DANTE NEWS

Calendario

July 12 – Start of Term 3

July 24 – Dante 700th anniversary

July 16 – Book club e DANTE July 23 - Conversazione

Date Claimer:

August 1 – Cineforum

SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI "il mondo in italiano"

Newsletter of the Dante Alighieri Society Inc. Brisbane LUGLIO 2021

DANTE ALIGHIERI SOCIETY

26 Gray Street,

New Farm, QLD 4005

Postal address:

PO Box 1350

New Farm, QLD 4005

Phone: 07 3172 3963

Mobile: 0401 927 967

Email:

info@dante-alighieri.com.au

Web address:

www.dante-alighieri.org.au

PRESIDENT

Claire Kennedy

info@dante-alighieri.com.au VICE-PRESIDENTS

Rosalia Miglioli

r.miglioli@griffith.edu.au

Mario Bono

info@dante-alighieri.com.au

SECRETARY

Colleen Hatch

info@dante-alighieri.com.au

TREASURER

Kay Martin

info@dante-alighieri.com.au

EDITOR

GUEST EDITORS

Bernadine e Rosalia

Inside

○ Dalla Presidente ○ Dante 700 ○ Dalla scuola ○ Ricordiamo Carlo ○ Autobiografia

Read page 3 for details about this exciting event hosted by the Brisbane DAS

Pagina 2 SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI, BRISBANE luglio 2021

Dante matters

from the pen of the President…

We are grateful to Salvatore for involving

Danteatro in these events, which have left us keen

to go further with reading, reciting and talking

about the Divina Commedia in future.

At the Tuscan dinner it was fascinating to hear

about Sir Samuel Griffith, the first Australian

translator of Dante (for whom translation of

the Divina Commedia was a recreational activity

providing a break from his demanding work as

Chief Justice), and the architect and sculptor

Andrea Stombuco from Lucca who designed many

schools, grand houses, churches and public

buildings in Brisbane and Ipswich in the 1870s and

1880s, mostly now heritage-listed. The speakers

were Dr Karen Schultz, from the Law School at

Griffith University, and Paul Amabile, president of

the Associazione Toscani nel mondo del QLD &

NT, respectively. We hope to have presentations on

Sir Samuel Griffith and Andrea Stombuco at the

Dante in the future.

COMING UP! on 24 July is a very special event

indeed: our contribution to the Dante700 National

Seminar Series - the year-long seminar/webinar

series exploring Dante’s life, works and influence

that is being organised collectively by the various

DAS committees around the country.

I hope to see you at the Heritage Hall on 24 July.

Read more about this event on page 3.

Viva Dante!

Claire

Cari amici,

Congratulations and warm thanks go to everyone

involved in making our recent and upcoming

events so memorable.

A lively gathering was held on 12 June to celebrate

Carlo, with family and friends sharing happy and

moving stories, photos and videos. Many of us

spoke of how much we owed to Carlo's inspiration

and support. It was also an opportunity to

remember Carlo's ideas and energy in setting our

Dante school on a new path, all those years ago,

establishing it as the creative and welcoming

learning space that it has continued to be.

June was an exciting month for Danteatro, living

up to our name - literally - in putting on Dante-

themed performances. At the Consul's official

reception for Republic Day on 2 June, we created

a tableau vivant in which Dante, Beatrice and

Virgilio posed under a frame garlanded with olive

branches. The Consul, the Premier and many

guests were delighted to be photographed in

conversation with these characters.

Then at a dinner held on 18 June to celebrate and

promote links between Tuscany and Queensland -

as part of Consul Salvatore Napolitano's Giro

d’Italia through Queensland project (see

www.giroditaliathroughqueensland.com/), and in

conjunction with the Associazione Toscani nel

mondo - Danteatro was invited to provide a

reading with brief introduction. Trained by our

local dantista Dr Drina Oldroyd, we read from

Canto XXVI of Inferno, where Ulysses recounts

his final adventure: a voyage into the southern

hemisphere in search of unknown lands.

2

Pagina 3

SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI, BRISBANE luglio 2021

VII Centenario Dantesco

A DIVERSITY OF

AUSTRALIAN

VOICES

Samuel Wagan

Watson

***

Dr Chris Mooney-

Singh

***

Dr Drina Oldroyd

As mentioned in the President letter, on Saturday 24 July there will be a very special event indeed: the

Brisbane DAS Committe contribution to the Dante700 National Seminar Series.

