The sights and smells of Italy will spread across Brisbane as the countdown continues to the arrival of one of the world's top ballet companies, Teatro alla Scala, for the first Australian show in its 240-year history.
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With less than a month to go, the anticipation is building as the city's Italian festival returns this weekend and two historical Italian exhibitions will also be open to the public.
La Scala announced in March it had chosen Queensland Performing Arts Centre as the location of its first and only Australian performances, which will be on show from November 7-18.
Company director Frederic Olivieri said the company had chosen Brisbane because they believed it was Australia's "culture" city, not Sydney or Melbourne.
Queensland's Italian consul Ludovico Carlo Camussi said La Scala's arrival was an exciting time for the Italian community and Australia as a whole.
"This is a unique event ... for the broader Australian public and everyone who wants to enjoy some of the most classic and more contemporary approaches to the performing arts," he said.
"La Scala comes with a great tradition, but it's also very modern and the public will be surprised."
Mr Camussi said there were several similarities between the 33-year-old QPAC building and La Scala's 240-year-old opera house home in Milan.
"If you think about the architecture, there is nothing more different," he said.
"But both have a lot in common. They are both cultural places and the major centre of public congregation where the community joins together.
"They both have strong ties to the community and the same objective to encourage the community to grow.
"La Scala was nearly destroyed during World War II and was one of the first buildings in Milan to be rebuilt. In fact, there is a saying that La Scala's reconstruction started before people's houses.
"The theatre is attached to Milan and is a second home for the people, it is embedded deep within the community and connected to the city as an institution - the same as QPAC."
To showcase the similarities between the two buildings, QPAC’s Place & Time exhibition will remain open until La Scala leaves Brisbane on November 17.
It also features a virtual reality experience where visitors can discover some of La Scala's secrets and get a sneak peek inside the famous theatre's dressing rooms and rehearsal spaces.
The city's Italian Festival, Festitalia, will take over Newmarket's Spencer Park on Sunday and give visitors a chance to experience traditional entertainment and sample authentic cuisine.
"We have a lot of things going on, it's a full day of showcasing the Italian atmosphere, food and entertainment," Mr Camussi said.
"The public reacted so well to the flag throwers that we have had to bring them back from Italy and they are due to arrive in the next couple of days.
"There will also be traditional bands and local chefs showcasing masterpieces of Italian cuisine."
Nine Brisbane residents were also given the opportunity to imagine a conversation they would like to have with a historical Italian figure to create the Impossible Conversations exhibition.
The exhibition will open at the Museum of Brisbane on Wednesday, October 10, and feature chosen Italian identities from the fields of art, science, politics and religion.
The exhibition uses a series of watercolour paintings to offer a glimpse of how the questions and answers would be received by both parties and was put together with the help of QPAC staff.
