GIA (Italian-Australia Youth Network), partnered with The Italian Culture Institute of Sydney and The Inner West Council to present the Lucca Comics & Games Exhibition in Leichhardt iconic Town Hall as a part of the ‘Your Street, Your party’ street festival on Norton Street, in Little Italy, Leichhardt.
The Exhibition featured artwork from the finalists of the annual Lucca Comics and Games Exhibition held in the medieval city of Lucca, Tuscany. The Lucca comics and Games festival is the biggest festival of its kind outside of Japan and has boasted up to 270,000 attendees.
As the Lucca Comics and Games Festival is so highly regarded throughout the pop culture zeitgeist, it was a privilege for local comic aficionados and art lovers to witness some of these amazing panels in person.
The event was held on Sunday 12th June and was attended by a veritable who’s who of the Italian Australian community.
GIA’s Cristina Colosi Addressed the audience at the ‘Your Street, Your Festival’ main stage and invited the community into the adjacent exhibition, promising that they would be welcomed with complimentary Prosecco, coffee and confectionery for the children. Patrons were warmly received by the GIA volunteers who also offered Italian culturally themed books, clothing, sports bags, stationery and accessories which were available to the community for free or by donation.
Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne, speaking exclusively to Allora!, indicated that he “didn’t realise how big the Lucca Festival is” and spoke supportively of the local event exclaiming that “this is exactly the sort of activity that we want to do a lot more of.” Mayor. Byrne went on to highlight the significance of the location as it pertained to the Italian community saying that he wanted to “build Leichhardt as ‘Little Italy’. So we’ve done the official renaming [Central Leichhardt was officially recognised by the Geographic Names board as Little Italy in 2020] which was welcomed, particularly by older migrants as a gesture of respect and recognition.” Understanding the importance of an event such as the GIA Lucca Comics & Games Exhibition, he spoke of the need to replicate these important cultural happenings by saying that “We want to expand it much further with an ongoing program of public art and cultural activities. Everything that we continue to do in Norton Street should have that Italian flavour because that’s the heritage of this place and that’s what made it famous. [The Lucca Comics & Games Exhibitions] is one example of how we can do that, and we want to proliferate and do a lot more.” enthused Mayor Darcy.
All the guest speakers universally recognised the importance of the Lucca Comics & Games Exhibition event and each noted the exciting future that organisations such as these present for Italians in NSW.
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