Like all events in the series, ours will be broadcast by webinar but do come in person if you can - Covid

restrictions permitting - at the Heritage Hall in Wooloowin, as it will be exceptionally interesting!

The three speakers will reflect on the theme we have chosen: a diversity of Australian voices.

Award-winning Indigenous poet, essayist and scriptwriter, Samuel Wagan Watson (born in Brisbane, of

Munanjali, Birri Gubba, German and Irish descent), will present a work taking inspiration from

Dante's Purgatorio to reflect on the contemporary world. Life member of the Brisbane DAS and Dante

scholar, Dr Drina Oldroyd, will speak on the various responses of Australians of different backgrounds to

the Divina Commedia, drawing on her decades-long experience of facilitating reading groups on Dante as

well as teaching university students. Dr Chris Mooney-Singh, poet, fiction writer and part-time academic,

will speak to "Heavens and Hells, Western and Eastern: An allegorical look at Dante’s Divina

Commedia and Harold Stewart’s Autumn Landscape Roll", considering the impact of Dante's work as an

architectonic blueprint for Harold Stewart's 'Buddhist Divine Comedy'.

ASSOLUTAMENTE DA NON PERDERE!

Saturday 24 July

Heritage Hall, 28 Chalk St, Wooloowin

2:00pm to 4:00pm

Entry $25 ($20 full time students)

Afternoon tea will be served at interval

Booking essential: 0401 927 967

info@dante-alighieri.com.au

The full Dante700 Australian programme is at https://danteaustralia.org/ . Also this month, our Mildura DAS

friends are holding a dinner on 9 July, hosted by the well-known chef Stefano de Pieri, who will recite from

the Divina Commedia during the evening. 3

Pagina 4

SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI, BRISBANE luglio 2021

Fine del secondo trimestre

Arrivati alla fine del secondo trimestre gli studenti si sono salutati in vari modi: chi ha mangiato e

bevuto in una pizzeria, altri si sono dati da fare portando il mangiare e bere a scuola e invece un

numeroso gruppo ha voluto cimentarsi con l’italiano giocando a trivia. Comunque, a modo loro, pare

che tutti si siano divertiti.

4

Risposte al quiz pubblicato a giugno:

Teatro alla Scala

Museo casa Dante Alighieri

La torre Pendente a Pisa

Angkor Vat in Cambogia

in pizzeria per salutarci e per brindare

Robert che compie… gli anni!

Pagina 5

SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI, BRISBANE luglio 2021

Dalla scuola

Carissimi studenti, è stato molto stimolante avervi con noi per il primo e il secondo trimestre di quest’anno,

essere ritornati a fare le lezioni in classe è decisamente un modo di insegnare più entusiasmante per noi della

scuola DA. Vogliamo tanto rivedervi tutti, dopo una dovuta pausa per ricaricare l’animo e lo spirito,

ricordatevi di farcelo sapere!

We would like to see you all back for another fun filled and educational term starting on Monday 12

July. A new course for ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS will be offered in July – tell all your friends – as will

be continuing Conversation, Bookclub and a circolo on Music.

It is important that we have your enrolment form so that we can make sure your class will continue.

Pick up the enrolment forms from the school or on the DAS website.

To get the enrolment form: https://dante-alighieri.com.au/site/school/classes

to write an email: info@dante-alighieri.com.au to telephone: 0401 927 967

5

BOOK CLUB venerdì pomeriggio 16 luglio

dalle 15:30 alle 17:00

CIRCOLO DI CONVERSAZIONE

venerdì pomeriggio 23 luglio dalle 15:30 alle 17:00

Il costo è di $100 per i cinque incontri di ogni circolo

Presentations from around Australia

On these Fridays from 5:00pm we will view the contributions to the celebrations of the 700th anniversary of Dante of Australian branches of DAS. On July 16 we will listen to the presentation from Sydney These presentations are in English.

CINEFORUM Sunday 1 August

4:00pm (Dante rooms)

Volevo nascondermi is a 2020 Italian

biographical drama film co-written,

directed and co-edited by Giorgio

Diritti.

It stars Elio Germano as Italian

painter Antonio Ligabue, who lived a

notoriously reclusive life, troubled

with physical problems and mental

illness.

Antonio is expelled from Switzerland to

Italy against his will. For years he lives in

poverty in the Po floodplains, but he

never gives up his passion for drawing. It

is the story of Antonio Ligabue, a

revolutionary loner in modern art.

