Cuba’s Week of Italian Culture Declared a Success

Cuba's week-long celebration of Italian culture, which has been observed annually on the Caribbean island for the past 20 years, is wrapping up this weekend having been praised as a rousing success.

RELATED: 
European Parliament, Activists Condemn US Blockade Against Cuba

Staged by the Embassy of Italy, the Ministry of Culture of Cuba, the Office of the Historian of the City and the Cuban Committee of the Dante Alighieri Society, the events brought world-renowned artists to the island.

Highights included visual art exhibition "Tercer Paraiso" (Third Paradise), which was organized by the Italian Embassy, and a photography exhibition paying tribute to the Dino Pogolotti neighborhood in Havana, named after a Cuban real-estate entrepreneur.

Concerts included a performance by young pianist Stefano Bollani, who played alongside the National Symphony Orchestra on Friday.

Events are due to conclude Sunday with a concert headlined by Cuban artist Monica Marziota, the first Latin American singer to receive the Lanuza Prize, named in honor of late Argentinian writer Eduardo Gonzalez Lanuza.

The celebrations, which began on November 27, are one of the largest of its kind in the country. On Friday, Italians in Milan staged a rally to protest Cuba's blockade by the United States.