The Dante Alighieri Society Townsville, Unit 9/203 Kings Road, Pimlico, QLD Ph 0497 037 146 Email: dantetownsville@iinet.net.au  

 

 

Maggio 2015 

Lettera dal Comitato

Carissimi  

 Another year has begun and  so much has happened already. First of 

all,  after many  years  as  President  of  the  Society  Enza  Castorina  has 

stood down  from the position to dedicate her efforts to the  language 

classes.    Since  1998  when  her  dedication  and  passion  were 

instrumental  in  their  establishment  as  part  of  the  Society’s  activities 

and mission, they have been very close to her heart. Enza can certainly 

be  regarded  as  the  society’s  driving  force,  keeping  all  on  track  and 

bringing  to  the  committee’s  table  ideas  and  valuable  suggestions. 

During the Annual General Meeting we welcomed Prof Paul Pagliano as 

the  new  President  of  the  Society.  This  is  not  the  first  time  Paul  has 

occupied  this position, nevertheless we appreciate his dedication and 

fervid  support  to  the  society. We also extended a warm welcome  to 

the new Vice president Alf Bonato and the newest addition Rita Nastasi 

as  committee  member.  Rita  has  been  a  Dante  supporter  for  many 

years,  as  a  general  member  and  hardworking  volunteer  during  the 

Cultural  Fest.  We  are  sure  Rita  will  be  a  valuable  addition  to  the 

committee  bringing  new  ideas  and  balance  to  the  group. Alf Bonato 

himself has been part of the society now for a number of years, starting 

as  a  language  class  student  and  in  the  last  few  years  also  as  a 

committee member.  Finally  I would  like  to  thank  Loretta  Swayn  for 

stepping  into  the  important  role of  secretary and  to Vicki Brazier  for 

continuing her position  as  a  general member. Both  Loretta  and Vicki 

will certainly bring the structure and organisation skills needed by the 

society group to be successful in all its initiatives.  

The  first  half  of  the  year  is  always  a  busy  time  for  our  society 

particularly  as we organise  the  calendar  for  the events  and  schedule 

the language classes. 

The new Dante year has just started and already we have accomplished 

quite a  lot. A new  location  for our  fundraising movie nights has been 

selected,  the Education  Theatre  at  the Educational Precinct  at  James 

Cook  University.    The  screening  of  the  “The  Fifth Wheel”  was  well 

received and  raised  fun and  interesting discussions. The evening was 

extremely enjoyable and the new  location quite comfortable and with 

easy access. We hope that at our next movie event operations will be 

further improved making the occasion even more exciting.  

Dante Alighieri Society Townsville 

 

 

Contenuto

Lettera dal Comitato

Eventi/Events

Da ricordare … / To remember …

Notizie Italiane      

     Committee: President:   Prof. Paul Pagliano Vice President:    Alf Bonato Secretary:   Loretta Swayn Treasurer:   Gabriella Licari Courses Director:   Enza Castorina  Committee Member:   Vicky Brazier    Rita Nastasi   Courses Coordinator:   Susan McKenzie  

 

The Dante Alighieri Society Townsville, Unit 9/203 Kings Road, Pimlico, QLD   Ph/Fax: 07 4728 1167   Email: dantetownsville@iinet.net.au  

The  upcoming  event  for  June  is  one  also  very  close  to  the  Dante‘s 

mission – to celebrate the National Day and the Italian culture. A lunch 

has been organised for the 14th June at “La Porchetta” where we aim to 

spend a little time together to appreciate Italian Food, traditional music 

singing and dancing. Please come along!!! 

Our beginners,  intermediate and advanced classes have started under 

the  guidance  of  our  hard‐working  teachers  Monika  Leka,  Enza 

Castorina,  Sara  Busilacchi  e  Simona  Trapani.  Simona  has  also  been 

looking after our treasured children’s classes. We would like to take the 

opportunity to thank Simona for her fantastic work and enthusiasm. 

