Francesco Petracchini – Director of CNR (National Research Council) Department of Earth System Sciences and Environmental Technologies (DSSTTA)

Francesco Petracchini is an Environmental Engineer with a PhD in Environmental Sciences. Since 2003, he has been involved in research and international project management at the CNR Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research (IIA-CNR). He has also led environmental research programs on behalf of CNR in China within the framework of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
From 2020 to 2024, he served as Director of IIA-CNR, and he currently leads the CNR Department of Earth System Sciences and Environmental Technologies (DSSTTA).

 

Lidia Armelao
Degree in Chemistry and PhD in Chemical Sciences from Padua University (Italy). Post-doc fellow in Paris (UPMC, 1995) and visiting scientist in Canada (UWO, 2005 – 2008, 2011). Head of the Department of Chemical Sciences and Materials Technologies of the National Research Council (CNR) since 2020 and former Director of the CNR Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Energy Technologies (2014 – 2020). Full Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at Padova University since 2016 and Research Scientist at CNR from 1996 to 2015. She has been appointed as governmental expert in Materials at the European Defence Agency (since 2017) and as member of the Scientific Commission of the Italian Chemical Society (2020 – 2022). President of the Inorganic Chemistry Division of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (since 2022), at IUPAC she has been elected member of the Scientific Board (2024 – 2025) and of the Executive Board (from 2026). She has been scientific coordinator and unit chair of national and European projects, and component of international evaluation panels for scientific projects and research centers. The scientific activity concerns the area of chemistry and materials and is focused on the development of innovative luminescent materials for sensing and energy applications. She authored over 250 papers on international peer-reviewed scientific journals and she was invited as lecturer to over 40 national and international conferences. She received the EniChem Thesis Prize (1990) and the Distinguished Women in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering international Award (2023) from IUPAC.

 

Maria Elena Martinotti is a civil engineer with a PhD in Water and Territory Management Engineering from Politecnico di Torino. She started her career in geotechnical and structural engineering, later moving into public research at the Italian National Research Council (CNR). At the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (IRPI-CNR), she contributed to the validation of national landslide early warning systems and supported Civil Protection during major emergencies in Italy.
Since 2019, she has been with the CNR Department of Earth System Sciences and Environmental Technologies, first as a Technologist managing Antarctic and Arctic research programs and coordinating departmental activities. She is now Head of Institutional Relations, responsible for stakeholder engagement and national and international collaborations.
She has authored scientific articles and reports on landslide hazards, extreme rainfall events, and early warning systems, and has solid experience in scientific communication, outreach, and event organization.

 

 

Dr. Shuichi Kodaira is Executive Director of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) and an adjunct professor at Tohoku University and Yokohama National University. Since receiving his Ph.D. from Hokkaido University in Japan in 1992, he has studied the structures and dynamics of oceanic plates using marine geophysical and seismological approaches. Prior to his current role, he was an assistant professor at Hokkaido University and Director-General of the Institute for Marine Geodynamics at JAMSTEC. Recently, he and his group in JAMSTEC have carried out intensive seismic studies and developed seafloor/sub-seafloor observation systems in subduction zones around Japan. Dr. Kodaira was elected Fellow of the AGU in 2014 and Beno Gutenberg Lecturer in 2017. He has received several awards, including the Commendation for Science and Technology from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in 2023 and the Seismological Society of Japan Award in 2024.

 

Giuseppe Magnifico is Director of the Office for Planning and Grant Office and Deputy Director of the Research Infrastructure Office at CNR.
He is committed to supporting the project activity of the Scientific Network by coordinating and monitoring projects of both National Research Programme and European Commission Funding Programme. His primary focus lies in facilitating CNR’s involvement in initiatives that aim to enhance existing research infrastructures and establish new ones, including multi-thematic research infrastructure networks.
He is, also, charged with the participation of CNR in Pan-European Research Infrastructures, including the European Research Infrastructure Consortia, ERICs.
In this contest, following the donation of the research vessel R/V “Gaia Blu” (formerly R/V “Falkor”) from the Schmidt Ocean Institute to CNR, Mr. Magnifico has overseen the development of the vessel’s management model and cruise planning. Drawing on his experience with the EU-Eurofleets+ project, he played a key role in promoting and contributing to the establishment of Eurofleets AISBL, a new pan-European research infrastructure aimed at coordinating European research fleets.
With more than 20 years of research experience, Giuseppe participates in a number of key National and European initiatives, such as ERVO (European Research Vessel Operators) Group, the IRSO (International Research Ship Operators) Group, currently being Chair of the community. Furthermore, Giuseppe was of member of the European Marine Board Working Group “Next Generation European Research Vessels.

Diego Fontaneto
A naturalist by training working as a zoologist, has been at the CNR-IRSA in Verbania since 2012, after gaining a few years of experience in the United Kingdom and Sweden. His research focuses on biodiversity, and he is the coordinator of the biodiversity working group within CNR. His main research activity involves studying biodiversity from a quantitative perspective, using observations, measurements, statistical analyses, inference on processes, and generalizations. He employs various approaches that draw from multiple disciplines, combining ecology with genetic diversity analysis. He is knowledgeable about bdelloid rotifers, a group of microscopic animals notorious for being an evolutionary scandal: they are all female, can survive extreme stress conditions such as freezing, desiccation, and ionizing radiation, and are capable of incorporating external DNA into their genome. He is editor-in-chief of scientific journals with different publishing philosophies, ranging from fully open and free access to traditional subscription-based models. He is also involved in the perception of biodiversity, both within the research community and in society at large.

 

Jotaro Urabe
His research focuses on aquatic ecology. He served as chair of the Ecological Society of Japan and as a professor at Tohoku University, where he is now an emeritus professor.

 

Angelo Fontana (ORCID N. 0000-0002-5453-461X; WOS RESEARCHER ID C-3354-2012) is Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Department of Biology of the University of Naples “Federico II” and Director of the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (ICB) of the National Research Council (CNR) of Italy. He is the coordinator of the group of Organic Chemistry and Chemical Biology with the focus on functional small organic molecules from marine organisms. For these studies he has received numerous national and international funding grants. In 2016 he co-founded BioSEArch SRL, an advanced biotechnology start-up company for the development of natural products in medicine, functional foods, and cosmetics. He received the 2009 Apivita Award from the Phytochemistry Society of Europe for his contribution in the field of natural products. He has supervised more than 20 doctoral students, and his research activity is summarized in over 400 papers, conference communications and patents.
He is a permanent member of the international scientific committees for the “Marine Natural Products Symposium” and “European Conference on Marine Natural Products”, and fellow of the the Italian Chemical Society, Division of Organic Chemistry and of the Post-doctorate section of the Japan Society for Promotion of Science.

 

Wakimoto Toshiyuki
He received his PhD in 2001 at Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences in University of Tokyo, under the guidance of Prof. Nobuhiro Fusetani. He undertook postdoctoral research with Prof. Peter Wipf at University of Pittsburgh. He then served on the faculty of University of Shizuoka (2003-2010) and University of Tokyo (2010-2015). He is currently a Professor at Hokkaido University and his research interests include natural products biosynthesis and discovery.

Ernesto Azzurro
Research Director, CNR-IRBIM, Ancona, Italy. A marine ecologist specializing in invasion biology, fish ecology, and biodiversity shifts driven by climate change in coastal marine ecosystems. He holds a PhD in Marine Biology and Ecology from the Polytechnic University of Marche (UNIVPM) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at ICM-CSIC in Barcelona. Ernesto has pioneered the use of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) in the Mediterranean Sea, working closely with small-scale and recreational fishers across multiple countries to document ecological transformations through participatory approaches. His work bridges science and society, integrating traditional knowledge and scientific data to inform conservation and management. He also manages the www.ormef.eu geoportal and has provided scientific consultancy to organizations such as the United Nations, FAO, GFCM, and IUCN.

 

Takehito Yoshida
Associate Professor, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, University of Tokyo
Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo
An ecologist and limnologist who studies the diversity and complexity of organisms and ecosystems from the viewpoints of adaptation and system dynamics, and explores human-nature interactions and sustainability in local communities in Japan. Trained at Kyoto University (PhD) and Cornell University (postdoc), he has been a faculty member at the University of Tokyo since 2006. He also had a joint appointment at Research Institute for Humanity and Nature from 2017 to 2023.

 

Mayumi Fukunaga 
Professor of environmental sociology and environmental ethics, University of Tokyo, GSFS
Mayumi Fukunaga is trained in environmental sociology and environmental ethics. Her research focuses on environmental governance, particularly in relation to small-scale fisheries and how communities engage with nature, memory, and care. In recent years, she has concentrated on aquaculture practices—especially seaweed and fish farming—led by small-scale and community-based fishers, aiming to co-produce knowledge and support local governance initiatives. Through fieldwork and narrative approaches, she explores pathways toward more inclusive and sustainable futures.