Italian subtitles

Australian Red Cross

New Farm Branch (Celebrating 37 years in 2021)

Please arrive by 10.00 am for 10.30

Tuesday 20th July 2021

New Farm Six Cinemas

701 Brunswick Street, New Farm

$15 includes: Film, food, drinks and Lucky Door prizes

Enquiries:

Bruna Burello-Day 3254 0091 / 0417 190 675

Pagina 6

SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI, BRISBANE luglio 2021

Chi era Carlo?

Durante il pomeriggio con tanti degli amici della famiglia Zincone, Mila ci ha

raccontato qualcosa di Carlo: cose che ha fatto e cose che ricordiamo.

When Carlo first came to Brisbane, he must have wondered where he’d fetched up. A decent coffee was nowhere to be had (desperate for one, in his lunch-break he’d scour the city streets in vain), yet salt was apparently available everywhere, all manner of shop advertising ‘SALE, SALE!’. He was also puzzled by what he took to be massage parlours in many suburbs, somewhat seedy looking joints in industrial areas emblazoned ‘Body Works’. Eventually he was told it was car bodies worked on there, not human. Meanwhile the body of the rather ramshackle house they’d bought in Miskin Street was being worked on by Italian friends, whose company was appropriately called ‘Domus constructions’. One day, opening the door to a delivery man, Mum was asked, ‘Are you Mrs Doormouse?’.

Fast forward some years

Of the scores of Dante Society and Griffith Uni Italian events Carlo had a hand in a few standout:

- the reception in the Dante rooms at Creek Street following a group visit to the Pompeii AD79 exhibition, when Carlo had the idea of serving slices of watermelon and roasted ceci (chickpeas) to represent the flames and ash.

- when Fiorella and Carlo’s students at Griffith staged Luigi Pirandello’s one-act play La Giara on the Humanities lawn. 'Mpari Pè is here with us today. The giara itself languished under our house for years afterwards. Perhaps it could come in handy for something?

- La Piazza, theme of the most successful Italian immersion weekend, held at Stagnopoli (some still call it Stanthorpe). You’ll see footage of it here today - Grazie Francesco! A typical Italian piazza was recreated, with all the various activities which take place there. Much fun was had by all.

- perhaps the most memorable Dante function for Carlo though was one held some years earlier

in the Roma Street rooms, when his brother-in-law Eugenio (a close friend of Carlo’s long before marrying his sister Elena) spoke and showed a film he’d made of Rome. For the first time Carlo’s two worlds came together. He was clearly moved by the occasion.

At that stage Carlo couldn’t know that, after a

long and sometimes painful separation, he was to see his Roman family at regular intervals: from the mid-80s onwards, he started taking Dante and Griffith students on biannual Winter tours of Italy. Several participants are here today.

…continues on page 7

6

Pagina 7

SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI, BRISBANE giugno 2021

Chi era Carlo? ...continua He came into his own as Cicerone but it could have its hitches. Travelling by train one time with a large group which had dispersed to find seats, as they approached their

station, to get everyone’s attention Carlo shouted ‘scendere tutti!’ (everybody off). So the compartment duly emptied onto the platform. While Carlo’s group reunited, the other passengers were left scratching their heads, wondering why on earth they’d been ordered

off the train. There are so many stories from our trips to Italy:

- the time in Palermo when Dario Fo, doing a one-man show which we’d been told was sold out, invited the group to share the stage with him

- the time we climbed the clock tower in Piazza San Marco to watch i mori strike the hour, only to discover the mechanism had been frozen all afternoon. We were offered a free ticket we couldn’t use but got to see the clock’s innards

- the time, his feet sore from walking around Milano all day, Carlo wore his K-Mart kung-fu

slippers to La Scala (he was very proud of that)

Of course, there are lots of stories from home too:

- the time Carlo taught our dog Sasha to read, Italian naturally. He always spoke Italian to dogs (and small children) who had no trouble understanding him, as Luath and Angus can attest

- the time he cooked polenta which wouldn’t set and, when it finally did, despite being starving and irritated we had to find some string to cut it with because that’s what was done

- the times we’d sing when stuck in traffic on the Bruce Highway coming home from the beach. Mum used to wonder why all Italian songs had the same tune before realising Carlo was tone deaf

Carlo wanted us to remember good times spent together. That won’t be hard since

there were so many of them. As he liked to say, ‘Good onya, mate!’.

