Paese Italia Press

SALINA

By Domenica Puleio

For the third consecutive year, the island of Salina serves as the representative of an event of international significance, celebrating successful Aeolians around the world who have never forgotten their sense of belonging to the Aeolian archipelago, even across generations, and who have brought great distinction to it.

“The Festival of Aeolians Around the World,” now in its third edition, will take place over two days and will welcome many islanders who currently live abroad. The program will also include the participation of Dr. Carlos Cherniak, Minister Plenipotentiary for Political Affairs, Cooperation, and Human Rights at the Argentine Embassy in Italy.

The event will begin on Saturday, September 6, at Palazzo Marchetti in Malfa, with a conference titled “Herbs and Words That Heal in the Age of Emigration,” curated by Paolino Uccello, director of the Civic Museum of Textile, Emigration, and Folk Medicine in Canicattini Bagni, in the province of Syracuse.

A religious ceremony will follow on Sunday, September 7, at the Church of San Bartolomeo in Lingua, held in memory of the sons and daughters of the islands who passed away abroad.

The program also includes a lecture at the Archaeological Museum of Lingua, where Professor Marcello Saija—director of the Aeolian Museum of Emigration and full professor at the University of Messina—will speak at around 7:00 PM on “The Characteristics of Aeolian Emigration.”

At 8:30 PM, the Municipality of Salina will host a convivial tasting in the town square, bringing participants together around a buffet of Aeolian specialties prepared by chef Marisa Zavone in collaboration with restaurants from Santa Marina di Salina and Lingua.

As in previous years, the 2014 edition will be further enriched by the presentation of the “Aeolian in the World” award, in the presence of the Mayor of Santa Marina di Salina, Massimo Lo Schiavo. At 9:30 PM, three recognitions will be awarded: one to the creative fashion designer Mya Royal for her promotional contribution to the Aeolian Museum of Emigration; another in memory of the esteemed Argentine cardiac surgeon René Favaloro, who passed away in 2000 and was the inventor of coronary bypass surgery, belonging to a family originally from Val di Chiesa in Leni, Salina.

The event will conclude with music and song performed by the Compagnia di Canto Popolare di Lipari, closing the third edition of the “Festival of Aeolians Around the World.”