Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient

The Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO), known in English as the Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient, was established in Rome in 1995, as the result of the merging of Italian Institute for the Middle and the Far East [it] (IsMEO) with the Istituto Italo-Africano (IIA). It closed in 2012. Its museum collection is now overseen by the Polo Museale del Lazio.^[1][2]

Before it closed in 2012, the institute was active in the field of cultural promotion aimed at fostering fruitful relations between Italy and the African and Asian countries. The aims of the Institute were: to establish and implement study and research projects; to promote cultural and scientific collaboration initiatives through the exchange of information, experience and knowledge among researchers and specialists; to implement cooperation, consultancy and assistance projects, with special regard to the conservation and promotion of the heritage of the Asian countries and to carry out missions and archaeological campaigns in these countries; to carry on publishing activities alone or in collaboration with other institutions, or with publishers; to enter into conventions or agreements providing for joint activities with universities, academies, cultural and research institutions in Italy and abroad. It was presided over since its inception by Gherardo Gnoli.