Tommaso Tesi specializes in climate change in modern and ancient systems, with a focus on sea ice, ice shelves, and permafrost. He has received two Marie Curie Fellowships for research at Oregon State University and Stockholm University. He serves as Associate Editor for Marine Chemistry (since 2018) and Frontiers in Marine Science (since 2020), and was Guest Editor for a 2017 Ocean Science special issue on Arctic climate–carbon–cryosphere interactions. Since 2019, he has represented Italy on the IASC Marine Working Group and served on the European Marine Board’s Ocean Deoxygenation group (2022–2023) and the European Polar Board (2017–2024). He has participated in 17 oceanographic expeditions, totaling over 200 days at sea.

 

Dr. Takashi Kikuchi has been the Director of the Institute of Arctic Climate and Environment Research (IACE) at the Research Institute for Global Change (RIGC) of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) since April 2019. He earned his Ph.D. from the Faculty of Science at Hokkaido University in December 1996. After completing a post-doctoral position, he joined JAMSTEC as a research scientist in October 1997. With extensive experience in Arctic Ocean observational research, he has participated in over 25 Arctic missions, including those involving research vessels, icebreakers, and ice camps. His work has contributed to numerous publications on oceanographic and environmental changes in the Arctic. Currently, he serves as Vice-Chair of the International Arctic Buoy Programme (IABP) and was Vice-Chair of the Marine Working Group (MWG) within the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) until March 2024. Additionally, he serves as one of the sub-project directors for on-going Japan’s Arctic research project, ArCS III (2025–2029).

 

Chiara Venier is a Senior Technologist at the Institute of Polar Sciences of the National Research Council in Venice-Mestre, Italy. She holds a BSc and a MSc in Environmental Sciences from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering Sciences from the University of Padua. Her current work focuses on supporting scientific research on climate change and international cooperation in polar sciences, where she is a member of the Institute’s International Cooperation Working Group. Since 2019, she has been working as Scientific Project Manager of the European Horizon 2020 project Beyond EPICA Oldest Ice Core, which will run until May 2026. She took part in the Beyond EPICA ice core processing campaign in summer 2024 at the Alfred Wegener Institute, working on the processing of the first ice cores from Antarctica, and she is scheduled to participate in the upcoming project field campaign in Antarctica. Within the Ice Memory project, she was also involved in field activities, including the expedition to Col del Lys (Monte Rosa, October 2023).

 

Ayako Abe-Ouchi is a professor and the Head of Department of Climate Variability Research at Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo. She is specialized in climate dynamics of glacial-interglacial cycle and abrupt climate changes, especially in the interaction between ice sheet, climate and ocean. She is leading the Paleoclimate modeling studies using the Japanese global climate model, MIROC, and the ice sheet model, IcIES. She received PhD (Dr. Nat. Sci.) at ETH, Zurich, Switzerland. She served as a lead author of Chapter 5 of Working Group 1 of IPCC AR5. She is a recipient of Japan Academy Prize in 2022, Milutin Milankovic Medal (EGU) in 2021 and Saruhashi Prize (for women scientist in Japan) in 2012.

 

Kenji Kawamura is a professor and the leader of the Ice Core Research Center at the National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR). He serves as the project leader of the Third Dome Fuji Deep Drilling Project in East Antarctica, carried out within the framework of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition. Before joining NIPR, he received his doctoral degree in geophysics, and held postdoctoral positions at the University of Bern, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Tohoku University, where he contributed to international collaborations in ice-core and climate science. His work focuses on reconstructing past climate and atmospheric composition from polar ice cores to reveal the mechanisms of glacial–interglacial cycles and abrupt climate changes, emphasizing the value of deep ice core records for understanding present and future environmental challenges.

Dr. Francesco Cairo began his scientific career after a thesis in Quantum Optics and a consultancy in Nuclear Medicine. In 1995, he joined the CNR Institute of Atmospheric Physics, focusing on lidar system redesign and volcanic aerosol studies. He later worked extensively in Antarctica, operating lidar systems at McMurdo and Dumont d’Urville to investigate ozone loss mechanisms. His research emphasized aerosol microphysics and polar stratospheric clouds through fieldwork and advanced remote sensing. He developed innovative miniaturized optical instruments used on stratospheric balloons and research aircraft. These tools supported campaigns in polar, mid-latitude, tropical, and monsoon regions, studying transport, cirrus microphysics, and water vapor. Their automation enabled aerosol monitoring in remote ground stations such as Dome C, Ny-Ålesund, and the Sahel. He has held leading roles in numerous international field campaigns and coordinated EUFAR’s “Future of the Fleet” workpackage. From 2014 to 2019, he directed the Rome Section of CNR-ISAC, managing staff and the CIRAS supersite for atmospheric observations. He has taught Atmospheric Physics at the University of Rome Tor Vergata since 2012. He has supervised numerous students at undergraduate, master, and doctoral levels.

 

Prof. Ph.D. Kazuma AOKI is Atmospheric Physics and Earth Environmental Sciences. I was born in Tokyo, 1969, raised in Hokkaido. I graduated from the Faculty of Science at Tokyo University of Science in 1994 (B.S.), master’s degree from Hokkaido University in 1997 (M.S.), and was Doctorate in Earth Environmental Science from Hokkaido University in 2002 (Ph.D.). I have been employed at University of Toyama since 2002, as a Lecturer, Associate Professor, and have been a Professor in the Faculty of Science since 2014 to the present day. I focus on two research objectives. One of the objectives was to understand the effect on earth climate change with Aerosol and Cloud optical properties, and the other was to remote sensing and validate satellite (e.g., GCOM-C/SGLI, EarthCARE, Himawari and so on), numerical models. I enjoy travelling the around the world research to developing remote sensing of solar radiation for better characterization and observation of aerosol and cloud optical properties. I am also the International Network Coordinator for SKYNET.

 

Domenico Cimini is research manager at the National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Methodologies for the Environmental Monitoring (CNR-IMAA). He received laurea and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the University of L’Aquila, Italy. Formerly, he was with the Center of Excellence for Remote Sensing and Modeling of Severe Weather (CETEMPS, Italy), the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES, USA), the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (University of Colorado, USA). He led and participated to several international projects funded by EUMETSAT and ESA. Currently, Dr. Cimini is chair of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Expert Team on Upper-air Measurement (ET-UAM). He received the 6th Hans Liebe Lectureship bestowed by the U.S. National Committee for the Union of Radio Scientists Internationale (URSI), 2019. Dr. Cimini is life member of the European Geophysical Union (EGU).

 

Professor Dr. Masatomo Fujiwara of Hokkaido University, Japan received Ph.D (Science) from the University of Tokyo in 1999. His expertise is in atmospheric sciences, studying in particular transport processes of atmospheric constituents in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, climatic variations in association with large-scale volcanic eruptions, and development and evaluation of various balloon-borne instruments. Internationally, he has been being involved in coordinated activities on evaluation of climate data sets and on climate observation networks. He led the first phase of the WCRP/SPARC Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (S-RIP) between 2011 and 2024, and currently one of the two co-chairs of the working group of the GCOS Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN).

 

Monica Campanelli is a researcher at the Institute for Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, CNR , Italy. Graduated in Physics by University of Rome “La Sapienza”, she had Physics PhD in 2004 by University of L’Aquila, Italy, with the thesis: “Characterization of urban and extra-urban aerosol by means of ground and space remote sensing techniques”. She was postdoctoral fellow at the Sherbrook University, (Canada) by Prof. Norm O’Neil and guest at the University of Tokyo by Prof. Teruyuki Nakajima. She has been a researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences, of the National Research Council (ISAC-CNR) since 2008. Her scientific field is the remote sensing of atmospheric essential climate variables through solar radiation-based techniques, mainly using sun-sky radiometers.
She is chair of the scientific committee of the SKYNET network since 2021 and PI of the Skynet European branch since 2010, PI of the AERONET site Rome-Sapienza at Sapienza University and Local operator of the Pandonia site in Rome-TorVergata at ISAC Rome. In the last 10 years She has been partner of the following International projects: BAQUNIN (ESA); HARMONIA-COST (WG2 leader); H2020-EURAMET-EMPIR-MAPP; FRM4AER(EUMETSAT); IDEAS-QA4EO Service. She attended several international field campaigns: MAPP campaign at Izana; QUATRAM 1,2,3 Campaigns (www.eurosskyrad.net/quatram.html, organizer); PRE-TECT (http://pre-tect.space.noa.gr); FRC IV and V; EMERGE (http://www.iup.uni-bremen.de/emerge/home/inter_IT.html). She has more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals and she is co-editor of the Skynet special issue in the AMT Journal.

