April 16 saw the launch of the photographic exhibition “Instant and Places of the Italian Front” at the Hinkler Hall of Aviation in Bundaberg, organized by the Embassy of Italy in Canberra and composed of photos from the Marzocchi archive from the Museum of the Battle of Vittorio Veneto (TV) regarding life in Italy during the First World War. The “Consortium for the protection of the Prosecco DOC” sponsored the printing of the pictures.
The exhibition originated from a proposal formulated by the Consul of Italy in Brisbane Salvatore Napolitano during his consular mission to Bundaberg Regional Council in February 2020. At that time, Napolitano visited the Hinkler Hall of Aviation and learned more about the history of Australian aviation pioneer, Bert Hinkler from Bundaberg, who died in 1933 in Pratomagno, in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany and is buried in the “Cimitero degli Allori” in Florence.
The Scientific Attaché of the Embassy of Italy in Canberra, Ms. Anna Maria Fioretti attended the launch and presented to the Mayor of Bundaberg, Jack Dempsey, a special edition of an illustrated book containing the names of the “Cavalieri di Vittorio Veneto”. These were heroes of the First World War awarded by the Italian State a honour for their war merits, many of whom settled in the Sunshine state and some even in Bundaberg.
The exhibition will be available for visits until May 16, and before Bundaberg was hosted in Brisbane in November 2019. Another illustrated book containing the names of the “Cavalieri di Vittorio Veneto” of Queensland, was donated by the Consulate of Italy in Brisbane to Queensland State Library in January 2020, digitised and made freely available online for consultation http://hdl.handle.net/10462/pdf/16820 . Queensland State Library posted a blog on their website regarding Ordine dei Cavalieri di Vittorio Veneto: https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/ordine-dei-cavalieri-di-vittorio-veneto .
Instants and Places from the First World War – Photographic Exhibition – Whats On Bundaberg
The Mayor of Bundaberg Jack Dempsey receives the book with the names of the Cavalieri of Vittorio Veneto in Queensland from the curator of the exhibition Anna Maria Fioretti, Science attaché at the Embassy of Italy in Canberra (All Photo by Bundaberg Regional Council)