So, to echo our departed friend,

mi raccomando: abbiate pazienza, fate le cose con criterio, e godetevi la vita!

(be patient, do things well, enjoy life!)

7

Ringraziamo di cuore l'altra famiglia di Carlo, la

Società Dante di Brisbane, per tutto l'impegno,

l'amore e la buona volontà che ci avete messo per

far riuscire così bene la celebrazione della sua vita il

12 giugno.

È stata veramente una bella

occasione.

Vi siamo molto grate.

Mila e Marge

Pagina 8

SOCIETÀ DANTE ALIGHIERI, BRISBANE luglio 2021

Autobiografia Anche quest’anno gli studenti di italiano del secondo anno all’università di Griffith si sono

adoperati nello scrivere la loro autobiografia e, come sempre, la commissione che ha letto i loro

saggi è rimasta stupita dalla creatività delle loro interpretazioni. Ci rammarica il fatto di dover

scegliere un vincitore, tutti gli scritti sono degni di premi.

Il vincitore del concorso ‘Frammenti di vita’ del 2020 è James Coggins, cominciamo a pubblicare

il suo capolavoro che poi continuerà nelle prossime edizioni.

Casa foglia ed altri luoghi

Per tutta la vita viviamo in una varietà di luoghi. Ci circondiamo con le persone e le

cose con cui risuoniamo affinché possiamo appartenere a qualcosa di più grande di noi

stessi. Ognuno di questi luoghi è come una casa – anche se non siamo cresciuti lì o se

da allora ci siamo allontanati, una parte di noi vive ancora al suo interno. In questa

autobiografia (di un certo tipo), condividerò con te alcune delle case in cui ho vissuto,

sia per molti anni o per solo un momento nel tempo. Mentre tutte hanno qualche

variazione di quattro pareti e un tetto, tutte per me significano qualcosa di diverso. In

questo senso, non è né la qualità materiale di questi luoghi né il passare del tempo che

le ha rese significative. Invece, è qualcosa di più intangibile e indescrivibile; uno

spirito da ognuna di loro che si è aggrappato a me e ha contribuito ad essere ciò che

sono oggi.

Casa pietra

Da dove cominciare un’autobiografia se non nel più ovvio dei posti: mi chiamo James

(piacere). Sono un uomo di ventun anni da Byron Bay ed abito a Brisbane. Ho i capelli

lunghi castani, la barba e i baffi e il fisico magro. Indosso le camicie spesso, di solito

con i pantaloni e una cintura. Ho una collezione grande di calzini con molti colori

diversi e molti modelli diversi.

Ma, ho la sensazione che quando la gente chiede ‘chi sei tu?’, voglia i verbi invece dei

soggetti. Quindi, che cosa faccio? Beh, mi piace passare la maggior parte del mio

tempo con i miei amici più cari che ho incontrato al liceo.

Abitiamo insieme a Stones Corner e naturalmente

condividiamo molte attività insieme. In particolare, ci

piace uscire al pub, giocare video giochi o guardare la TV

e i film. Ma ci piace anche fare le ‘cose noiose’ insieme,

come appendere fuori il bucato, lamentarsi della vita al

tempo di pranzo e fare la spesa. Siamo una piccola

famiglia felice. Abbastanza spesso, tuttavia, preferisco

essere solo con un romanzo o un film. Di solito leggo e

guardo tutto ciò che è acclamato dalla critica di tutti i

generi e di tutte le culture, ma mi piace il genere horror in

particolare. Sento che la sua affinità con ‘lo strano’ gli

permette di esplorare nuovi estremi creativi mentre anche offre alle persone un’intensa esperienza emotiva.

Alcuni dei miei preferiti lavori in questo genere includono il libro Frankenstein di Mary Shelley e il film

Possesssion di Andzej Zulawski. Ma naturalmente, non tutto il mio tempo è trascorso ricreativamente. Quando non sono con i miei amici o

con un romanzo, sto studiando per la mia laurea in studi internazionali. A parte la mia materia principale

l’italiano, mi specializzo nello sviluppo internazionale che si interroga su come il benessere umano possa

essere "migliorato" attraverso una serie di meccanismi sociali e politici. È un argomento che mi affascina

siccome credo che incarni molti dei problemi di oggi mentre fornisce anche le riposte per il futuro.

Continua il mese prossimo 8