Alessandro Pasuto
Degree in Geological Sciences at University of Padova and now Research Director at National Research Council of Italy, Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection (CNR-IRPI). His activity is mainly focused on applied geology and geomorphology as well as natural hazard with special emphasis in landslide risk assessment and management. Since 1999 he is scientific responsible of the CNR- MLITT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructures, Transport and Tourism of Japan) scientific cooperation. In this framework in 2003 he established GRJL, Geo-Risk Joint Lab, supported by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moreover in 2005 he was founder member of TellNet, “International Disaster Transfer Live Lessons Network”, established in Kobe during the 2nd United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction. Member of the Italian official delegations at the 2nd and 3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (Kobe, Japan 2005; Sendai, Japan 2015). He is member of the European Landslide Expert Group and of the Executive Committee of CERG (European Centre on Geomorphological Hazard). He is involved in research studies in several foreign countries such as: Japan, China, Malta, Svalbard Islands (Norway), Argentina and manages research groups in Italy and abroad.

Paola Salvati is a researcher at the Institute for Geo-Hydrological Risk Protection (CNR-IRPI). After graduating in Geology at the University of Perugia, she went on to complete a Master’s degree in ‘Economics of Environmental Resources Management’. More recently, she completed a Master’s degree in ‘Science in Journalistic Practice’ at La Sapienza University in Rome. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, her main area of research focuses on the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the risk posed by landslides and floods to the population. This enables her to investigate and combine knowledge from various fields, including testing risk communication techniques and strategies, and designing tools for citizen science activities. She also has experience in designing database structures, as well as in developing and managing thematic and geographic information systems. She is in charge of the Polaris project and website (https://polaris.irpi.cnr.it/), which focuses on the impacts that landslides and floods caused to the population

 

Taro Uchida
I have been a professor at the Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Tsukuba since 2019. My work involves research and education on environmental disaster prevention. Prior to joining the university, I was Head of the Sabo Planning Division at the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management. I received my Ph.D. from Kyoto University in 2000. My specialisms are Sabo engineering and forest hydrology. In particular, I conduct research into clarifying water and sediment dynamics in mountain catchments, developing techniques for predicting landslide and debris flow occurrence, and proposing countermeasure methods against sediment-related disasters. In recent years, I have focused on the effects of climate change on sediment-related disasters and have clarified the processes of sediment-laden flooding using remote sensing data and numerical simulation

 

Masaru Kunitomo – Director General of Sabo Department, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)
Masaru Kunitomo is a technocrat in charge of Sabo (Japanese for sediment disaster risk reduction) in MLIT, Japan. He has been being involved in not only strategy and policy development, but technical regulations making regarding Sabo. He has experiences to study emergency management in the US from October 2001 through March 2002 as a short-term overseas researcher, and to work with engineers and researchers from various countries including Italy as well as international organizations such as UNESCO and WMO. From July 2022 to June 2025, he served as Director of Sabo Planning Division, Sabo Department, and from July 1st, 2025, he leads the Sabo Department as the Director General.

 

Shinichi Kusano – Former Director General of Sabo Department, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)
Shinichi Kusano is both an erosion control engineer and a playwright. In 2009, he wrote not only a modern play based on a true story about a sediment related disaster that occurred in southern Nagano Prefecture in 1961, but also a Kabuki play incorporating lessons learned from the same disaster. He has been committing to disseminating the lessons learned from past natural disasters through a Japanese traditional art-form, Kabuki, in order to mitigate the negative effects of natural process. This work is the only example in Japan of the art form of Kabuki dealing with the lessons learned from natural disasters, and it has been gaining attention recently. He retired after serving as the Director General of Sabo Department from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in July.

 

Hiroyuki Ohno – President of Japan Sabo Association
Hiroyuki Ohno is a PhD-qualified erosion control engineer. During his time as an engineer at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), he has been involved in sediment disaster prevention projects in various parts of Japan and overseas. From 2013 to 2015, he led the sediment disaster prevention administration at MLIT as Director General of the Erosion Control Department. Since retiring from the Ministry, he has been involved in sediment disaster prevention research, education, public relations and international technical cooperation as President of Japan Sabo Association. He also served as president of Japan Society of Erosion Control Engineering from 2022 to 2024.

 

Marco Cuffaro is a geophysicist with a M.Sc. in Physics (2003) and a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences (2007). He has interests and skills in computational geodynamics and crustal deformation at plate boundaries using geophysical and geodetic data, global plate tectonics and plate kinematics to understand plate dynamics and lithosphere-mantle interactions. He has worked at CNR since 2012, where he is currently senior research scientist and Head of the CNR-IGAG Rome Unit (2023-today). He has participated to IAG/IUGG as alternate delegate for Italy since 2023, and has served on organization and scientific committees of conferences and workshops. He has been part of 20 national and international scientific cruises during fieldwork activities in the Central Mediterranean Sea, the Philippine Sea, the Central and Northern Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic and Southern Ocean to collect marine geology and marine geophysics data, fundamental to investigate basic kinematics of subductions, back-arc basin evolution, oceanic crustal deformation at mid ocean ridges and transform faults.

 

Dr. Yasuhiko Ohara received his PhD in 2002 from the University of Tokyo. He joined the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of Japan in 1995; Visiting Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 2000 to 2001; Head of Ocean Research Laboratory, Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of Japan, since 2018. He has also been an adjunct scientist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) since 2006 and a visiting professor at Nagoya University since 2019. He is specialized in sea-going research on mantle peridotites from the deep ocean floor using the manned submersible Shinkai 6500 as the main research tool. His main research target is the Philippine Sea Plate, including the Challenger Deep of the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on the Earth, as well as the Godzilla Megamullion, the largest oceanic core complex on the Earth.

Angelo Volpi
Graduated in Physics and PhD in Engineering, he enters CNR- National Research Council of Italy in 1988 carrying on research on laser diagnostics applied to the combustion of solid rocket propellants. He spent 12 year in Japan: 4 years as Visiting Scientist at Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS-JAXA) and 8 years as Head of the Science Office of the Embassy of Italy in Tokyo. From 2011 he is at CNR Liaison Office in Brussels, presently with the role of Senior Associate Researcher. He has been Bo Stokes Fellow at MSIAC- NATO Headquarters (1998), and member of the Italian national delegations at intergovernmental and G8 meetings (2008). He is the Italian Governmental Expert for the CapTech “Aerial System” of EDA and he was member of the High-Level NATO Advisory Group on Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (2020-22).

 

Marino Hiraoka has been working as an associate professor in the Department of Environment and Sustainability at Mukogawa Women’s University. She is running the Environmental Disaster Prevention Research Laboratory in the department, which was established in April of this year. Following the attainment of her doctorate from University of Tsukuba in 2011, she worked at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, the Public Works Research Institute, and University of Tsukuba. Her area of expertise is forest hydrology and sediment transport processes from forested watersheds. Her research focuses on the impacts of environmental changes in forested watersheds, including tree cutting, shifts in
wildlife populations, and ashfall due to volcanic eruptions, on water and sediment transport. Through her research, she aims to clarify the response processes and mechanisms of forest ecosystems to environmental changes, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the causes of sediment disasters and the development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies.

 

Annalisa Iadanza, PhD in Environmental and Resource Geology, carried out research and teaching in stratigraphic and sedimentological geology at Roma Tre University until 2014. Since 2015, she has been working at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), where she is involved in scientific secretariat activities, as well as in planning and coordinating Italy’s participation in international research programs.
She is Senior Technologist at DSSTTA-CNR, CNR focal point for access to the ECORD infrastructure within scientific drilling programs, and the Italian delegate to the ECORD Council – where she served as Vice Chair and Chair – and to the IODP3 Executive Board. She is also a member of the ECORD Council Core Group, the IODP3 Vision Task Force, and the Mission Specific Facility Board, as well as Principal’s Representative for Italy (CNR) in the Belmont Forum partnership. In her technical-scientific support role to the institution’s governing bodies, she serves as departmental focal point for communication and press. Since 2024, and since 2024 has been Head of Communication at DSSTTA-CNR and Coordinator of the departmental network “Communication” Group.