We hope to have yet another fulfilling and successful year at the Dante 

Alighieri  Society  which  will  reflect  the  efforts  of  the  hard  working 

committee  and  also  the  valuable  support  and  dedication  of  the 

society’s  supporters  and  friends.  Your  attendance  at  the  events  and 

fundraiser  occasions  make  the  Dante  Alighieri  a  successful 

organisation,  achieving  its mission  – promotion of  the  Italian Culture 

and Language in the local community.  The committee thanks you all! 

                             

Eventi/Events

 

Calendario previsto  per il 2015 

 

            14 GIUGNO 2015         National Italian Day Lunch 

  La Porchetta Restaurant  

 

           AGOSTO 2015         Cultural Fest – Community Event 

  Strand Park 

   

      OTTOBRE 2015 

 

       Movie Night – Fund Raising event 

 

         DECEMBRE 2015 

 

      Dante Annual Dinner  

Members and friends are always invitate to our end of year dinner to 

support and celebrate the society’s efforts and successes. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Dante Alighieri Society Townsville, Unit 9/203 Kings Road, Pimlico, QLD Ph 0497 037 146 Email: dantetownsville@iinet.net.au  

 

Da ricordare... / To remember …

Il nostro programma alla radio ogni Domenica dalle 12 alle 13. 

The Italian program at the radio station Triple T every  Sunday  

a 12.00 to 1.00pm 

103.9 FM       Online ‐ www.triplet.com.au 

Presentatori ‐ George Parison and Armando Rizzo 

 

Messa in italiano ogni secondo Mercoledi’ del mese alle 9 alla 

chiesa di Holy Spirit. 

Italian Mass every 2nd Wednesday of the month at 9.00am 

Holy Spirit church (Ross River Road) 

 

Informazioni Italiane

                La Villa Romana del Casale 

By Vicki Brazier 

Circa cinque kilometri sud‐ovest da Piazza Armerina, nella provincia di 

Enna, si trova la mia casa preferita in Sicilia. Qui ho tolto le mie scarpe 

perche ho voluto sentire la storia antica sotto le mie dita del piede. Che 

sentimento meraviglioso  ed  unico  sentire  la  sensazione  delle  tessere 

che hanno millesettecento anni.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

L’edifico era una  loggia per andare a  caccia  costruita per un ufficiale 

romano  importante,  forse Marcus Maximianus  chi era un  imperatore 

con  Diocletian.  La  villa  era  costruita  durante  un  periodo  piu’  di 

cinquanta  anni,  tra  il  terzo  ed  il  quarto  secolo.  La  villa  copiosa  e’ 

famosa  per  i  pavimenti.  Quasi  ogni  stanza  e’  coperta  con  mosaici 

incredibile  e  vasti.  I  pavimenti  sono  quasi  preservati  perfettamente 

perche erano seppelliti e nascosti sotto fango per settecento anni. 

 

 

The Dante Alighieri Society Townsville, Unit 9/203 Kings Road, Pimlico, QLD   Ph/Fax: 07 4728 1167   Email: dantetownsville@iinet.net.au  

La  villa  aveva  i  soffitti  alti  e  le  stanze  grandi  con  i portici  aperti  e  le 

colonne di marmo. E’ costruita su quattro terrazze naturali.  

Forse mosaici piu’ famosi sono le athlete  indossando i bikini. Pensiamo 

che abbia gia’ finito una gara e la vincitrice indossa una corona di fiori.  

Lo  spogliatoio privato   ha una disegna della  famiglia dell’imperatore. 

Portono  le cose di cui hanno bisogno per  le terme e  la palestra. Il mio 

preferito  e’  il  corridoio  decorato  con  la  grande  scena  di  caccia.  Alle 

estremita’  sono  due  paesi  ed  il  mezzo  e’  il  mare.  Una  varieta’ 

incredibile di animali, incluso di elefanti, leoni e tigri, imbarca e sbarca 

dalle  navi.  Forse  l’artista  era  dal  Nord  Africa.  Il  dettaglio  e’ 

straordinario! Gli artigiani hanno montato milioni di tessere minuscole 

per formare questi desegni.  

Il rinvenimento della villa nel 1950 e’ stato una scoperta incredibile.  

