The Embassy of Italy in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, has launched a new integrated promotional program entitled “Mani esperte” (Expert Hands).
This innovative program aims to recount the union between Italy’s creative spirit and the quality of its workmanship.
About ten events are planned for 2022 as part of the initiatives to mark 30 years of diplomatic relations between Italy and Kazakhstan.
The “Expert hands” program will focus on different areas of artistic and creative expression, celebrating Italian cultural, musical, and artisanal traditions.
“We are delighted to be launching this new integrated promotional program that will continue throughout 2022. We want to promote our country in an innovative way, by telling the stories of Italian creative ‘expert hands’”, said Italian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Marco Alberti.
“Behind the artistic-cultural and economic-industrial excellence of our country”, added the Ambassador, “There are always expert hands at work. Whether these be the hands of farmers or multi-starred chefs, designers or artisans, violinists or engine or shoemakers, the expert hands of Italians have the ability to transform the talent of our people into products or experiences that are world-beating in their originality and quality”.
The initiative was inaugurated on 17 February with the first event, entitled “Dal Legno Alla Melodia: due maestri all’opera” (From wood to melody: two maestri at work), organized by the Italian Embassy along with Kazakhstan’s National University of the Arts and the Museo del Violino in Cremona.
The performance was held at the Zhabayev Hall of the National University of Arts and featured a performance by Italian violinist Domenico Nordio, who presented a selection of musical works by Prokofiev, Mereke, Chacona, and Mendelssohn.
Before the concert, Alessandro Voltini, a master luthier from Cremona, in Lombardy, told the wonderful story of the city’s stringed instruments craft, explaining that the art of Cremona violin making dates back nearly 500 years and is known all over the world for its string instruments.
Thanks to the event, the two maestri brought to Kazakhstan an example of Italian creativity and manufacturing excellence. They told the story of the expert hands of a luthier who transforms a piece of wood into a unique musical instrument, and the expert hands of the master violinist who turns the “silence” of the violin into music.
