Ciao Italia ! These Italian immigrants who shaped France – mobile exhibition

Ciao Italia ! covers the history of Italian immigration and how it influenced French society and culture. Tackling religion, the press, education, the arts, music, cinema, games and sport, and even gastronomy, it spotlights the many Italians, workers, miners, masons, farmers, artisan-retailers, artists and entrepreneurs, who have helped make France what it is since the second half of the 19th century.

• Look back over the key phases of Italian immigration in France and trace the geography of the regions they came from and settled in.
• Describe the business sectors Italian men and women worked in on arrival, and the places where they socialised.
• Remind people that Italian immigration did not always go smoothly, but was a long and sometimes painful process.
• Highlight the importance of the legacy of Italian immigration in France, noting its influence on language, art and even gastronomy.