 

Francesca Argenio is Head of International Relations for Asia and Africa at the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), where she develops strategies and coordinates policies to strengthen scientific and technological cooperation with EU Member States and third countries. She has extensive experience in international negotiations, research diplomacy and Horizon Europe partnerships, managing over 40 bilateral projects, facilitating researcher mobility, and representing CNR in European coordination platforms such as the G6 “China Group” and EIG CONCERT-Japan.
Previously, she served as a Seconded National Expert in the Cabinet for Research and Innovation at the European Commission, where she contributed to policy design for international cooperation in research and innovation and supported the preparation of Horizon Europe. She also participated in Marie Skłodowska-Curie RISE projects with secondments in the UK and China.
She holds a Master’s degree in EU Project Design and Financial Reporting, a MA in Chinese Language and Civilisation, and has advanced multilingual skills.

 

Gabriele Peddes (Bologna, 1987) is an illustrator and comic artist. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, he has been working as a freelance professional for over 15 years with publishers and communication agencies. He collaborates regularly with Comics&Science of the CNR (National Research Council), for which he has created comics, workshops, visual novels, video games, and science-themed board games. He also specializes in live scribing, a visual synthesis technique used to support conferences and public events. Among his projects is La Primavera della Ricerca, an event celebrating the CNR’s centenary at the Pisa Research Area.

 

Grazia Marina Quero – Researcher, CNR‑IRBIM, Ancona, Italy
Grazia Marina Quero is a microbial ecologist focusing on the effects of anthropogenic pressures on microbial communities in coastal and deep‑sea ecosystems. She earned a PhD in Microbiology, Chemistry and Food Safety from the University of Bari “Aldo Moro” (Italy) and has been conducting research in marine microbiology and microbial ecology at the National Research Council of Italy since 2013. Currently, she is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Marine Biological Resources and Biotechnology (CNR‑IRBIM), where she is part of the Microbial Ecology Group. Her research investigates the ecological role of prokaryotes in marine ecosystems, the microbial communities associated with marine invertebrates and fish, and the dynamics of microbial pollution in the marine environment.

 

Lorenza Evangelista serves as a Researcher at CNR, supporting the engagement of the Scientific Network in Pan-European Research Infrastructures, including European Research Infrastructure Consortia (ERICs), and oversees the management of CNR’s Research Infrastructures. Her expertise led to her recent appointment as Infrastructure Manager for the Research Vessel “Gaia Blu.”
She, also, facilitates the Scientific Network’s participation in projects addressed to the enhance existing research infrastructures and establish new one, including those financed under National and EU Programmes. Sheactively partecipates in European Commission-funded projects focusing on the design and promotion of Transnational Access Initiatives such as SBEP, MINKE, AQUARIUS, and Eurofleets+. In this context, she contributed in establishing the Eurofleets AISBL Infrastructure, which is dedicated to the coordination of European research vessels.

 

Luigi Mazari Villanova – Department of Earth System Sciences and Environmental Technologies (DSSTTA)
Luigi Mazari Villanova is a Physics graduate and has been dismantling objects to understand their inner workings long before that. Eventually he also started reassembling them and later translated that same analytical approach into the digital world, through the keyboard of a computer.
He has been working at CNR since 2007 as a Technologist. He has been involved in the management of the projects of the Italian Program for Antarctic Research, as well as the managing of the more recent Italian Program for Arctic Research. He has been involved in several projects focused on research support and management in the fields of Environmental Research funded by the European Commission.
He has been involved in the School4SID initiative for a scientific approach in decision processes and negotiation, and more recently in the Eye of Europe project, that aims to integrate foresight practices into R&I policy making across Europe.

 

 

Elena Bellantoni (1975) è un’artista visiva e docente presso l’ABA di Roma e la NABA di Roma. Laureata in Storia dell’Arte Contemporanea, ha studiato a Parigi e Londra, conseguendo nel 2007 un Master in Visual Art presso la University of the Arts di Londra. Sempre nel 2007 ha co-fondato a Londra la Platform Translation Group e nel 2008 ha aperto a Berlino lo spazio indipendente per progetti d’arte 91mQ. La sua ricerca artistica si concentra sui concetti di identità e alterità – esplorando territori e comunità – utilizzando corpo e linguaggio come strumenti di interazione. I dispositivi esplorativi adottati dall’artista spaziano dal video alla fotografia, dalle installazioni alle sculture e al disegno.

Nel 2023 è stata scelta e nominata Miglior Artista Italiana dell’Anno dalla rivista di arte contemporanea Artribune. Nel 2024 Bellantoni è stata selezionata tra gli artisti finalisti del Mario Merz Prize presso la Fondazione Merz di Torino. Nel 2023 ha inaugurato la sfilata Dior primavera-estate 2024 con l’installazione NOT HER ai Giardini delle Tuileries di Parigi.

Tra premi e residenze, nel 2020 ha vinto l’ArtTeam Cup Award; nel 2018 il premio Nctm e l’Arte Studio Legale con residenze a Belgrado, Atene e Istanbul; nel 2017 ha partecipato a The Subtle Urgencies alla Fondazione Pistoletto e ad ArtHouse Italia/Albania; nel 2016 è stata selezionata da Soma Mexico per una residenza a Città del Messico; nel 2009 ha partecipato a As long as I’m walking, residenza con Francis Alÿs e Cuauthémoc Medina, a cura di 98weeks a Beirut. Nel 2018 è stata tra gli artisti vincitori della IV edizione dell’Italian Council del MiBACT; nel 2019 ha presentato il libro del suo progetto al MAXXI di Roma con un focus sulla sua produzione video. Sempre nel 2018 è stata selezionata per gli eventi collaterali di Manifesta 12 a Palermo. Nel 2014 ha vinto il Premio Speciale Repubblica.it al Talent Prize; nel 2012, con In Other Words, the Black Market of Translation – Negotiating Contemporary Cultures, ha vinto il concorso della NGBK di Berlino con una mostra al Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bethanien. Nel 2009 ha ricevuto il Movin’up Worldwide del GAI (Giovani Artisti Italiani) della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri per una residenza a Santiago del Cile; nel 2006 ha vinto il Tempelhof-Schöneberg Kunstpreis a Berlino.

Tra le mostre: The Great Italian Vision. Farnesina Collection, The Arts House of the Old Parliament, Singapore, Tokyo, New York 2023; Invisible (in)visible Stories between Heaven and Earth, Reial Cercle Artistic, Barcellona 2023; Se ci fosse luce sarebbe bellissimo Fondazione Dino Zoli, Forlì 2023; Imperfetto mare, CUBO e Torre Unipol, Bologna 2022; Wandering Words: Tomaso Binga and Elena Bellantoni, Residenza dell’Ambasciatore, Berna, Svizzera 2022; La video arte rende felici/ video art in Italy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma 2022; In-finito, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Madrid, 2022; Performative 0.1, MAXXI L’Aquila, 2021; Farnesina Collection, an open window on Contemporary Art, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Parigi 2020; Les paralleles du sud, Manifesta13, Marsiglia 2020; You got to burn to shine, La Galleria Nazionale Roma 2019; Elena Bellantoni VideoGallery, MAXXI Roma 2019; Analogue Eye Harboured, Città del Capo 2018; The Picture Club, in “Across the Board: parts of Whole”, American Academy in Rome, Roma 2016.

Le sue opere sono presenti in collezioni pubbliche e private, tra cui il Ministero degli Affari Esteri – La Farnesina, l’Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, la Fondazione Filiberto Menna e la collezione della Fondazione Pietro e Alberto Rossini.

I suoi video sono inclusi nell’archivio Italian Area Contemporary curato da Viafarini a Milano.

Tra le monografie: Parole Passeggere: la pratica artistica come semantica dell’esistenza, Castelvecchi 2023; Elena Bellantoni, On the breadline, Quodlibet 2019; Elena Bellantoni, un incontro invisibile con il pubblico, Postmedia Books, 2018.

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Elena Bellantoni (1975) visual artist and professor at ABA Roma, and NABA in Rome. Graduated in Contemporary Art History, she studied in Paris and London, earning an MA in Visual Art from the University Art of London in 2007. In 2007, she co-founded the Platform Translation Group in London, and in 2008, she opened the 91mQ art project space in Berlin. Her artistic research focuses on the concepts of identity and otherness – exploring territories and communities – employing the body and language as a tool of interaction. The exploratory devices that the artist uses range from video to photography, installations, sculptures, and drawing.

