(ANSA) - Milan, May 20 - Elaborating on an age-old cliché, if pictures tell a thousand words, then Panorama - a new video installation about Italy opening to the public on the sidelines of Expo 2015 in Milan on Thursday - would fill up several encyclopedias.
    A 15-minute immersive video played on a 5-meter high, circular maxi-screen in a specially built viewing facility in Piazza GaeAulenti, Panorama shows how Italian excellence in everything from fashion to food to art, hospitality, design and engineering is the result of a "well established savoir-faire and cultural heritage that Italy has created over 3,000 years of history," organizers said Wednesday at a press preview. It is a breathtaking, visually stunning and technologically sophisticated work (new drone technologies were patented as part of its making): accompanied by classical and contemporary music, viewers are surrounded by images and videos of all that is beautiful in Italy. The video starts with a 360-degree degree view of Monte Bianco in the Italian Alps and ends with a slow-motion close-up of Michelangelo's David, in Florence. After the initial mountain scenery, the video cuts to an inside view of the Colosseum: from here the camera rises slowly, giving viewers the feeling of lifting off the ground as they start on a journey through space and time. From the famous Roman arena, viewers are taken through the center of the city itself, then onto picturesque countryside and towns: many are familiar - like Lucca, Siena, Milan, the northern lakes, to name a few - while many are not. Mixed in with video there are also still images of artworks by Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli and Giotto, then, again, 360-degree videos of the insides of famous Italian theaters, like La Scala in Milan, La Fenice in Venice and San Carlo in Naples. There are sequences - some video, some images - showcasing Italian excellence in manufacturing, design, fashion (including textiles, pret-à-porter and shoes), wine and food, and - of course - flyovers of centuries-old vineyards and peeks inside the most famous Italian hotels and resorts. While it is not about brands, some - including, for example, Ferrari, Kartell and Technogym - are easy to spot. Hosted in a 350-square meter wooden architectural structure, created by Studio Cerri&Associati, Panorama will be open to viewing from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day, for free, from May 21 through to the end of Expo on October 31. According to project director-curator Davide Rampelli, the project is the brainchild of Andrea Illy, the president of Italian luxury goods makers' associationFondazioneAltagamma and president of Illycaffè. "The idea [for Panorama] was born from encounters and dialogs one and a half years ago with Illy, who was looking for a really beautiful way to represent Expo," Rampelli said during the press presentation Wednesday. Panoramas - round rooms whose walls present drawings of 360-degree views, recreating the illusion of a landscape - were a popular form of entertainment in the 18th century and have been a feature of all Universal Exhibitions since the first one in London, in 1851. Elaborating on the concept, Rampelli explained that the idea was to offer a new interpretation of the concept of beauty as not only nature but "as everything that is the fruit of man's ingenuity." Aside from the beauty of the end product, Panorama - whose backers include Italy's Ministry of Economic Development, the Municipality of Milan, the Italian Chamber of Fashion, Expo Milan 2015 and Fondazione Altagamma - is an example of what collaboration between public and private institutions and actors can achieve. "Everyone worked together to realize something that represents Italy," Rampelli said.
    The project itself is an example of the creative talents that set Italy apart and relied on the collaboration of art directors, video producers, writers and drone operators, among others. "Three camera troupes worked incessantly, touring some 300 locations in Italy," Andrea Illy told ANSA in brief comments following the presentation. Panorama's future is already set beyond the closing of Milan's Universal Exhibition. "After the Expo, it will travel around the world. It is an extraordinary business card for Italy," Illy said.