overwhelms them and a sense of border that cannot fit within the definitions of statesmen and strategists, overflows, raises doubts, is agitated asking for respect and justice. But wars are never just, wars must always be rejected, an awareness that, despite itself, can be harmful for one side or the other, wars create disorientation and suffering. A reflection that today more than ever reveals its incredible relevance.

Franco Vegliani, himself a soldier in Africa, narrates in the novel the awareness of these two young men in the two wars that will be decisive in their destiny.

But the year of the 60th Gathering of the Fiumani, is also the year in which the borders fall with the expansion of Schengen and is enriched with many contents even before reaching the conference in Fiume, a large delegation of the AFIM and the Italian Community, will be welcomed on Friday 27 October in Trieste by the Mayor Roberto Dipiazza, who at the Italian Community of Fiume on 10 January 2023 had participated in the meeting dedicated to the cancellation of borders and the opening to an increasingly important European space.

That same afternoon at IRCI, Massimo Superina's book “Fiume al lavoro” will be presented. The following day, the people of Fiuman will be present at the MLHistria awards ceremony in Visinada, on Sunday they will visit the gallery of the Fiuman artist Bruno Paladin in Grožnjan, and on Monday morning they will meet the Historical Research Centre in Rovinj and in the early afternoon the Italian Community.

The following day, after the conference on Franco Vegliani, the Michele Maylender Award will be presented to the Italian Community and in the evening at the ART Kino there will be a screening of Franco Giraldi's film "La frontiera" based on Vegliani's book.

Other meetings will follow in Istria on November 1st with the history and local reality of the area of ​​Pasino/Gimino. In the evening the presentation at the CI of Fiume of the CD of Canzoni fiumane signed by Squarcia-Valencic-Pamich.

The traditional meeting at the Cosala Crypt and other association meetings on November 2nd.

November 3 will be dedicated to schools with the awarding of the Prizes of the “Liberiamo la fantasia” Competition and, to conclude, a moment of great importance, the awarding of the Prizes for the best degree theses selected by the professors of the Department of Italian Studies of Fiume and the scholarships for the students who will attend Italian courses at the University of Perugia next summer.

Further information: info@fiumemondo.it