The international conference hosted in the spaces of the CI of Pula, saw the participation of historians and literary scholars, who provided insights and perspectives on Dante's work.

The Divine Comedy is also a journey through Italy. Dante speaks of Sicily, Etna and Scylla and Charybdis. He evokes the fortune of the land of Puglia and Lombardy. He talks about Tuscany and Romagna. And he quotes “…Si com'a Pola near the Carnaro, which closes Italy and bathes its borders”. “So, what better place than Pola to dedicate a conference to the Supreme Poet?”, must have thought the leaders of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia (ANVGD), who, after the stages in Rome and Verona, have brought the “Dante Adriaticus” project to the main urban centre of Istria, an initiative curated by the Provincial Committee of Rome of the ANVGD to protect the historical and cultural heritage of the communities of Italian exiles in Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia.

Safeguarding indigenous Italianness

But not only that. In fact, a second objective of the project is to remember that outside the current borders of Italy there is an autochthonous Italianness of the Eastern Adriatic to be safeguarded, today more than ever, and to be reconstructed in its centuries-old presence there. This was recalled by Donatella Schürzel, national vice-president and president of the provincial committee of Rome of the ANVGD, who last Saturday had the honor and the burden of moderating the international conference of studies "Dante Adriaticus - Sì com'a Pola presso del Carnaro", hosted in the spaces of the Community of Italians of Pola, where several historians, art historians and literary scholars of various origins provided ideas and perspectives on Dante's work, with particular reference to its repercussions and influences in the development of Italianness in the area in question (the Eastern Adriatic), between past and present.

Part of the Motherland

Donatella Schürzel and Renzo Codarin, president of ANVGD, then greeted the many authorities and guests present in the room, but also in remote connection. The microphone was then handed over to Rosanna Turcinovich-Giuricin, of AFIM-LCFE – Associazione Fiumani Italiani nel Mondo-Libero Comune di Fiume in Esilio, who took the opportunity to forcefully reiterate that for her and for the Italians of Istria, Quarnero and in general of the eastern shore of the Adriatic “studying Dante did not only mean studying Italian literature or relating to the father of our language”. “It was a kind of mantra that we recited together with his songs to make our identity even stronger. It was a very important secular mantra for us because it made us feel part of a much larger and much more important reality. It made us feel part of our Motherland”, recalls Rosanna Turcinovich-Giuricin.

The support of the local association

Speakers and guests were then greeted by the hosts. The one who welcomed those present on behalf of the Italian Community of Pula could only be its president, Tamara Brussich, who, thanking the organizers for having given the CI of Pula the opportunity to host a great event like “Dante Adriaticus”, underlined that “the Community of Pula is the home of the Italian language and culture of this city” and that precisely for this reason “those who live with us in the city choose us because they realize that we, our language and our culture give an extra edge”. Tamara Brussich then spoke about the many activities and different initiatives dedicated to the celebration of the seven hundredth anniversary of the death of the father of the Italian language promoted in recent times by the CI, among which the educational-pedagogical-cultural project “Incamminiamoci – Pola incontra Dante” stands out.

Reaffirming Italian and Istrian-Venetian

In addition to the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Italy and the Dante Festival, the Conference was also supported by the Istrian Region and the City of Pula, whose deputy mayor, Bruno Cergnul, in his speech, emphasized the decline of the Italian language and the Istro-Venetian dialect in Pula. “We have had this feeling for years now. Bilingualism in Pula is in decline,” said the representative of the city administration, who nevertheless said he was confident about the survival of Istro-Venetian and Italian in Pula. “Together with the City, various associations and organizations, we have traced a path to follow so that Italian, this beautiful and harmonious language, can once again resonate in the streets and squares of Pula, giving back to the people of Pula that sense and pride of belonging that has always distinguished them.

Rebuilding a future together

“I am happy to have heard the words of the deputy mayor on the commitment of the City of Pula to carry out initiatives for the strengthening and diffusion of bilingualism in this city”, commented the president of the UI, Maurizio Tremul, who focused his speech on the past, present and future relationships between the CNI and the associations of exiles. “Thank you for this valuable and very important initiative, which could soon begin to benefit from the new season of relationships between the CNI and the exiles thanks to the agreements made by the UI and the ANVGD”, commented the president, who in the continuation of the speech underlined that “one has the perception that the knowledge that Dante speaks of is pursued only by those who intend to take possession of it and use it to follow vices and deviations”. "We, instead, sons and daughters of a single people, try to treasure it to rebuild a future of community and brotherhood, starting from the awareness that the true unity and unity of the CNI of Croatia and Slovenia and that of the exiles is the canvas on which to draw, write and design the new pentagram on which to engrave and make resonate 'virtue and knowledge' of a single community. A community that wants and knows how to create culture, that takes care of its own language, its own dialects and traditions and its own very rich history". Thus Tremul, who then wanted to remember that the path of collaboration between exiles and those who remained began many years ago, that it continued in the early nineties and that it was further strengthened with a "path of peace" about ten years ago. “This long journey was finally sealed this summer with the signing of a memorandum of understanding, which it is now up to us to fill with dreams, ambitious visions and a strategy that can make Italy's policy towards these territories evolve to cultivate memory, but above all to manage the present and permeate the future, where there should no longer be room for conflicting visions, but only for harmony and union, for ethical values ​​and sound principles, for virtue and knowledge”, concluded the highest representative of the Italian Union.