 

 

La Biennale di Venezia 2015 By Fiona e Paul Pagliano Every second year Venice celebrates an international art exhibition, which has come to be extremely highly regarded worldwide. First held in 1895, this year’s Biennale di Venezia is the 56th. It runs from May 9 through to November 22.

The primary focus is on contemporary art in all its various forms, with other events that include dance, theatre, architecture and film. There are 89 participating countries, 29 with their own pavilion. The main exhibition space is at the Arsenale, a historic cluster of former naval shipyards and armouries not so far from the Piazza San Marco. Those countries without a pavilion, plus lots of commercial companies and individual artists, exhibit either at the Arsenale or spread out around the city. This year's broad theme is ‘All the world's future’ and within that there are three filters that can be applied singularly or in

combination. These are: ‘life and disorder’, ‘epic narratives’ and ‘reading capital’. An example of ‘life and disorder’ is a throne made of discarded bullet shells, and bombs by Tiffany Chung (see above) which I thought was very powerful as a metaphor. Needless to say there is tremendous variety in the way these filters are interpreted. As with any such massive exhibition it's particularly difficult to know where to start. Of course it was impossible for me to see everything in the two days I had available. I've therefore decided to only provide snippets of my impressions.

 

The Dante Alighieri Society Townsville, Unit 9/203 Kings Road, Pimlico, QLD Ph 0497 037 146 Email: dantetownsville@iinet.net.au  

Being Australian I was particularly drawn to the Australian pavilion. Australia first exhibited in 1954, reached pavilion status in 1988 and now in 2015 a new pavilion has been built - a black box, strong, powerful and stunning in its simplicity. The way it juts out over the adjacent canal is so respectful of the space, to Venice and to the Biennale. Inside it's a different story. For me the space was over crowded, chock-a-block, each piece wonderful in its own right, but in my opinion the presentation needed to be severely culled and better thought through. Still, ours is regarded as being one of the top five pavilions this year. It was curious to me how different countries had such distinct (?quirky) personalities in their pavilions. For example the French pavilion in a gesture of reverence towards the Italian Mannerist Garden tradition featured three trees on moving platforms, one inside the pavilion that spun around on its axis and two outside that moved in all directions around the park. Or inside the Finnish pavilion the space was light free except for the image of a single tree and a soundscape of double bass and electronic music. The effect was deeply spiritual – elemental. In the Korean pavilion they had a multi-channel film installation that explored the interweaving of past and future, ‘The ways of folding space and time’, that I found particularly interesting. The big star is the Japanese exhibit. Thousands of keys on crimson threads shower down from the ceiling onto traditional wooden boats. The metaphor is completed by a video of children trying to summon their earliest memories. The atmosphere is intensely meditative.

A real treat for me was the Giardino della

Marinaressa featuring six sculptures by New York based artist Ursula Von

Rydingsvard (see left). Her

sculptures are said to explore the edge between multiple dualities like novelty and erosion, agitation and tranquillity, giving her work a surprising vitality that somehow feeds the soul. Whatever... I loved them! If you get the chance, the Biennale di Venezia is well worth the effort – whether or not contemporary art is your thing. There is plenty to see and to be dazzled/puzzled by. I would thoroughly recommend it to you.

 

The Dante Alighieri Society Townsville, Unit 9/203 Kings Road, Pimlico, QLD   Ph/Fax: 07 4728 1167   Email: dantetownsville@iinet.net.au  

               

 

 

 

                       

SUNDAY 14th June 2015 

11.30am for 12noon 

 Lunch  

At 

La Porchetta Restaurant 

 

Charters Towers Road 

Cost $30  

Lunch, Entertainment, Raffle and Lucky Door 

 

     Bookings essential by 10th June 2015 

Dante Alighieri    0497037146 

Email:  dantetownsville@iinet.net.au  or by direct deposit to 

Dante Alighieri Society – Bendigo Bank BSB 633 108 Account 

number 126 359 025 (Please include your name and number of seats as a reference when making 

payment) 

Townsville Dante Alighieri Society