Massimo Sarti, the new director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Valletta, has settled in Malta. The new director – officially appointed on July 23rd was born in Florence where he graduated from the University in 1987 with a thesis in contemporary Italian literature. From 1989 to 1998, he was a professor of literature and history in state high schools in Tuscany and Lombardy. From 1998 to 2001 he worked as Lector of Italian sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Ritsumeikan University of Kyoto and Jagelloniska of Krakow.
Since 2001 he has joined the Cultural Promotion Area of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. During periods of service at the Farnesina, from 2001 to 2004 and in 2015, he worked in particular on the promotion of Italian cinema, scholarships and the internationalization of the university system.
Before taking up the management of the Italian Institute of Culture in Valletta, Sarti served in Israel from 2016 to 2018 as Director of the IIC in Tel Aviv. Previously, he was Assistant and Interim Director of the IICs of Tokyo (from 2005 to 2008) and of Los Angeles (from 2008 to 2014). He is married to Gloria Novi and has two children, Piero (17 year old) and Margherita Yuki (12).
One of the main objectives that the new director aims at this initial phase of his establishment is “to establish contacts with institutions, bodies and personalities of the Maltese cultural and scientific world to foster an ever greater knowledge of Italian culture and science in the Republic of Malta”.
For this reason, the Italian Cultural Institute “will continue to plan and organize cultural initiatives in collaboration with the Maltese institutions, to be held both in the prestigious location of Piazza San Giorgio in Valletta, and in local academic, museum and performance spaces”.
“Particular attention – ensures Sarti – will be aimed at promoting the image of contemporary Italy, along with the more consolidated tradition, with programmatic choices in line with the priorities identified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and consistent with the cultural strategy of Embassy of Italy. An important part will be dedicated to the promotion of the Italian language in close contact with the institutions and the local school and university system “. The Institute, concludes Sarti, “will obviously continue to be a reference point in providing information on Italian cultural life and in contributing to the orientation of Maltese interested in studying in Italy. It will also provide collaboration to Italian scholars and students in their research and study activities in Malta”.
