Cultural Tuesdays is a series of illustrated talks designed to engage our community on a wide range of topics, spanning from culture, lifestyle, history, cuisine, art and much more.
Tuesday, May 2, 7:00pm – 8:00pm
A dramatic read-through of ‘In Pole Position’, the first of six episodes of the work-in-progress Italian-Canadian TV comedy series, “The Espresso Sisters”, written by mother-daughter duo Megan Williams and Maddalena Vallecchi Williams.
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Tuesday, May 9, 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Italian Canadians have contributed greatly to Canada and Canadian society. The “Transformations: The Italian Canadian Experience”, a Government of Canada funded website, is a celebration of these contributions and how Italians helped transform Canada, and how Canada helped to transform them.
This presentation by Angelo Bolotta, director of the “Transformations Canada” project, introduces the audience to this incredible “living” tribute that documents the resourcefulness of the Italian Canadian spirit, and ensures these experiences become part of Canadian history.
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Presented in partnership with National Congress of Italian-Canadians and Toronto Catholic District School Board.
Tuesday, May 16, 7:00pm – 8:00pm
Marco Sassone returns to the Columbus Centre for the launch of his inspirational new book, “American Journey: My Life in Art”.
The life he has lived and the people he has known make the memoir of this remarkable artist such a wonderful, revealing canvas. Dining with Sophia Loren, conversing with Luciano Pavarotti, and joking with Tina Turner at his own Beverly Hills opening, are all part of his California days during the ‘70s. But what makes this memoir extraordinary is Sassone’s vivid recollection of his real-life stories: his childhood in post-war-torn Florence in the ‘50s, his harrowing experience of survival during the great flood of Florence in 1966, and his extensive research on the homeless that led to his groundbreaking exhibition “Home on the Streets,” which made its Canadian premiere at the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery in 2019.\
Participants will be given the opportunity to purchase a signed copy of the book.
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
In collaboration with the Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association of Toronto (CIBPA)
Experienced financial advisors from Four Point Financial will focus on several topics and show those who are new to Canada how to navigate the financial system.
The seminar will cover the following topics:
• Types of Personal Savings Vehicles in Canada and how they work (TFSA, RRSP, SPRSP, PENSIONS)
• Life Insurance: Options for new residents to Canada
• Mortgages in Canada: Current and future outlook
• Group Benefits in Canada: Details on typical employee benefit packages in Canada, and how they work with the government health system.
• Obtaining debt and how to build your credit score.
A ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ EVENT
(Donations welcome at the door)
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
In collaboration with the Canadian Italian Business and Professional Association of Toronto (CIBPA)
The web can be a rich source of information, connection, and community for seniors. But as with any public space, you need to be aware of your surroundings. There are many online scams that target seniors. Think of cyberspace as the freeway: you have to navigate it defensively. Just like fastening your seatbelt, using some basic internet safety practices can help ensure that your online experience is safe and enjoyable. In this seminar, you will learn how to recognize and protect yourself from threats such as phishing emails and scam phone calls.
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
Funded by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program
Take a journey with Dr. Franco Gallippi to discover the many facets of Italian culture through celebrated citizens, landmarks and historical events of six Italian cities.
Bologna instantly makes people think of pasta and tortellini, the oldest university in the world, and towers, but there is another side to “Bologna la dotta” (“Bologna the learned”), “Bologna la grassa” (“Bologna the fat”), and “Bologna la rossa” (“Bologna the red”) – it is also known as the city of water. Travelling to the coast of Emilia-Romagna we find Ravenna and Rimini, respectively home of extraordinary mosaics and birthplace of the great director Federico Fellini.
Perugia makes one think of “baci perugina”. In this lecture you’ll learn the secrets behind the making of this famous chocolate. Perugia is in the region that gave the world Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy, who inspired some of Giotto’s greatest paintings. The biography of Francis reveals much of the character of the people of Perugia and the region of Umbria: hard work and stamina in difficult conditions.
Many people go to Reggio di Calabria to see the “Bronzi di Riace”: two Greek
bronze statues that were found in the 1970s by a scuba diver off the coast of
Riace in Calabria. An earthquake may destroy the city of Reggio di Calabria, but
the statues will be spared by their anti-seismic basements. In antiquity, this part
of Italy was part of the “Magna Grecia” (Great Greece). In this lecture you’ll discover what still makes it great.
The importance of this city goes back to the movement that brought the unification of Italy. It is the city of FIAT, and the hope of prosperity and a better life for countless Southern Italians who immigrated in the 1960s and 1970s to work in the factories of Torino. Not far from Torino we come to the cities of Alba and Asti, famous for their wines, but also for Italians who have defined Italian identity across the globe.
L’Aquila is a university town for many nearby towns in Abruzzo. It is located beneath the highest peak of the Apennine mountains, “il Gran Sasso d’Italia” (The Big Rock of Italy): a place that held Mussolini under arrest in the summer of 1943. From Aquila we travel to Sulmona, the birthplace of Ovid, the great Latin poet; Civitaretenga, home of the “best” saffron in Italy; and Tocca da Casauria, famous for its 70% liqueur Centerba.
A city that after WWII was viewed as the “shame of Italy” becomes the most spectacular city in Italy and a UNESCO site in the early 1990s. Carlo Levi, in his novel “Christ Stopped at Eboli,” provides an extraordinary description of Matera during Fascism. Matera is the Jerusalem in Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ” and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “The Gospel According to Matthew.” It was the European Capital of Culture in 2019 and is home to one of the best cheeses of Italy: Caciocavallo.
Location:
Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, Columbus Centre
For more information, please contact:
Edris Osman
Arts & Culture Coordinator
Phone: 416-789-7011 ext. 299
Email: cultural@villacharities.com