In 2023, she was as chosen and appointed as the Best Italian Artist of the Year by the contemporary art magazine Artribune. In 2024, Bellantoni was selected among the finalist artists of the Mario Merz Prize at Fondazione Merz in Turin. Bellantoni opened the Dior spring-summer 2024 fashion show with the NOT HER installation at the Tuileries Gardens in Paris in 2023. Among the awards and residencies she has received, in 2020 she won the ArtTeam Cup Award; in 2018, she won the Nctm and the Arte Studio Legale prize with residencies in Belgrade, Athens, and Istanbul; in 2017, she participated in The Subtle Urgencies at the Pistoletto Foundation and the ArtHouse, Italy/Albania; in 2016, she was selected by Soma Mexico for a residency in Mexico City; in 2009, she participated in As long as I’m walking, a residency with Francis Alÿs and Cuauthémoc Medina, curated by 98weeks, in Beirut. In 2018, she was among the winning artists of the IV edition of the Italian Council of the MIBACT; in 2019, she presented the book of her project at the MAXXI in Rome with a focus on her video production. In 2018, she was selected for the Collateral events of Manifesta12 in Palermo. In 2014, she won the special Repubblica.it Prize at the Talent Prize; in 2012, with In Other Words, the Black Market of Translation – Negotiating Contemporary Cultures, she won the NGBK competition in Berlin with an exhibition at the Kunstraum Kreuzberg Bethanien. In 2009, she won the Movin’up Worldwide from the GAI (Giovani Artisti Italiani) of the Italian Prime Minister’s Office for a residency in Santiago, Chile; in 2006, she won the Tempelhof-Schöneberg Kunstpreis in Berlin.

Among her exhibitions: The Great Italian Vision. Farnesina Collection, The Arts House of the Old Parliament, Singapore, Tokyo, New York 2023; Invisible (in)visible Stories between Heaven and Earth, Reial Cercle Artistic, Barcelona 2023; If there were light it would be beautiful, Dino Zoli Foundation, Forlì 2023; Imperfect Sea, CUBO and Unipol Tower, Bologna 2022; Wandering Words: Tomaso Binga and Elena Bellantoni, Ambassador’s Residence, Bern, Switzerland 2022; Video makes you happy / video art in Italy, Palazzo delle Esposizioni 2022, Rome; In-finito, Italian Cultural Institute in Madrid, 2022; Performative 0.1, MAXXI L’Aquila, 2021; Farnesina Collection, an open window on Contemporary Art, Italian Cultural Institute, Paris, 2020; Les paralleles du sud Manifesta13, Marseille, 2020; You got to burn to shine La Galleria Nazionale Roma 2019; Elena Bellantoni VideoGallery, MAXXI, Rome 2019; Analogue Eye Harboured, Cape Town 2018; The Picture Club, in “Across the Board: parts of Whole”, American Academy in Rome, Rome 2016.

Her works are present in public and private collections, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs La Farnesina, the Central Institute for Graphics, the Filiberto Menna Foundation, and the Pietro and Alberto Rossini Foundation collection.

Her video works are included in the Italian Area Contemporary Archive curated by Viafarini in Milan.

Among her monographs: Parole Passeggere: artistic practice as the semantics of existence, Castelvecchi 2023; Elena Bellantoni, On the breadline Quodlibet 2019; Elena Bellantoni an invisible match with the public, Postmedia Books, 2018.

 

www.elenabellantoni.com

www.onthebreadline.it

Instagram: ele.bellantoni_studio

CORPOMORTO

un video di Elena Bellantoni

2020

video FULL HD 10’12”

 CORPOMORTO l’artista ha pensato di scegliere la prospettiva dal mare per “buttare” un ancoraggio, gettare l’ancora o un corpo morto implica sia uno sforzo fisico che simbolico ovvero quello del gettarsi.

Buttare, lanciare… sono tutti sinonimi che sottolineano questa dimensione del coraggio di immergersi ed attraversare il mare. In questa tensione, in questo gioco-forza nasce Corpomorto.

Bellantoni decide di lavorare sul concetto di corpo morto – parola presa in prestito dal linguaggio marinaresco – producendo delle lettere galleggianti in polistirene espanso che diventano dei punti di ancoraggio per i corpi morti in cemento gettati in fondo al mare nella baia vicino al porto di Tricase, in Puglia.

L’artista ricerca gli aspetti linguistici di questi elementi marinari: la parola corpo-morto che evidenzia con il peso del cemento la presenza di molti corpi morti nei nostri mari, la parola an-coraggio sottolinea l’azione di buttarsi, il coraggio di avvicinarsi ed attraccare per raggiungere la terra ferma.

Il linguaggio diventa un salvagente un luogo su cui potersi appoggiare, tutte le lettere – che butto in acqua attraverso un’azione performativa – sono di colore arancio intenso lo stesso dei giacchetti di salvataggio usati in mare. I corpi morti, in fondo al mare, riportano come un riflesso la stessa scritta che affiora a pelo d’acqua: ancora corpo morto tra cielo e terra coraggio, da questo gioco di parole emerge un monito di natura poetica-politica che arriva da lontano.

Appare in questo processo di scrittura, letteralmente, il rapporto tra il corpo, che diventa traccia, e la parola. La poesia visiva – usata da molte artiste dagli anni 70 – diventa performante. La poesia e la performance hanno un linguaggio molto simile, lavorano su una narrazione asciutta efficace che fluisce per immagini. Il corpo scrive e incide lo spazio, afferma l’artista, diventa segno e forma allo stesso tempo.

Echeggia qui la visione fenomenologica del mondo e del saper vedere attraverso le cose del filosofo francese Merleau-Ponty, che nell’estate del 1960 all’età di 52 anni scrive il suo ultimo saggio prima di morire L’occhio e lo spirito. Nelle sue pagine dense e suggestive il filosofo si sofferma, in un punto, sulle piastrelle sul fondo di una piscina: “quando vedo attraverso lo spessore dell’acqua le piastrelle sul fondo della piscina, non vedo malgrado l’acqua ed i riflessi, le vedo proprio attraverso essi, mediante essi”. Attraverso l’acqua la carne del mondo emerge, la visione prende forma e come in una relazione chiasmatica tra cielo e terra, il corpo morto reclama il suo essere al mondo tramite la forma del linguaggio.

Elena Bellantoni lavora per immersione, in questo caso, con CORPOMORTO l’immersione avviene anche in senso letterale buttandosi in mare per costruire la sua azione. Il gettarsi fa emerge un aspetto importante sia della sua pratica artistica che del ruolo dell’artista oggi: attraverso il suo agire Bellantoni dichiara apertamente lo “shock” di questa gettatezza (il desein heideggeriano, per intenderci), manifestando esplicitamente – attraverso il suo processo di lavoro – questa discrepanza fra il mondo interno ed il reale.

 

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CORPOMORTO
a video by Elena Bellantoni

2020

video FULL HD 10’12”

 CORPOMORTO – the artist chose to take the perspective of the sea in order to “throw” an anchorage. Dropping an anchor or a corpo morto (deadweight anchor) implies both a physical and symbolic effort, that of throwing oneself in.
To throw, to cast… all are synonyms that highlight this dimension of courage: to dive in and to cross the sea. Out of this tension, this play of force, Corpomorto is born.

Bellantoni works on the concept of the corpo morto —a term borrowed from maritime language—by producing floating letters made of expanded polystyrene, which become anchoring points for the concrete deadweights sunk to the seabed in the bay near the port of Tricase, in Puglia.

The artist investigates the linguistic aspects of these seafaring elements: the word corpo-morto, which, with the weight of concrete, evokes the presence of many dead bodies in our seas; the word an-coraggio (a play on “anchor” and “courage”), which underscores the action of throwing oneself, the courage to approach and dock in order to reach solid ground.

Language becomes a life buoy, a place to cling to. All the letters—thrown into the water through a performative act—are painted in bright orange, the very same as the life jackets used at sea. On the seabed, the deadweights reflect the same inscription that floats just above the surface: ancora corpo morto tra cielo e terra coraggio (still/deadweight body between sky and earth courage). From this play on words emerges a poetic-political warning that arrives from afar.

In this process of writing, quite literally, the relationship between the body—as trace—and the word appears. Visual poetry—widely practiced by many women artists since the 1970s—becomes performative. Poetry and performance share a similar language: both work through a stark, effective narration that flows in images. “The body writes and engraves space,” the artist states; it becomes sign and form at once.

Here echoes the phenomenological vision of the world, of seeing through things, articulated by French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who in the summer of 1960, at the age of 52, wrote his last essay before his death, Eye and Mind. In those dense, evocative pages, the philosopher pauses at one point to reflect on the tiles at the bottom of a swimming pool: “When I see through the thickness of water the tiles at the bottom of the pool, I do not see them in spite of the water and the reflections, I see them precisely through them, by means of them.” Through the water, the flesh of the world emerges, vision takes shape; and in a chiasmic relation between sky and earth, the corpo morto asserts its being-in-the-world through the form of language.

