Italy participated in the first “Luanda Biennial, Forum of Culture and Peace”, promoted by UNESCO in partnership with the African Union and the Government of Angola. Objective of the review: to contribute to the promotion of the “culture of peace” in Africa. 12 African countries and two non-African countries participated: Italy and Brazil.

Italy has installed its own pavilion designed by the architect Claudio Di Curzio and created in collaboration with the Italian craftsman Alessandro Bacchiocchi in the Fortaleza de São Miguel – which hosted the event. The pavilion celebrates the history of Italian-Angolan cooperation and illustrated the welcome that Italy has guaranteed to hundreds of thousands of Africans every day for years. The Italian pavilion is a real jewel, it stands out for its beauty compared to the others and also represents an element of enhancement of the work of promoting Italian design done in Angola in recent years.

On the one hand, the Biennale hosted the “Festival of Cultures”, a major international festival in which all the invited countries present cultural initiatives, as a vehicle for the encounter between cultures in the spirit of the “culture of peace” which the organizers aim to to promote. As part of the “Festival delle culture” numerous cultural events have been organized with artists who have come especially from Italy for theatre, cinema, classical, pop and folk music initiatives. The musical performances of the percussionist Giovanni Lo Cascio and the concert of the mandolinists of the Hathor Plectrum Quartet were realised. A concert was held by the “Kapossoka” street children’s orchestra to crown a historic collaboration, sponsored by the Italian Embassy, with Musicfor International (Maestro Lorenzo Turchi-Floris, assisted by Fabrizia Pandimiglio). In the food and wine field, a tasting of Italian food took place, while as regards the theater, the shows “diversity: a journey or an encounter?” and “Leonardo: the occult work”, (both directed by the director Gianluca Barbadori). The latter show, together with an exhibition on Leonardo da Vinci, commemorated the 500th anniversary of the death of the great Italian genius. Finally, a cycle of Italian and Brazilian cinema. All the cultural initiatives were made possible thanks to the extraordinary financing plan “Vivere all’Italiana”.

On the other hand, the Biennale represented a unique opportunity to reflect on crucial issues for the future of the continent, bringing together actors and partners of the Pan-African movement for the culture of peace (Governments, civil society, the scientific community and artists, the private sector , international organizations and the media). Among the issues on the agenda of the numerous thematic panels were: the role of education, culture and sport in promoting a culture of peace, the prevention of conflicts over natural resources, the reality of refugees and displaced persons, young and entrepreneurship, contrast to discrimination and xenophobia, the role of African diasporas in the world and the role of women, both as a vulnerable group in armed conflicts and as “peace agents”. The reflections and debates of the “Biennale” were structured along the following lines: Forum of partners, Forum of Ideas, Women’s Forum, Youth Forum and the “Festival delle Culture”.