TORONTO – There is little to add about the event which the Consulate General of Toronto and the Centre for Culture sponsored at the ROM, Sunday evening, which our own Mariella Policheni had not already covered in her interview with prof. Olga Zorzi-Pugliese, June 21, 2024 (Il ROM porta la firma italiana: conferenza di Olga Pugliese sul mosaico del museo). More than three hundred people jammed the Theatre at the ROM to hear the “story behind the story”: how humble workers and artisans from Italy contributed to the cultural enhancement of Toronto’s (and Canada’s) burgeoning society. 

It was a most appropriate recognition, in this Italian Heritage Month – so designated by Ontario Law – of the improvements to the architectural and artistic accomplishments imprinted into the Canadian experience by Italian emigres.

Ontario Minister Paul Calandra, a special guest, was straight-forwardly incisive in his opening remarks about the significance of the mosaics in the vaulted ceiling of the ROM’s entrance. “I am forever grateful that Canda opened its doors to us,” he said, “even if its society was not always welcoming”.

He went on to point out that, yes, we were prized for our hard work, our willingness to make sacrifices and contributions, no matter how humble, but works like the mosaics which form a permanent part of the cultural importance of the museum illustrate that we were and should be appreciated for the historical-cultural impact on our host community. Such examples exist in considerable numbers throughout Toronto, Ontario and beyond.

Sunday, we celebrated just one such example. Visitors from the USA joined several descendants of the master artisans in the crowd to accept the references and “accolades” that Professoressa Zorzi-Pugliese felt should have gone to the long-deceased original creators. Her exquisite presentation was a narrative too infrequently told – to our collective misfortune.

This was an observation echoed by Consul General Luca Zelioli. He continues to be proud of and impressed by the reputation our community has earned for its engineering, construction, financial acumen and scientific research. It is time we also highlight the cultural reference points that bring credit to who we are – the city is filled with examples of which the mosaics at the Rom are but one. We need to rediscover them and us in so doing.

Here below, a photo gallery of the event (photo by Priscilla Pajdo)