Conferences at Teatro la Compagna

The traditional series of autumn conferences, up until now hosted at the School in Piazza Pitti, this year proposes a change. The ‘Big Names’ of Design, Fashion Design and Graphic Design, remain the protagonists of the lectures, that will be addressed this year to a wider audience in a new location and open to all those interested in the various arguments. It is in the style of the Accademia Italiana to open the windows to the outside world during the academic year.

A tendency that has grown in the last few years thanks to projects promoted in collaboration with companies and studios active in the field. And from this year also the ‘Autumn Conferences’ up until now directed only to the students from the school, will be an occasion for debate and interaction with a wider public.

The conference, concentrated in a single session on 14 November (hrs 10-18) will take place at the Cinema La Compagnia. The stage of the theatre in Via Cavour will welcome the guest speakers following a typical television talk show format.

Opening the lectures, will be the Design conference at 10.00 am, special guest, architect Robert Baciocchi, well known internationally for the design of commercial spaces all over the world, in particular, for the brands of the Prada group, for whom he created their ‘concept brand’. He will be talking about retail design, detailing his own experiences with his major projects.

At 12.00 there will be the Graphic Design Conference: taking over the microphone will be Prof. Andrea Rauch, celebrated designer of posters, book illustrator and designer of exhibitions and events. He has designed the graphics for institutions such as the Venice Biennale, the Georges Pompidou Centre, the European Union of Theatres and for political movements (the symbol of the political party Ulivo) and for activist movements such as Greenpeace and Unicef. Rauch will give an historical introduction to graphic design and then concentrate on the creation of a trademark.

In the afternoon, at 14.30, the lectures continue with the Fashion Design Conference, hosted by the couple Murr, creative directors, stylists, personal shoppers, image and style consultants and fashion gurus. After 23 years of experience in the fashion world, Antonio and Roberta Murr are considered to be a single entity, so much so as to become a recognised brand name, I MURR, from their surname.I Murr focus on image construction and trends research.

The last lecture at 16.00 will be dedicated to Photography.  At the microphone the photo-reporter Ivo Saglietti, specialised in reportage dealing with socio-political and anthropological themes. From 2000 Saglietti is an associate member of the German photojournalistic agency Zeitenspiegen Reportagen. He is working on a project dealing with frontiers in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East. The Photography conference will be introduced by a greeting from the Artistic Director of the Lucca Photolux Festival, that will have the Accademia Italiana among its exhibitors and Saglietti among the protagonists of their workshops.

Press Office: Loredana Ficicchia