An "Infinite" Flash Mob

With the efforts made between descendant Countess Olimpia Leopardi, Casa Leopardi, and schools all around Italy, this Tuesday, multiple town squares will be filled with students reciting famous poet Giacomo Leopardi’s legendary poem “L’Infinito” in unison on the poem’s 200th anniversary.

The national flash mob will honor the time-standing genius of Leopardi, with over 2,000 students gathering, including those in the poet’s native town of Recanti. Museum Casa Leopardi has expressed hopes that the event will double as an opportunity to “bring young people closer to poetry” and ignite a love for the art as well.

The requirements of participating schools will include recording themselves as they recite the poem in their local piazza on May 28th at exactly 11:30 am. Participants will also be required to wear a white shirt, and catch and throw a white ball to and from off-screen to symbolize “poetic dribbling” and the acknowledgment of “passing” the poem from one school to another.

Schools will be asked to post their videos on their respective social media pages and/or school website. National broadcast media company RAI will be reporting live on the national flash mob as well.

The main event will take place in Leopardi’s hometown piazza, made famous by another one of his poems "Sabato del Villaggio,” and is set to be an iconic appreciation that will draw attention to Leopardi’s "L’Infinito" and unite people from all around Italy.

As Countess Olimpia Leopardi stated to ANSA, she hopes that the event will be effective in "connecting it symbolically to all Italian squares to transform them from places in which people ignore or bump into each other to a space of spiritual communion to celebrate beauty and build together a future 'Beyond the Hedge.'"