Black Italia. New Ways of Being Italian Explored Through Arts and Activism

Description

This series of talks explored themes connected to Blackness in Italy and in the Italian diaspora through three public seminars held at Co.As.It Museo Italiano in Carlton (Victoria, Australia). The killing of African American man George Floyd on 25 May 2020 in Minneapolis sparked global antiracist demonstrations that had a strong impact in Italy too, with the birth of a Black Lives Matter Italian network and a wide range of cultural initiatives organised by Black Italians. This attracted transnational interest about Afroitalians and their contribution to Italian culture and society, both among scholars and in the wider community. This series responded to the growing interest for new articulations of Italian identity and culture, expanding the definition of who is an Italian and what is Italian culture.
The three seminars were:
1) Ius Music: How Afroitalians Are Changing Italian Music. Live online
performance and conversation with rapper and educator Amir Issaa
2) Blaxploitalian: 100 Years of Blackness in Italian Cinema: documentary screening and Q&A with filmmaker Fred Kuwornu
3) Writing Black Italia: from Postcolonial Literature to the Future. Talk with Dr Angelica Pesarini and Dr Vivian Gerrand

Period	Apr 2022 → Jun 2022
Held at	CO.AS.IT Italian Assistance Association, Australia, Victoria