During the Polish-Italian Culture Week, Pawel Błażewicz, Ph.D., from the IPN’s Spokesperson’s Office gave a speech on the history of the Polish anthem called Dąbrowski’s Mazurek. Also the lyrics to the Italian national anthem refer to the sacrifice on the path to freedom.
The topic of the second day of the Cultural Week was "The Katyn massacre — the extermination of the Polish elite." Participants were introduced to IPN publications about the Katyn massacre in Italian, English and Polish. Several aspects of the Soviet repression of Poles in 1939—1941 and similarities with regard to Ukrainians, invaded by the Russian Federation in February 2022, were also referred to.
As part of the 6th Polish-Italian Culture Week, concerts and lectures on Polish history and literature were organized including a concert by the Odor Rosae Musices ensemble, accompanied by a reenactment group wearing costumes from the times of Queen Bona Sforza who was the wife of a Polish king Sigismund I the Old in 16th century. It is no coincidence that this event takes place in Bari, since Queen Bona Sforza became the duchess of that city after her return from Poland.
Another concert of classical music was performed by Polish artists: Katarzyna Marczewska, a soprano singer, and Bogna Dulinska, a pianist.
The Polish-Italian Culture Week was coordinated by the president of the Apulian Polish-Italian Association. The Consul of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Rome, Agata Ibek-Wojtasik, and Professor Katarzyna Forst from the University of Silesia in Katowice were among special guests of the event.
The event is sponsored by the Institute of National Remembrance as well as by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Rome, the Polish Institute in Rome, the Apulian Branch of the Ministry of Culture, the Apulia Region, the Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto, the Mediatheque of the Apulia Region, the Municipal Museum in Bari and the "Freedom and Democracy" Foundation.