On June 2nd, during the celebration of the National Italian Day, a special presentation of Expo Milano 2015 [2] was held at the Consulate General of Italy in New York [3]. The presentation took place at the same time in 123 Embassies, 48 Consulates General and 9 Permanent Delegations all around the world.

Special guest at the Italian Consulate on Park Avenue was Michele Valensise, Secretary General of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs [4].

Among the speakers Eugenio Magnani, Director of the Italian Government Tourist Board [5] (ENIT), and Piero Galli, Event Management General Director of the Milan Expo 2015 [2], who talked about the Expo 2015 event delivering to the guests by using graphic presentations and videos, some interesting and new insights into the next World Fair to take place in Milan in 2015. They presented a highlight of the 60 pavilions which will be built for the Expo, including the Italian one, and introducing the  “Expo-pass,” a savings card that will allow visitors to benefit from special discounst on events and other services being offered during the 6 month period of Expo Milano 2015 [2].

“We thought that building up this plan and program to attract our former Italians to Milano Expo 2015 by creating actually three different ways of experiencing Italy,” said Piero Galli in the interview with i-Italy after the presentation of Expo Milano 2015 to the guests at the Consulate.

“The first one is to host those former Italians within Expo in a specific way: discounting the admission price to the Expo, dedicating experiences just for them in our exposition track and itineraries. The second one,” he continued, “is to create facilitations all across the journey. The trip can be organized with specific conditions, prices or services. We have been lining up several partners around that, and they have already been declaring they will participate in this initiative. The third is the honoring of our former Italians coming back to Italy in ways that are something that you can’t buy….but it will be a surprise and we will be disclosing every single initiative during the next months,” he concluded.

Another special guest who attended and spoke at the event was Fred Plotkin, America’s foremost expert on Italian culture, especially food, wine and opera. Plotikin shared his view and extensive knowledge about the benefits of the experience of visiting a World Fair such as Expo Milano 2015.

“Many of us remember the World Fair that took place 50 years ago here. And if you, like me, went into the Italian pavilion at the World Fair, your life was changed. We saw Italian beauty, creativity, intelligence and talent. I discovered food there, I discovered visual arts there,” said Plotkin recalling his first visit to a World Fair together with his father when he was a teenager.

As for the Expo that will take place in Milan in 2015, Plotkin gave us some very interesting insights people usually never think about: “I was looking at the logo for the Milan expo, which is called foody but if you know Italian art history, one of the greatest painters of all times was called Arcimboldo who created art from food, from vegetables, from grain, from fish and created these amazing portraits in great details,” told Plotkin.

“So in this particular case, foody, is the face of Italy, he is the face of the Milan Expo 2015 [2], because Italy is a combination of all different foods. And each food has a history, a culture, a season. And Italians, more than anyone else, understand what’s behind the food.”

Moreover, he recalled the myth of Leonardo Da Vinci and spoke of Milan, a city that he loved: “To me Milan is fascinating because for 25 years it was the home of Leonardo Da Vinci who created what we call ‘urbanistica,’ which is not simply city planning but of a greater whole. It is the understanding that everything connects,” said Plotkin.

“And,” he concluded, “Milan is the living laboratory of Leonardo Da Vinci’s genius. So it doesn’t surprise me that for the 21st century at the Expo in Milan there will be these futuristic buildings that combine the intelligence of ‘urbanistica’ with the progressive view of what the world can become. I look forward to the Expo because it is about the great potential of human genius as taught to us by the world and especially by the Italians.”