Osaka Expo's mascot Italia-chan debuts at design week

(ANSA) - ROME, APR 16 - The Italian Pavilion for Expo Osaka 2025 on Monday starred at the Milan Design Week, accompanied by Italia-chan, the mascot for the event presented at the Università Statale by Commissioner General for Italy, Ambassador Mario Vattani. Exactly one year ahead of Expo 2025 Osaka, the press conference Interni Cross Vision, which officially kicks off the Fuori Salone events, marked the official debut of Italia-chan and more.
    "Chan is a term of endearment used for little girls, we have chosen a little girl to represent Italy at Expo 2025 because the theme is designing the society of the future for our lives, and these societies are going to be experienced by our children", the ambassador explained.
    The kawaii-style doll, with the colours and symbols of Italy, was created by Simone Legno, founder of pop art brand tokidoki.
    Italia-chan was not the only surprise at the conference, where the Italian Pavilion created by Mario Cucinella was presented, with a model exhibited in the great hall of the Università Statale.
    Vattani also announced a collaboration with Eataly, which will manage the restaurant located on the terrace of the Italian Pavilion.
    Moreover, Monsignor Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Holy See's Dicastery for Evangelization, announced that the Vatican will bring to the event Caravaggio's Deposition, which is part of the collection of the Pinacoteca Vaticana.
    And one of the ambassadors chosen to represent Italy in Japan, designer Toshiyuki Kita, is presenting in Milan the exhibit 'Da mille anni al futuro' (From 1,000 years to the future), with ancient Japanese handicrafts.
    "I always thought that traditional Japanese handicrafts don't only concern the past but also the future", said the designer, who lived in Italy for a long period of time and now resides in Osaka.
    Commissioner Vattani announced that a show is in the works for Expo "uniting Kita's exhibition also with Italian crafts that have the same characteristics that project them into the future through design.
    "The Pavilion itself is a tale of design", stressed Vattani.
    "Apart from the marvelous design by Mario Cucinella, which is structured to be seen from a large ring, a 12-meter-high walk, there will be a part inside dedicated to handicrafts, connected to design, because this is the way to explain what lies behind the quality of our Made in Italy", he explained.
    Architect Mario Cucinella noted that "the project was conceived as the idea of a big hangar of knowledge: a large wooden building committed to the idea of sustainability" which can be dismantled "in many pieces" and has "three founding elements: the theatre, the square, a great Italian-style garden".
    "We are allies of the Italian Pavilion because it speaks about the ideal city, the city of the future and we also talk about the future", concluded Gilda Bojardi, the editor in chief the magazine Interni. (ANSA).