Elena Bellantoni works by immersion. In the case of CORPOMORTO, immersion happens also in the literal sense, as she throws herself into the sea to build her action. This act of throwing brings forth an important aspect of both her artistic practice and the role of the artist today: through her actions, Bellantoni openly declares the “shock” of this thrownness (the Heideggerian Dasein, so to speak), manifesting—through her working process—the discrepancy between the inner world and reality.

 

Ho annegato il mare

un video di

Elena Bellantoni

 HO ANNEGATO IL MARE (2018) è un progetto di ricerca di Elena Bellantoni, l’artista si è interrogata molto sul cosiddetto “sacco di Palermo” nato con la giunta Ciancimino e Salvo Lima; e, a partire da quegli anni, Bellantoni ha cercato di leggere il territorio, il suo tessuto sociale, e di vedere le cicatrici su cui oggi poggia la città di Palermo. La Torretta che l’artista ha voluto costruire è una “chiave” per decifrare questa città, per capirla. L’artista si è quindi confrontata sul mare e sull’inquinamento delle sue acque causato dalla speculazione edilizia, che dagli anni Settanta ha devastato le nostre coste.

 La Torretta somiglia molto a una torre di salvataggio, una di quelle che troviamo sulle nostre spiagge; chi ci sale sopra è pronto a difendere e a custodire, attraverso lo sguardo, l’Altro.

La struttura è un dispositivo d’incontro che mette in relazione lo sguardo, la città, il mare, la memoria con la mia azione di natura partecipativa. La sua altezza di 2 metri e 80 centimetri è funzionale alla vista del mare negato dal cemento, è dotata di ruote, è quindi mobile, attraversa il paesaggio, lo scrive e lo segna con il suo procedere. Bellantoni l’ha trascinata per un giorno intero seguendo la linea dell’orizzonte, ed invitando chiunque volesse salire a un confronto con me sul mare negato-annegato.

La torre nel gioco degli scacchi ha un ruolo particolare: difende il re ed effettua l’unica mossa che coinvolge nello stesso momento due pezzi presenti sulla scacchiera. Pensando a questa funzione, non possiamo non citare Pio La Torre, sindacalista illuminato collaboratore di Berlinguer che propose il reato di associazione mafiosa che prevedeva il sequestro e la confisca dei beni immobili. Nel 1976 La Torre fu componente della Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia che accusava duramente Vito Ciancimino, Salvo Lima e Giovanni Gioia di avere rapporti con la mafia. Alle 9:20 del 30 aprile del 1982 Pio La Torre, insieme a Rosario Di Salvo, venne assassinato.

Chi decide di salire sulla Torretta acquisisce un punto di vista altro-alto che si materializza attraverso la visione del mare.

Il linguaggio viene simbolicamente gettato e affidato al mare che raccoglie il flusso dei pensieri che vengono a galla.

Il video è stato prodotto per Manifesta12 Palermo Collaterals, in collaborazione con l’Eco Museo Urbano Mare Memoria Viva, Palermo. La voce narrante del video è di Fiammetta Borsellino, figlia del giudice Paolo Borsellino ucciso nell’esate del 1992 da Cosa Nostra.

 

Ho annegato il mare,

2018

Video full HD, black and white,

19’20”

 

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I DROWNED THE SEA
a video by
Elena Bellantoni

I DROWNED THE SEA (2018) is a research project by Elena Bellantoni. The artist deeply reflected on the so-called “sacco di Palermo” (the “rape of Palermo”), which began under the municipal administration of Vito Ciancimino and Salvo Lima. Starting from those years, Bellantoni has sought to read the territory, its social fabric, and to trace the scars on which the city of Palermo still rests today. The small tower (Torretta) the artist chose to construct becomes a “key” to decipher and understand this city.

The artist confronted the sea and the pollution of its waters caused by the real-estate speculation that, since the 1970s, has devastated Italy’s coasts.

The Torretta strongly resembles a lifeguard tower such as those found on beaches; whoever climbs it is ready to defend and safeguard the Other, through the act of looking. The structure acts as a device of encounter, linking gaze, city, sea, memory, and the artist’s participatory action. Its height of 2.80 meters makes it possible to see the sea denied by cement. It is mounted on wheels and thus mobile: it traverses the landscape, inscribing and marking it through its movement. Bellantoni dragged it for an entire day, following the horizon line, inviting anyone who wished to climb up and engage in dialogue with her on the denied—drowned—sea.

In the game of chess, the rook (torre) has a particular role: it defends the king and makes the only move involving two pieces at once. Reflecting on this function, one cannot but recall Pio La Torre, the enlightened trade unionist and collaborator of Enrico Berlinguer, who first proposed making mafia association a crime punishable by the seizure and confiscation of property. In 1976 La Torre served on the Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Commission, which harshly accused Vito Ciancimino, Salvo Lima, and Giovanni Gioia of collusion with the mafia. At 9:20 on April 30, 1982, Pio La Torre was assassinated together with Rosario Di Salvo.

Those who decide to climb the Torretta gain another—higher—point of view, materialized through the vision of the sea. Language is symbolically cast and entrusted to the sea, which gathers the flow of thoughts rising to the surface.

The video was produced for Manifesta12 Palermo Collaterals, in collaboration with the Eco Museo Urbano Mare Memoria Viva, Palermo. The narration is by Fiammetta Borsellino, daughter of judge Paolo Borsellino, killed by Cosa Nostra/Mafia in the summer of 1992.

 

I Drowned the Sea
2018
Full HD video, black and white,
19’20”

 

Elena Mazzi (1984) è un’artista visiva, e nella sua pratica artistica si focalizza sull’analisi di specifici contesti geografici e socio-politici.

La sua poetica si occupa del rapporto tra l’essere umano e l’ambiente in cui vive e con cui si relaziona ogni giorno. Questa analisi, che spesso segue un approccio antropologico, indaga e documenta un’identità che è allo stesso tempo personale e collettiva, e dà luogo a forme di scambio e trasformazione.

Ha studiato Storia dell’Arte (Siena), Arti Visive (IUAV, Venezia) e Belle Arti (Royal Institute of Art, Stoccolma).

Attualmente è dottoranda presso Villa Arson e l’Université Côte d’Azur, Nizza.

I suoi lavori sono stati esposti in numerose mostre personali e collettive in tutto il mondo. Ha frequentato diversi programmi di residenza, ed è vincitrice di vari premi. Dal 2015 conduce laboratori per giovani artist*, insegnant*, ragazz* e bambin* in collaborazione con Istituzioni, Scuole, Accademie.

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Elena Mazzi (1984) is a visual artist, working with specific geographical and socio-political contexts.

Her poetics deals with the relationship between human beings and the environment in which he/she lives and with which he/she must reckon on a daily basis. This analysis, which often

follows an anthropological approach, investigates and documents an identity which is at the same time personal and collective, and gives rise to forms of exchange and transformation.

She studied History of Art (Siena), Visual Arts (IUAV, Venice) and Fine Arts (Royal Institute of Art, Stockholm).

She is currently a PhD candidate at Villa Arson and Université Côte d’Azur, Nice.

Her works have been displayed in many solo and collective exhibitions all over the world. She attended several residency programs, and she is the winner of various art prizes. In 2015 she started to lead workshops for young artists, teachers and the general public in collaboration with Institutions, Schools, Academies.

Encounters

HD video, 5’30”, color, sound
2021

The video Encounters is the last part of a cycle created following my first experience in Iceland in 2018 and it reflects on the need to recover a lost balance between the biorhythm of the human being and the natural course of the animal and plant environment.
This reflection originates from a very personal event happened few years ago. Following a tragic accident I had while diving into the sea from a cliff, the diagnosis of the rupture of some vertebrae forced me to a period of sedentary lifestyle. To find harmony between body and landscape, I decided to take a trip to a fjord in Iceland. In 2021 I returned to these lands in full Italian lockdown. The video brings to light this reality where human beings and nature coexist peacefully, as demonstrated by the natural pools in the local spas. In every small town in Iceland is always present a spa system consisting of several pools at different temperatures. In other cases, the pools are natural, and are fed with hot water from geothermal sources. On my first trip I went there almost every day for rehabilitation, and while I was exploring the different pools I cataloged their shapes and planimetric structures with unusual, abstract and in some cases almost anthropomorphic shapes, translating them into silk-screen prints on pool tables.
Here I discovered the Seljavallalaug swimming pool, built by ‘carving’ a mountain in the 1920s by an inhabitant of the nearby town to teach his fellow citizens to swim, following numerous accidents on nearby coasts (in those years it was not mandatory being able to swim in Iceland, a country that bases its economy mainly on shing). I found the shape of this pool and the history connected to it of extreme symbolic importance, both at the landscape level (it ts with extreme harmony in the landscape without being invasive), and at the social level, for the strong values of solidarity connected to it.
The personal need to find a harmony between the body and the landscape has given rise to a project with a collective and sociological aspects as it aims to address binding issues such as the ecosystem, the possible ways (constructive or destructive) of relating to it, the origins of the world, the approaching of its end due to anti-ecological operations, and possible solutions to this situation.