Discovering a little-known dimension

Caterina Spezzano, from the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Italy, and the Vice President of the Istrian Region, Jessica Acquavita, then addressed those present. While the former recalled the recent study visit to Pula of several Italian teachers dedicated to the eastern border, the latter highlighted how the identity and culture that Dante speaks of are also our identity and culture. “Dante is very present in Istria,” said the representative of the regional administration, adding that his name is present not only in many of our streets and squares, but also in many CNI institutions named after the Supreme Poet. Called into question and invited to greet those present, the Consul General of Italy in Rijeka, Davide Bradanini, also brought greetings from the Italian Ambassador Pierfrancesco Sacco, noting that focusing on the repercussions and influences of Dante's immense work in the development of Italianness on this shore of the Adriatic means highlighting a dimension that is little frequented and little known both in Italy and in these territories. “I thank the organizers for this,” said the Consul, who also commented on the collaboration between the organizers and the CI of Pula with local institutions, calling it “of crucial importance for the promotion of our language and culture in these territories.” The last speech of this first part of the Conference was by the vice president and deputy of the CNI at the Croatian Sabor, Furio Radin, who emphasized the ideal boundaries and symbols of culture set by Dante and the assumptions and tools that Dante himself provided to break them down and overcome them. Radin also spoke of the associations that Dante’s work is full of. In this regard, he recalled that Dante died in exile. The vice president concluded his speech by inviting the participants of the Conference to address the Dante themes and problems with a spirit of closeness. Finally, the institutional part of the Conference could only end with the awarding of a recognition by the ANVGD, which "for her continuous and tireless activity in promoting the language and for her long commitment within the Dante Alighieri Society of Pola", wanted to reward Professor Silvana Wruss.

Numerous points of view

One after the other, at the working table Egidio Ivetic (University of Padua) and Giovanni Radossi (Centre for Historical Research of Rovigno) were invited. While the former spoke about Pula in the age of Dante, the latter presented the anastatic reprint of the Divine Comedy commented by Niccolò Tommaseo. Maria Grazia Chiappori, from Sapienza University of Rome, spoke about the necropolises of Arles and Pula, while Kristina Fedel Timovski, from the Pula Committee of the Dante Alighieri Society, told the story of the “Dante” of Pula in the Dante centenary. Giuliana Budicin (ANVGD) and Eliana Moscarda Mirkovič (University “Juraj Dobrila” of Pula) illustrated, respectively, the “Gregori Brothers from Parenzo illustrators of Dante on Famiglia Cristiana” and “Dante without borders. Intercultural Dante itineraries at the Alma Mater of Pula”.
After a short break, the interventions continued with Kristjan Knez (Society of Historical and Geographical Studies of Piran and the Italian Center “Carlo Combi”, who talked about the Dante celebrations of 1865 in Istria. And again, Stefano Pilotto (MIB Trieste – School of Management), Donatella Schürzel (Niccolò Cusano University of Rome), Isabella Matticchio (University of Rijeka), Barbara Vinciguerra (La Sapienza University of Rome), Marino Baldini (art historian and archaeologist) and finally Rita Tolomeo (Dalmatian Society of National History) spoke, respectively, about “Dante in the Italian cultural projection in Istria between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century”, “Dante, a 700-year cultural journey in the Adriatic”, “The Italian language at the University of Rijeka”, “Dante through the eyes of women”, “Art in Istria at the time of Dante” and “Antonio Lubin, Dalmatian Dante scholar”.

Steps interpreted by Isabel Russinova

The long but very interesting day of last Saturday ended with the theatrical show “Lectura Dantis” with Isabel Russinova, an initiative desired by the organizers to bring Dante to the attention and listening of everyone in the easiest way: that of the Lectura Dantis or a recitation and interpretation combined with a musical accompaniment of passages, some extremely well-known and known, others a little less so, especially dedicated to Dante's women. During the evening, Isabel Russinova also presented to the public the passage from the Divine Comedy in which Dante mentions Pola. Paolo Pasquini took the stage of the CI of Pola together with the excellent Isabel Russinova.

The Conference continued yesterday with a guided thematic visit to the Necropolis of Nesactium and a walk in the historic center of Pula in the footsteps of Dante.