Italy is a top cultural and art-historical region that offers many opportunities for enhanced and binding cultural cooperation between Flanders and Italy.
The mutual influence over the centuries between Flanders and Italy has created a strong bond between both countries in art and culture (Flemish Masters and Flemish Polyphony). Besides interesting museum collections in Rome and other Italian art cities, Flemish and Italian academics and art historians find each other just about everywhere in Italy when it comes to scientific research, the accumulation of knowledge, expertise, and loans. The interest in contemporary art has grown the past few years, especially in the large cities such as Turin, Milan, Naples, Bologna, and Rome.
Italy also offers many presentation opportunities (residencies) for Flemish artists, such as the Biennale di Venezia, the Isola Comacina foundation, and the Academia Belgica in Rome. Alternating with the French-speaking community, Flanders takes on the commissariat of the Belgian pavilion at the Venice Biennale every two years (for fine arts and architecture).
The Diplomatic Representation of Flanders in Italy is likewise active within the Rome cluster of EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture).
The Flemish presence on the cultural scene in Italy is on the rise as evidenced by the numerous concerts, theatrical and dance performances that are held throughout Italy, the increasing number of submissions of Flemish productions to film festivals, and the growing interest in literary translations from Dutch into Italian. All this is made possible by the financial support that can be requested by Italian Festivals and organisations or by the artist(s) themselves through the Arts Decree, the Flemish Audio-visual Fund and Literature Flanders.