World Geostrategic Insights interview with Margherita Chiara Immordino Tedesco on art exhibitions as a tool of Diplomacy.
Margherita Chiara Immordino Tedesco is founder and president of two scientific-cultural foundations patronized by the Presidency of the Italian Republic and financial manager of an international consortium for foreign procurements. She is a Permanent Observer to the United Nations Social and Economic Council and is accredited as a journalist to the Vatican Press Office. Among her various positions, she is in charge of institutional and international relations for “Federutility,” the Italian federation of municipal companies. After graduating in Political Science, and completing a Master’s degree in Public Communication, she held positions within the Italian Parliament, the Presidency of the Italian Council of Ministers, the European Commission and. as a lecturer, at the Lincei Academy and Universities of Bologna, Salerno, Pavia and Lecce. She has also worked as a financial consultant in state-owned companies and as the head of communication and institutional relations in private companies.
Q1 – You are the founder and president of the Placido Immordino Foundation and the Mundi Live Association. Can you explain to us what are the main goals and activities of these two organizations?
A1 – The refined pursuit of beauty in all its expressions, from art to culture, the development of new technologies and the advancement of scientific research in the field of anti-aging and regenerative medicine: this is the goal of the Mundi Live Association and the Placido Immordino Foundation.
Both were expressly created by me to maintain an eternal bond with my father, Placido Immordino, a wise and cultured statesman, a soldier who served the Italian State for more than fifty years, training and orienting more than one hundred thousand young people, helping them to assume their role in society.
The pursuit of beauty always influenced the life of my father, a good and just man with gentle manners. After his departure to a higher dimension, I picked up his legacy of love and continued my father’s path to advance our common idea of world, beauty, justice and need for a rebirth.
The Placido Immordino Foundation supports scientific research in the medical field, with particular reference to generic therapies and in general to the latest frontiers of biology and epigenetic medicine, the science to come, the science that is still being studied and therefore needs more investment. We also give attention to the parapsychology applied to the treatment of disease, and its ongoing experimentations in some laboratories. Defeating cancers and extending life, that is our ambitious goal.
Mundi Live has a mission to promote cross-cultural activities related to the practice of scientific, artistic, cultural and economic diplomacy and ethical finance. Mundi is closely connected with the life of my father, who was initially a clergyman, a Jesuit, and then, with the same vocation, went on to a military career. Following in my father’s footsteps, I too have somehow fulfilled a religious vocation by serving at the Holy See Press Office in the Vatican. Everyday I try to reconnect with my father in all the things I deal with, handling everything with competence and spasmodic precision, as he did.
Mundi Livi started as a magazine, as a small travelog, and slowly began to take shape and become a real big project. With a wealth of artworks and luxury properties and a circuit of more than three hundred members, prominent personalities from the world of diplomacy, culture and finance, it has carved out a significant space internationally.
Today, Mundi operates in broad areas such as finance, economics and art, covering a wide range of topics in which prominent personalities in world diplomacy contribute their views on various issues. At the same time, it promotes cultural exchange by organizing lectures, cultural meetings and exhibitions of private collections of artists such as in the Museum and Art Gallery Bellini, in Florence.
Mundi Live is a link between various worlds, the diplomatic, the artistic and the financial, a pursuit of a scientific-financial cultural renaissance that aims to create small and new worlds formed by true and exclusive educated elites who, like me, love beauty and the idea of progress built on global excellence, to shape a new era of science and culture. I am especially proud to have with Mundi also crossed the threshold of the palace of the United Nations, to promote beauty in the world.
Q2 – Cultural diplomacy aims to multiply intellectual and artistic ties between citizens of different countries outside official political contexts. It is a powerful means of communication that enables truly international exchanges. Business diplomacy, on the other hand, aims to build and maintain strong relationships with various national and international stakeholders to shape and influence the environment and ultimately create a favorable business environment and exploit new opportunities. Can you give us some examples of activities you have undertaken, both in the cultural and financial fields, that have an international and diplomatic dimension?
A2 – As an example, I would like to mention the partnership started in December 2022 between Mundi Live, and Placido Immordino Foundation, with the BEI DI Association for Tourism and Culture Promotion, and the W.I.O. World Intercultural Organization, to contribute to the development of the cooperation between the Italian and Chinese people, fostering the tourism and cultural development between the two countries, including the art to the great Silk Road project promoted by China. An ambitious international cooperation project, supported by the Chinese Embassy in Italy, the Municipality of Rome, Chinese entrepreneurs and philanthropists. One of its first results was the organization of an exhibition of Renaissance and contemporary art at the Himalayan museum in Shanghai.
Changing the sector, I would like to mention the communication campaign done by Mundi Live for the presentation of the book “Mirage,” written by the Minister of Defense of the United Arab Emirates.
We are also involved in a number of activities, falling under both cultural diplomacy and economic diplomacy, aimed at promoting and developing cooperative relations between Italy and Qatar for the implementation of specific projects and initiatives.
Q3 – Since the early 20th century, works of art have been loaned abroad from national collections, with the aim of promoting cultural exchange and establishing or strengthening good diplomatic relations. You are also responsible for organizing the art activities of the Pinacoteca and Museo Bellini in Florence and have promoted prestigious works of art and talented artists around the world, often combining art with fashion, culture, diplomacy and finance. You have held exhibitions of artworks in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, China and other countries. Can you cite here an example of an activity you have accomplished and one planned for the near future?
A3 – First of all I would like to mention the exhibitions organized by the Bellini Museum Foundation, the Artifex International company, with the collaboration of the Mundi Live Foundation: a journey to 16th century China, which through the display of works and artifacts from numerous Museums and Scientific Institutions, pays tribute to and traces the long human and spiritual journey of a man, Matteo Ricci, who managed to live out his faith in the ancient Chinese empire, a kingdom closed in on itself that at first did not even allow foreigners access.
Going to another activity, in the Castle Fortress of Santa Pola, in the province of Alicante, on April 20, 2023, we organized Picasso 50, a major international art exhibition, produced in collaboration with Picasso Defi, Art Luxury, Amarte, the Museo del Mar Santa Pola, and the Municipality of Santa Pola. The event was organized to pay tribute to Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in the 50th year of his death. Six Italian artists also participated in the exhibition, presenting a revisitation of six of Picasso’s artistic works and artworks from their own artistic production. While a Spanish artist revisited a painting by Perugino, an Italian Renaissance artist whose 500th death anniversary is being celebrated this year.
With reference to upcoming activities, I had talks with Jia Guide, Chinese ambassador to Italy, aimed at consolidating projects already under negotiation to bring two exhibitions dedicated to Matteo Ricci and the new Baroque to China. I have also in the agenda the realization of an important art exhibition in Hong Kong, in collaboration with the Italian-Chinese Institute.
Margherita Chiara Immordino Tedesco – Founder and president of the Placido Immordino Foundation and the Mundi Live Association.