Libya–Italy: Shared Roots, Future Visions

International Conference
Libya–Italy: Shared Roots, Future Visions
(IC2025Libya–Italy)

University of Naples L’Orientale (UniOr)
Palazzo Corigliano 
Conference Room – Antisala degli Specchi 
S. Domenico Maggiore 12 

Naples 11th–12th December 2025

PROGRAM

Thursday 11th December - Conference Room (2nd floor)

14:30 – Academic Greetings

Roberto Tottoli (Rector – University of Naples L’Orientale)
Roberta Giunta (Dean of the Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies – University of Naples L’Orientale)
Ignazio Tantillo (Doctoral Coordinator – University of Naples L’Orientale)
Representatives of the Italian Embassy in Tripoli

14:45 – Introduction: Libya – Italy: Shared Roots, Future Visions

Anna Maria Di Tolla (University of Naples L’Orientale) – Pino Pisicchio (University of International Studies-UNINT, Rome) 
 

15:00–15:15 – Coffee break

15:15–16:30 – Session 1: Historical memory and the colonial period: Italian legacies and collective remembrance

Chairs: Cristina Figueiredo (Université Paris Cité) - Giovanni Cordova (University of Naples Federico II)

Federico Cresti (University of Catania)
Adrar n Infusen, una memoria visiva: la montagna berbera tripolitana tra età ottomana e epoca coloniale nelle immagini dell'archivio fotografico del Museo Africano.
Chiara Pagano (University of Pavia)
Knowledge for Conquest and its Afterlives: The Italian Colonial Library in the Historical (Re)making of Nowadays Libya’s Conflictual Identities.
Pino Pisicchio (University of International Studies-UNINT, Rome) 
Angelo del Boca and the deconstruction of the “Italians are good people” myth

Discussion

16:30–17:30 – Salem Ali Alsiefao (Documentary filmmaker, Jadu-Libya)

Presentation and screening of the short film: 
A Tale of a School: Zâima Al–Barouni School: Amazigh Identity and Architectural Memory (2025) by Salem Ali Alsiefao (47.37)

Discussion

17:30 – Buffet Light

Friday 12th December - Conference Room (2nd Floor)

09:15–10:30 – Session 2: Amazigh identity and cultural pluralism: language, literature, and activism

Chairs: Fathi Ben Khalifa (President of the Libya Al–Ummah Party, LIBO) – Chiara Pagano (University of Pavia)

Aedah Kotara (Center for Amazigh Studies and Research, Zuwara-Libya)
The Amazigh Movement in Libya: From Exclusion to Empowerment – A Case Study of the Zuwara Amazigh Research Center.
Masin Ferkal (INALCO, Paris)
L'insurrection de 2011 et revitalisation de la langue berbère en Libye.
Mariacarmela Flaviano (University of Naples L’Orientale)
Documenting and Describing from afar: the Amazigh of Eastern Nefusa Mountain

Discussion

10:45 – Coffee break

Friday 12th December - Antisala degli Specchi (4th Floor)

11:00–12:15 – Session 3: Contemporary Libya: political transitions and post–2011 fragmentation

Chairs: Federico Cresti (University of Catania) – Mariacarmela Flaviano (University of Naples L’Orientale) 

Cristina Figueiredo (Université Paris Cité)
Espoirs et désillusion de la jeunesse touarègue des années 1990. La Lybie comme terre d’accueil et de solitude.
Fathi Ben Khalifa (President of the Libya Al-Ummah Party-LIBO)
Libya’s identity, its language, and successive colonization.
Giovanni Cordova (University of Naples Federico II)
Sovereignty, Belonging, and the State: Anthropological Perspectives from the Maghreb 

Discussion

12:30 – Visit to the University Library's Special Collections: Ibadi manuscripts (DAAM –University of Naples L’Orientale)

13:15 – 14:00 Light Lunch – Conference Room - 2nd Floor

14:00 – 14:50 – Session 4: Framework and Testimony: Assessing Amazigh Rights in Libya

Chairs: Aedah Kotara (Center for Amazigh Studies and Research, Zuwara –Libya) – Masin Ferkal (INALCO, Paris)

Wail Moammer (Development & Human Rights Scholar–Libya)
Tilawt (ⵜⵉⵍⴰⵡⵜ): The Reality of Indigenous Amazigh Rights in Libyan Law and Policy (1951–Today).
Asma Khalifa (Researcher – PhD – GIGA Institute of Middle East Studies – Hamburg) – remotely
Brief testimony of her experience in current Libya.

Discussion

14:50-15:30 – Round Table : Libya – Italy: Bridging Lived Realities and Institutional Cooperation. A Dialogue for a Shared Future

Chairs: Fathi Ben Khalifa (President of the Libya Al–Ummah Party-LIBO)

Participants: Salem Ali Alsiefao – Giovanni Cordova – Federico Cresti – Cristina Figueiredo – Mariacarmela Flaviano – Aedah Kotara – Wail Moammer – Representative of the Italian Embassy

15:30 – Wrap–up Session 

15:30–16:30 - Book Launch 

Chair: Giovanni Cordova (University of Naples Federico II)

Chiara Pagano. La politica berbera nella Libia coloniale. Identità, reti e conflitti (1835–1924). Collana: Studi Storici Carocci. 2025.

Discussant: Federico Cresti (University of Catania)

16:30 – Buffet Light – Conference Room

For further information: napleslibyaconference2025@gmail; aditolla@unior.it ; m.flaviano@unior.it