AEFI – Associazione Esposizioni e Fiere Italiane dedicates a special award to the Fire Brigade, which distinguished itself by its bravery in response to the Amatrice earthquake

As part of Global Exhibitions Day – during the “Think Global, Act Local: The Value of Italian Exhibitions” event organised by the AEFI – Associazione Esposizioni e Fiere Italiane at the Sala del Tempio di Adriano, Chamber of Commerce in Rome – the management of the AEFI presented a special award to the Fire Brigade, which distinguished itself by its bravery in its response to the Amatrice earthquake.

An award for the heroes of the year, whose courage, dedication, passion and love meant that many lives were saved, and which highlights the essential role that they cover in trade fair safety.

Michele Chiossi created the Burning Heart sculpture-trophy specially for the occasion, made of Carrara marble and steel, which represents a heart surmounted by a flame. Based on emojis, the artist drew the symbolic elements of the heart and flame which he fused and fashioned into a single stylised figure to become a direct metaphor for man and his profession, but also the personification of spirit and his passion.

 

AEFI – Associazione Esposizioni e Fiere Italiane, a private non-profit Association, was established in 1983 with the goal of generating synergies between the most important Italian exhibition districts. AEFI would like to be seen as a privileged partner for operators and institutions alike, and its role is to support members through the development of activities and programmes in the sphere of training, marketing, promotion and research, as well as to provide services for trade fairs through the activities of its Committees: Exhibition Hub Technical Committee, Legal-Administrative Committee, Internationalisation Committee and Trade Fairs Network Committee. On the internationalization front, AEFI supports members thanks to agreements with strategic markets. To date, partnerships have been agreed with Iran, Taiwan, Lebanon and India and a memorandum of understanding has been signed with AmCham, the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy. AEFI, together with CFI-Confindustria, CFT-Confcommercio and Unioncamere, has promoted the foundation of ISFCert, the Certification Institute for Exhibition Industry Statistics which, through rigorous methodologies, enables Italian organisers to present and recognise standardised data, in the name of transparency and reliability. AEFI represents Italian trade fairs in UFI – Union of International Fairs. Chaired by Ettore Riello, AEFI includes 35 member exhibition districts, which organise over 1,000 events a year over an overall exhibition area of 4.2 million square metres. 95% of international trade fairs, and 85% of all trade fairs, which take place each year in Italy, are held in AEFI-member exhibition districts.