What can be termed as the only one of its kind in India,Circolo Italiano - a non-governmental body was founded in 2007 by a group ofItalian language students and their teacher Emanuela Carponi from theUniversity of Goa. Tanya Mascarenhas, one of the founding members of CircoloItaliano says, “the basic motive behind this programme was to continue topractice our love for Italian culture even after the end of our Italianlanguage course.” The group is open for anyone who has an interest in Italy,Italian language, Italian culture and Italian food. With the strength of 40members currently, Circolo has only one Italian member with the rest beingGoans and Indians from other parts of the country.
Leanne da Costa Frias, Director of Circolo Italiano says, “Youdo not necessarily have to know Italian, you just need to have a passion forthis fabulous culture-rich country. We try and meet once a month for what wecall 'facciamo due chiacchiere' which means 'let’s have a chat'. It isbasically for those who want to practice their Italian.” The Circolo Italianomembers get together at least four times a year - in April for the Circolo'sanniversary, on August 15 Ferragosto (an Italian summer festival), for theItalian Language week in October and in December for a Christmas party.
This year Circolo Italiano put together other events apartfrom a film festival to target a wider audience and interest. The initiativewas organised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs which allows Italianinstitutions all over the world to promote and diffuse Italian language andculture on the international scene.
This included an Italian music festival where anyone who wasable to sing an Italian song was welcome to perform in front of an appreciativeaudience. Renowned performers over the course of the evening included ChicoFonseca, Faye Monteiro, Agnel Crasto and students of Ms Juliana Vaz whoenthralled the audience with pieces from well-known Italian operas.
Leanne da Costa Frias says, “We would definitely repeat themusic festival next year too. However, a lesson learnt for us is that in futurewe would conduct auditions prior to the event, to ensure that only the verybest are presented to the audience.”
