In chosing the theme of Sicily, a bridge between Cultures, our intention is to highlight the extent to which both the geographic and historical features of the Island have been instrumental in providing a meeting place between East and West, having been subjected to foreign rule on more than one occasion in the past, a factor which not only greatly enriched its varied and complex cultural heritage, but developed a spirit of great hospitality, contributing as it does to a climate of peace in the Mediterranean, and one that allows for the free circulation of both people and goods, excluding all forms of religious, cultural or psychological prejudice, and also any form of irrational racial barrier, likely to undermine tolerance and understanding in relations between the different cultures.

It is for this reason that the Sicilian stand has chosen to provide evidence of over two centuries of its history through a series of symbolic elements from both the Island’s past and future. These include evidence of the classical Hellenistic period, such as the IV-III b.c. phial, representing a highly-refined technique of jewellery-making, originating in Caltavuturo in the Province of Palermo, to the III b.c. tableware, made up of 16 pieces of silver, originally from the Siculo-Greek city of Morgantina, in the Aidone area, in the Province of Enna. These latter have been sent back to Sicily by the New York Metropolitan Museum, after prolunged legal wrangling. Further elements representing the Island’s future development are both the model of the Bridge over the Strait of Messina, as well as the virtual tour of the Bridge itself. The Bridge is the longest ever span to be projected (3,300 m) and is the outcome of the technological excellence achieved due to the involvment of state-of-the-art engineering expertise, geared to meeting the requirements of international traffic along the Berlin-Palermo axis, as part of the Euro- Mediterranean zone designation, as stipulated by the Barcellona Convention in 1995, also to those between the European Union countries and those along the North-African and Middle Eastern frontier zones.

This period, spanning as it does over two centuries, is further documented in the Sicilian stand by the information on the Sicilian sites included in the Unesco World Heritage List, also by the vulcanic and naturalistic features of the Archipelago of the Aeolian Islands, in the Province of Messina, the cave Necropoli in Pantalica in the Province of Siracusa, dating back from the XIII to the VIII centuries b.c., the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, on which work began as of the VIth century b.c., the city of Syracuse founded in the Vth century b.c., the Roman Villa Casale (III – IV century b.c.) in Piazza Armerina, the reconstruction of the cities in the Val di Noto area, following on the catastrophic earthquake in 1693. Material from the Sicilian Puppet Theatre is also on display here in the stand, with its many affinities with the Chinese Shadow Theatre. Last but not least, is the original edition of the extremely rare volume, the Sinarum Scientia Politico Moralis, dated 1667, with the Latin translation of the Confucian Classic, the Doctrine of the Mean with the original Chinese text alongside, kept in the Central Library of the Sicilian Region, which has also arranged for the reprinted edition. The volume was originally published by the Jesuit missionary to China, Prospero Intorcetta, who was born in Piazza Armerina in 1626. Fr. Intorcetta acted as a missionary from 1659 in Jianchang up to his death 1696 in Hangzhou, where he is buried.Subsequent to this achievement, together with Fr. Philippe Couplet, Fr. Intorcetta arranged for the publication of the Confucio Sinarum philosophus sive scientia sinensis in Paris in 1687. These texts are evidence of the aspiration to better know and spread a knowledge of Chinese culture in the Western world, and contributed in no small way to the Chinese-style architeture and decorations chosen for the Chinese Palace in the Parco della Favorita (the Favourite’s Park) in Palermo and also for the drawing rooms both in the Norman Royal Palace in Palermo and also Palazzo Mirto. Today, the people of Sicily wish not only to confirm, but also revive this aspiration in a spirit of the most profound friendship, and with full acknowledgement of the remarkable social, scientific and cultural achievements of the Popular Republic of China.