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Il video Encounters è l’ultima parte di un ciclo realizzato a seguito della mia prima esperienza in Islanda nel 2018 e riflette sulla necessità di recuperare un equilibrio ormai perduto tra il bioritmo dell’uomo e il naturale andamento del regno animale e vegetale.
Tale riflessione trae origine da un fatto per me strettamente personale, ma tradotto in strumento per indurre una riflessione corale sul passato, sul presente e soprattutto sul futuro dell’umanità e del luogo da essa abitato.
A seguito di un tragico incidente avuto tuffandomi in mare da una scogliera, la diagnosi della rottura di alcune vertebre mi ha costretto a un periodo di sedentarietà. Per ritrovare una sintonia tra corpo e paesaggio, ho deciso di compiere un viaggio in un fiordo dell’Islanda. Nel 2021 faccio ritorno in queste terre in pieno lockdown italiano.
Il video porta in luce questa realtà dove essere umano e natura convivono pacificamente, come dimostrano le piscine naturali presenti negli impianti termali locali. In ogni paesino d’Islanda è sempre presente un impianto termale composto da più piscine a diversa temperatura. In altri casi, le piscine sono naturali, e si alimentano con acqua calda proveniente da fonti geotermiche. Nel primo viaggio mi ci sono recata quasi ogni giorno per la riabilitazione, e mentre esploravo le diverse piscine ne catalogavo le forme e le strutture planimetriche dalle forme inusuali, astratte e in alcuni casi quasi antropomorfe, traducendole in serigrafie.
Qui ho scoperto la piscina di Seljavallalaug, costruita ‘intagliando’ una montagna negli anni ’20 del Novecento da un abitante del vicino paese per insegnare ai suoi concittadini a nuotare, in seguito a numerosi incidenti avvenuti sulle coste vicine (in quegli anni non era obbligatorio saper nuotare in Islanda, un paese che basa la sua economia prevalentemente sulla pesca). Ho trovato la forma di questa piscina e la storia ad essa collegata di estrema rilevanza simbolica, sia a livello paesaggistico (si inserisce con estrema armonia nel paesaggio senza essere invasiva), sia a livello sociale, per i forti valori di solidarietà ad essa connessi.
La necessità personale di ritrovare una sintonia tra corpo e paesaggio ha dato avvio a un progetto dal taglio collettivo e sociologico poiché teso ad affrontare cogenti tematiche come l’ecosistema, le possibili modalità (costruttive o distruttive) di relazionarsi con esso, le origini del mondo, l’avvicinarsi della sua fine a causa di operazioni anti-ecologiche, e le eventuali soluzioni a tale situazione.

The upcoming Polar Silk Road
video HD, color, sound, 9’45’’
2021

The upcoming Polar Silk Road intends to analyze the complex intertwining between economy, geopolitics, ecology and mobility within the Arctic regions mostly affected by the infrastructural, economic and political transformations linked to the Polar Silk Road, in particular Iceland.
This axis, which will connect Europe, Russia and China by opening a “Northern Route”, will be an alternative to the traditional maritime ones and will exploit the subsoil of the Arctic seas which contain 20% of all the planet’s reserves, including oil, gas, uranium, gold, platinum and zinc.
The work consists of a video documenting some key places of this transition, such as the possible new port of Finnafjörður in the north-east of the island and the nearby CIAO Institute, the new meteorological-astronomical observatory founded to cement the agreement between China and Iceland, countries that are now protagonists in the process of defining the new trade route in the Arctic. The work is divided into a series of interviews with figures who contributed to the design of these places, local politicians, researchers, fishermen and farmers. The interviews were reshaped in a text accompanying the video images, adding an additional level of reading, halfway between fiction and reality.
In addition to the video work, I made a series of mixed-media collages which, starting from ancient maps, define the new geopolitical and economic spaces in the Arctic regions.

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The upcoming Polar Silk Road analizza il complesso intreccio tra economia, geopolitica, ecologia e mobilità all’interno delle regioni artiche maggiormente interessate dalle trasformazioni infrastrutturali e politiche legate alla Via Polare della Seta, con particolare attenzione all’Islanda.
Questo asse, che connetterà Europa, Russia e Cina, si svilupperà in quanto “rotta del nord” alternativa rispetto a quelle marittime tradizionali, sfruttando il sottosuolo dei mari artici, che contengono il 20% delle risorse globali pianeta, tra cui petrolio, gas, uranio, oro, platino e zinco.
L’opera consta di un video che documenta una serie di luoghi cardine di questa transizione, come ad esempio l’eventuale nuovo porto di Finnafjörður, nel nord-est dell’Islanda, e il vicino Istituto CIAO, il nuovo osservatorio meteorologico-astronomico fondato per cementare l’accordo tra Cina e Islanda, paesi oggi protagonisti nel processo di definizione della nuova rotta commerciale nell’Artico. L’opera si articola attraverso una serie di interviste a figure che hanno contribuito alla progettazione di tali luoghi, fra cui politici locali, ricercatori, pescatori e allevatori. Le interviste sono state rimodellate in un testo che accompagna le immagini, aggiungendo un ulteriore livello di lettura a metà tra finzione e realtà.
Oltre all’opera video, ho realizzato dei collage in tecnica mista che, partendo da antiche mappe, definiscono i nuovi spazi geopolitici ed economici nelle regioni artiche.

Work produced by the public notice Cantica21. Italian Contemporary Art Everywhere – Over 35 Section (MAECI- DGSP/MiC-DGCC, 2020)

 

 

Mariagrazia Pontorno è nata a Catania nel 1978. Vive e lavora a Roma. È titolare della cattedra di Progettazione Multimediale presso l’Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.

Il suo lavoro è stato esposto in musei italiani e internazionali tra cui: Palais de Tokyo, Parigi; CCCC, Valencia; Palazzo della Permanente, Milano; MACRO, Roma; Biedermann Museum, Donaueschingen; MAXXI, Roma; Stadtgalerie, Kiel; MLAC, Roma; Museo di Castel S.Elmo, Napoli; Art Center, Thessaloniki; Museo RISO, Palermo. E in gallerie private e spazi no profit come: Monitor, Roma; ISCP, New York; HSF, New York; Loop Barcelona; Murat 122, Bari; Passaggi, Pisa; Casa Musumeci Greco, Roma; Fondazione Noesi, Martina Franca.

Hanno curato e scritto del suo lavoro
Alberto Abruzzese, Valentina Tanni, Christian Caliandro, Raffaele Bedarida, Elena Giulia
Abbiatici, Marzio Pieri, Alessandra Troncone, Elena Giulia Rossi, Silvia Bordini, Ilaria Gianni, Ilaria Mariotti, Maria Alicata, Silvana Vassallo, Santa Nastro, Ester Coen, Maria Vinella, Francesca Gallo, Manuela Pacella, Simonetta Lux, Helga Marsala, Cristiana Perrella, Carlo Bordini, Antonella Sbrilli, Daniela Lancioni, Daniela Trincia.

Award e Shortlists
2022 Premio Michetti, Francavilla a Mare 2021 Re:Humanism, MAXXI 2018 Le Radici Auree, Arte sui Cammini call by Regione Lazio 2018 XVI Premio Cairo, Palazzo della Permanente, Milano 2012/13 Premio VAF, Fondazione Feierabend-Stiftung 2012 Un’opera per il castello, Museo di Castel S.Elmo, Napoli 2011 Rinascenze, archivio S.A.C.S /La Rinascente, Vetrine department store La Rinascente/Museo RISO, Palermo 2011 III Festival del cinema giovanile e indipendente, CIAC, Genazzano 2009 SerrOne, Biennale Giovani Monza, 2005 MapXXL, Ars Electronica, Linz 2005 XII Biennale dei giovani artisti d’Europa e del Mediterraneo, Museo di Castel S.Elmo, Napoli.

Nobilis Golden Moon è un film a cavallo tra due pandemie e due lune piene. Un documentario sul rapporto tra pensiero scientifico e pensiero magico, raccontato attraverso la Pinna Nobilis, il bivalve più grande del Mediterraneo. La Pinna Nobilis, detta anche “Sentinella del Mediterraneo”, supera il metro di altezza ed è a rischio di scomparsa a causa di una pandemia. La narrazione stabilisce un parallelismo tra l’attuale emergenza che tutto il mondo stava vivendo nel 2020 a causa del Covid-19 e quella del Mediterraneo e della Pinna Nobilis.

