Italian Week

Italian Week was a cultural festival that took place annually in Queensland, Australia, from 2007 to 2017. It aimed to promote social and cultural identification among the Italian community in Queensland, featuring over 400 events annually and attracting more than 65,000 people. Founded by Cav. Alessandro Sorbello, Italian Week was a not-for-profit festival that supported the 'Hear and Say Centre' for children born deaf. Its mission was to dispel outdated stereotypes regarding Italy and create a platform for cultural and social cohesion among the Italian community. Italian Week conveyed Italian culture in a broad sense, including nationality, country, arts, language, and food. It featured Italian artists such as Andrea Bocelli, Patrizio Buanne, Rosario La Spina, and Lisa Hunt, and collaborated with institutions such as the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Opera Queensland, The Queensland Orchestra, and The Queensland Gallery of Modern Art. The festival developed a concept known as the 'Illumination', which involved lighting up key structures in the city of Brisbane in the Italian colors of green, white, and red for the duration of Italian Week. This focus point was designed to stimulate emotional engagement and create a sense of identity, commitment, and pride within the people of Italian heritage in Queensland. The festival formed a longitudinal study by Cav. Alessandro Sorbello and Dr. Eliane Karsaklian, senior professor from the Sorbonne, University of Paris. The research team published eight papers on the festival and defined models for creating emotional engagement and 'fest-vibe'. In 2016, Sorbello and Karsaklian were awarded the International Best Research prize at the University of Florence by the International Academy of Business and Economics.