The father of the Italian language died 700 years ago and he will be honored with a day-long virtual flash-mob
March 25th, is the day that opens the celebrations for the 700th anniversary of the death of the Florentine poet Dante Alighieri. The special occasion will see a day-long virtual flash-mob dedicated to the Divine Comedy and other works by the father of the Italian language. The Dante National Day established by the government is also known as Dantedì. This is a word game that brings together the name of the Supreme Poet and dì, which means day.
On Dantedì, from 12.00 thousands of Italians will meet on social media to read together passages of the Divine Comedy. The Ministry of Education (Miur) invited schools to participate by interrupting online lessons for about half an hour at the stroke of midday. However, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism (Mibact) underlined that the appeal is addressed to everyone.
The celebrations will continue throughout the day on social networks, with streaming readings and performances with the official #Dantedì and #IoleggoDante (I read Dante) hashtags.
Mibact Minister Franceschini also invited artists to take part in the event. He said: “On March 25, read Dante and post your contents. Dante is the Italian language, it is the idea of Italy itself. And it is at this moment, that it is even more important to remember him in order to remain united.”
Mibact and Miur together with schools, museums, archaeological parks, libraries, and archives will all contribute to a great online celebration. They will all propose, on their social media accounts, images, videos, works of art, and rare editions of the Divine Comedy. Rai will also actively participate in Dantedì’s celebrations. Rai Teche selected the ‘lecturae Dantis’ interpreted by the major artists of our time. These will be broadcast through the day in 30-second pills by the three generalist Rai networks and on Rai Play.
Furthermore, Florence TV, webTV of the Metropolitan City of Florence, will host a mosaic of Dante readings on its channels, from the website of the newspaper to all social media. Florence TV asks the public to send short videos of them reading a passage of the Divine Comedy or another Dante work. The videos will then be edited together in a single editing.
(Ilona Catani Scarlett)