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Italy expert Fred Plotkin explores all of the things in Italy that function remarkably well and contribute to the well-being of that nation and the world, in the first of an annual lecture as part of the festival’s focus on Italy.

The evolution of work through the millennia has resulted in the particular Italian devotion to making things that are useful, durable and beautiful, no matter how long they take to accomplish and how much sacrifice is required. The very first line of the Italian constitution asserts that “Italy is a democratic Republic founded on work”.  The primacy of this sentence in the nation’s founding document represents the profound relationship Italians have to their industriousness and to creativity.

The Italian passion for high quality in everything produced is much admired but also presents challenges in a globalised world economy that prioritises standardisation.

Plotkin studied at the Universities of Bologna and Pavia (as a Fulbright Scholar), worked at La Scala and is the author of nine books, eight of which place Italian subjects and ideas front and centre. He is a Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia.

This event is part of the festival’s Italian day.