Nobilis Golden Moon è un reportage personale e parzialmente autobiografico, girato a cavallo delle lune piene di luglio e agosto 2020, a Valencia (Spagna) e a Sant’antioco (Sardegna-Italia). In questi due luoghi, al chiaro di luna, Mariagrazia (regista/narratrice) apprende il punto di vista scientifico ed esoterico sulla Pinna Nobilis, e molto altro ancora….

Full Moon_1 / 5 Luglio
L’indagine parte proprio dalla città di Valencia, dove Jose Tena e Jose Rafael Garcia March stanno seguendo il progetto LIFE PINNARCA a sostegno di Pinna Nobilis. Qui gli esemplari di Pinna Nobilis sono stati isolati in vasche per garantirne la sopravvivenza mentre scienziati di tutta Europa lavorano per salvarli.

Full Moon_2 / 3 Agosto
La narrazione continua a San’Antioco, in Sardegna, dove vive Chiara Vigo, la cosiddetta “ultima sacerdotessa” del
bisso. Proveniente da una famiglia ebrea fuggita dalla  Spagna, l’approccio della donna alla Pinna Nobilis è rivestito da un’aura sacra ed esoterica, piena di rispetto per il mollusco.

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Nobilis Golden Moon Credits

Regia
Mariagrazia Pontorno

Produzione
Acqua Foundation
Maritima01

Cast
Chiara Vigo
Jose Tena
Jose Rafael Garcia March

Fotografia
Marisa Vallone
Davide Eustacchi

Montaggio
Mariagrazia Pontorno

VFX e 3d animation
Giacomo Gemmiti

Musiche
Vanishing Twin
Felipe Ayres
Scott Metoyer

Traduzioni
Eva Baistero Bartolì
Achille Pinna

Pamela Pintus è un’artista visiva e docente di discipline grafiche e pittoriche.

Si forma all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma dove si laurea con lode in Pittura nel 2008 ed in Arti Visive e Discipline dello Spettacolo nel 2011. Interessata ad analizzare il paesaggio nel suo noema, assume l’esperienza sensibile e la memoria come fondanti, incentrando il suo lavoro principalmente sulle forme della traccia che si fa segno e si fa linguaggio in molti suoi lavori. Le sue opere spaziano dalla pittura al disegno, dalla sperimentazione con materiali ricercati come la carta fatta a mano, fino al video e all’installazione. Ha partecipato a residenze artistiche sia in Italia che all’estero e le sue opere sono state esposte in Istituzioni pubbliche e private, sia in Italia che all’estero tra cui il Museo Site Oud Sint-Jan a Bruges, Belgio; la Galleria Verein Berliner Künstler a Berlino, Germania; il Parque Cultural a Valparaiso, Cile; la Galéria Slovenského Rozhlasu a Bratislava, Slovacchia; l’IIC a Santiago, Cile; il Museo Opera Duomo a Milano, Italia; l’Arsenale a Venezia, Italia; il Museo Macro Testaccio a Roma, Italia; l’Ambasciata Cilena a Roma, Italia.

Nel 2018 fonda con Lulù Nuti il duo LU.PA, un’identità artistica che opera principalmente attraverso la performance e la multimedialità, con cui ha presentato progetti in Istituzioni pubbliche e private tra cui il Musée Zadkine di Parigi; GAM Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Roma; Palazzo Farnese Ambasciata di Francia in Roma; FOROF Roma; e in summit internazionali come Maker Faire European Edition sezione Arte e European Innovation for Sustainability Summit promosso da EIIS – European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability.

 Attualmente vive e lavora a Roma.

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Pamela Pintus is a visual artist and teacher of graphic and painting disciplines.

She trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where she graduated with honors in Painting in 2008 and obtained a Master degree in Visual Arts and Performing Arts in 2011. Interested in analyzing the landscape in its noema, she considers sensitive experience and memory as fundamental, focusing her work mainly on the forms of trace that become marks and language in many of her pieces. Her works range from painting to drawing, from experimenting with materials such as handmade paper to video and installation. She has participated in artist residencies both in Italy and abroad, and her works have been exhibited in public and private Institutions, both in Italy and internationally, including the Site Oud Sint-Jan Museum in Bruges, Belgium; the Verein Berliner Künstler Gallery in Berlin, Germany; the Parque Cultural in Valparaiso, Chile; the Slovenského Rozhlasu Gallery in Bratislava, Slovakia; the IIC in Santiago, Chile; the Museo Opera Duomo in Milan, Italy; the Arsenale in Venice, Italy; the Museo Macro Testaccio in Rome, Italy; and the Chilean Embassy in Rome, Italy.

In 2018, she founded the duo LU.PA with Lulù Nuti, an artistic identity that operates mainly through performance and multimedia, with which she has presented projects in public and private Institutions including the Musée Zadkine in Paris; GAM Modern Art Gallery in Rome; Palazzo Farnese French Embassy in Rome; FOROF Rome; and at international summits such as Maker Faire European Edition Art section and European Innovation for Sustainability Summit promoted by EIIS – European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability.

 

She currently lives and works in Rome.

 

AUSLÄNDER  

un progetto di Pamela Pintus

AUSLÄNDER è un progetto di ricerca sul paesaggio che mira a raggiungerne la radice, il noema, attraverso l’esplorazione di territori rocciosi sottomarini (paesaggi in nuce, ancora non emersi) mediante il disegno performativo. La ricerca, iniziata nel 2023 nell’area marina sarda, e tuttora in corso, è resa possibile grazie all’impiego di carta di pietra, un materiale innovativo ed ecologico composto interamente da scarti minerali, generalmente utilizzato da ricercatori subacquei, speleologi o sommozzatori, che viene impiegato per la prima volta in fogli liberi di grande formato per lo sviluppo di una ricerca artistica e la creazione di un corpus di opere.

AUSLÄNDER prevede la realizzazione di disegni subacquei attraverso la tecnica del frottage che consente di “registrare” il territorio tramite segni grafici in tempo reale. Il disegno subacqueo, volutamente eseguito in apnea e senza maschera, pone l’artista in una condizione limite in cui gli stereotipi culturali sul paesaggio si annullano, lasciando spazio ad un’esperienza autentica ed im-mediata del paesaggio. Abbandonando la supremazia della vista, ogni segno emerge da una sinestesia, dall’adattamento del corpo all’elemento in cui è immerso, alla ricerca di un equilibrio tra ciò che l’artista intende fare e ciò che il mare, in quel momento e in quel luogo, gli consente di fare. L’acqua forza il gesto in una sorta di danza e il segno emerge da questo intenso rapporto. L’enfasi è quindi posta sul processo, sull’azione nell’hic et nunc, sulla relazione tra il corpo dell’artista e l’ambiente, attorno alla quale si organizza l’intera narrazione.

I disegni così generati, non sono rappresentazioni del paesaggio osservato, ma sono la manifestazione stessa della sua creazione.
Essi sono paesaggi.

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AUSLÄNDER  

a project by Pamela Pintus

AUSLÄNDER is a landscape research project that seeks to delve into its very essence, its noema, through the exploration of submerged rocky terrains—nascent landscapes yet to emerge—by means of performative drawing. This ongoing research, which began in 2023 in the marine area of Sardinia, is made possible by the use of stone paper, an innovative and ecological material com- posed entirely of mineral waste. Typically used by underwater researchers, speleologists, and divers, this is the first time it has been employed in large, loose sheets for the development of artistic research and the creation of a body of work.

                                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

AUSLÄNDER entails the creation of underwater drawings using the frottage technique, which allows the                                                                                                                                                                          territory to be “recorded” through graphic marks in real time. The act of drawing underwater, intentionally performed while holding one’s breath and without a mask, places the artist in a liminal state where cultural stereotypes of the landscape dissolve, giving way to an authentic and immediate experience. By abandoning the supremacy of sight, each mark emerges from a synesthetic process, from the body’s adaptation to the element in which it is immersed, in a search for equilibrium between what the artist intends to do and what the sea, in that moment and in that place, allows. The water compels the gesture into a sort of dance, and the mark emerges from this intense relationship. The emphasis is therefore placed on the process, on the action in the hic et nunc, on the relationship between the artist’s body and the environment, around which the entire narrative is organized.

 

The drawings thus generated are not representations of the observed landscape, but are the very manifestation of its creation.

They are landscapes.