KARACHI: Under the present circumstances and ongoing health situation in Pakistan, the consulate of Italy in Karachi in conjunction with their ministry of foreign affairs in Rome have thought of a unique way to celebrate the Republic Day of Italy, falling on Tuesday June 2, with friends here by circulating a special souvenir in the form of an e-book Le Piazze [In]visibili dedicated to the popular piazzas of Italy, which are now during the pandemic totally empty.

Anna Ruffino, Italy’s Consul General in Karachi, said that it was their way to bring Italy to friends in Pakistan on the occasion of the Italian National Day 2020. “I hope you will enjoy this beautiful virtual retreat to Italy with a little prayer that the situations around the world improve and life comes soon back to normal,” she said.

The e-book, edited by Marco Delogu, features art photographs of 20 Italian piazzas, taken between the end of March and the beginning of May, when Italy, like much of the rest of the world, found itself in the difficult confinement phase. The photographs are accompanied by short original texts by Italian writers connected to those places and piazzas by memories, experiences and literary references.

“When we speak of Italy abroad, it is impossible not to consider the historical and cultural heritage that attracts millions of tourists to our country each year. When we think of Italy’s cities and countless towns that draw visitors from all over the world, the picture that immediately springs to mind is the piazza, which is both the frame and the canvas depicting the palazzos, churches and the daily life that goes on around them,” reads the introduction of the e-book.

The piazza has become synonymous with cultural heritage, but it is also a place for meetings and social interaction

“The piazza has become synonymous with cultural heritage, but it is also a place for meetings and social interaction, for trade and the discussion of ideas. As Italo Calvino wrote in Invisible Cities (whose title inspired this book), “every time you enter the piazza, you find yourself caught in a dialogue”.

“During the last few months, when cities ground to a standstill in order to contain the pandemic that had gripped the world and encounters between people became ‘gatherings’ to be avoided — a situation to which ... Italians reacted with a commendable sense of responsibility — the piazza has momentarily lost its social function and has acquired a novel one as a physical open space, rediscovering formerly hidden architectural lines and new perspectives of light. Architecture has come to the fore, like in a painting by De Chirico, and the piazzas have revealed their clean lines, as their designers had imagined them,” it says further in the introduction.

“The ‘state of exceptionality’ that was initiated in the spring of 2020 has resulted in a series of upheavals in practically every aspect of everyday life. We have suddenly found ourselves shrouded in a sense of expectation and suspension, which has engulfed the very places that we formerly inhabited and filled,” it adds.

One can click on the link below to view the e-book: https://www.esteri.it/mae/resource/doc/piazzeinvisibili/piazzeinvisibili.pdf

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2020