Programme
Programme
Programme
Programme
Beyond the Obvious - Cultural Agora, Rome 2017
<Glimpses of ctrl+shift HUMAN #BtO2018 Edition >
Contributors
Our contributors are all leaders in their respective fields and come from key stakeholder organisations, from government to local authorities and non-profit and private sector.
Alex Meszmer
Visarte, Switzerland
Alex Meszmer is a visual artist, curator and a member of the National Committee of VISARTE – Association of Professional Artists, Switzerland. Meszmer works closely with IGBK Berlin as an expert for the European Commission for questions regarding artists’ mobility. Together with his partner Reto Mueller, he is organising a digital archive about the Swiss village Pfyn, running the Transitory Museum, an ever-changing museum, searching for the beauty of democracy with their club ‘désirer’.
Annalisa Cicerchia
Senior Researcher, ISTAT, Italy
Annalisa Cicerchia is Senior Researcher at the Italian National Statistical Institute and author of books and articles on cultural economics and strategic planning of cultural policies. She is Professor of Management of Creative enterprises at the Roma University Tor Vergata. Annalisa has served on international development projects based on culture and tourism for the Italian Ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs, and the European Commission (Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Serbia, Kosovo). Her areas of interest include cultural indicators, cultural sustainability, and the relationship between culture, wellbeing, and health.
Angie Cotte
Roberto Cimetta Fund, France
Angie obtained her Bachelors degree in Theatre and Literature and worked for a children’s theatre before entering the “Eurocreation Agency” in 1990. Part of the initial team of the “European Pépinières programme” a network of creative residencies in Europe. Organised a number of conferences throughout Europe for representatives of local and regional authorities particularly in European capitals of Culture from 2000 to 2008, before working with the Roberto Cimetta Fund since 2009 on new partnerships for artistic mobility in the Euro-Arab zone. In 2003 she obtained her Masters degree and wrote her memoire on developing intercultural competences for EU citizens. She is also a lecturer for students from the socio-cultural field wishing to develop cooperation projects in the EU (Universities of Bobigny and Senart).
Anthony Heidweiller
Artistic Director, OperaMakers Foundation
Anthony Heidweiller, a baritone, opera maker, creator, inspirer and promoter of innovative opera concepts. Concepts such as participation and community arts are central to much of his work. In 2001, he set up a Youth Opera Festival (YO! Opera) to introduce opera to young people. In 2006, his Yo! Opera community arts project, Opera on the Bus, won an award for ‘the most innovative event’. In 2008, Yo! Opera was awarded the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds prize for art education. In 2011, Heidweiller received the Culture Award of the Municipality of Utrecht. Since 2012, he has been artistic director of the Operamakers Foundation, as well as being affiliated with institutions such as the Dutch National Opera (Artistic Associate Director Opera Forward Festival), Artist in Residence Theaterschool and Conservatorium Amsterdam, the Festival of Flanders Brussels and RUHR 2010.
Antonia Silvaggi
Project Manager & Researcher, MeltingPro
Antonia is co-founder of Melting Pro, an organisation based in Rome, which inspired by the understanding that culture has a role in contributing to a more cohesive society, aims to provide services in cultural management training, audience development, creative approaches to audience engagement also through storytelling. Antonia was coordinator on the Mu.SA research project. She has extensive experience designing and organising international projects on cultural management and audience development training, cultural participation and digital storytelling. She is also presently involved in “Connect – Connecting audiences European Alliance for Education and Training in Audience Development”.
@antoniasilvaggi, www.linkedin.com/in/antonia-silvaggi
Anupama Sekhar
Director of the Culture Department, ASEF
Anupama SEKHAR, an Indian national, joined ASEF in January 2009. She is currently the Director of the Culture Department and is actively engaged in facilitating multilateral cultural co-operation among 51 countries across Asia and Europe. Currently, Anupama is part of UNESCO’s Expert Facility to support capacity development initiatives for the implementation of the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. She holds degrees in English Literature and International Studies. She is a trained dancer in the Indian classical style of Bharatnatyam. Prior to joining ASEF, Anupama worked with the International Labour Organisation and with independent arts spaces in India.
Cristina da Milano
President, ECCOM, Italy
Cristina holds a degree in Archaeology (University of Rome); the Diploma of Fine and Decorative Arts from Antiquity to 1450 (Royal Society of Arts, London); the MA in Museum Studies (Department of Museum Studies, University of Leicester); the MA in Technological Instruments for the Economic Evaluation of Cultural and Environmental Heritage (University of Ferrara). From 1996 she is member of ECCOM (European Centre for Cultural Organisation and Management) and in 2010 she became president of it. She has been part of several research projects at a national and international level on the issue of the social role of museums and of lifelong learning processes within museums, access to culture and audience development, subjects on which she has published several papers. She has also managed many European funded projects within the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme 2007, the Culture Programme 2007-2013 and the Creative Europe Programme. She is member of the board of Culture Action Europe and since 2017 also a member of the board of Teatro di Roma.
Francesco Pacifico
Creative Writer, Molly Bloom
Francesco Pacifico (1977) is the author of the novels The Story of my Purity (FSG, 2013) and Class(Melville House 2017). He's the literary editor of iltascabile.com and a regular contributor for la Repubblica and IL, the magazine of il Sole 24 Ore. He has translated, among others, works by Kurt Vonnegut, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry Miller, Dana Spiotta, Rick Moody, Dave Eggers. He teaches creative writing at Molly Bloom.
Frantz Dhers
CEO, Original’s
Frantz Dhers, 27, is the CEO of Original’s, a new consulting firm specialized in cultural sustainability and Corporate Cultural Responsibility issues. Graduated from a Master’s degree of Political Science at La Sorbonne University, his main research field is considering the cultural consequences of a globalized context. He published about identity issues in magazines and newspapers such as « Sauvons l’Europe » and « Ta Nea ». His main postulate is that we are entering in a « post-globalized » world, and that public and private actors will have to deal with it.
Friso Wiersum
Projects and Communications, European Cultural Foundation
Friso Wiersum is a program maker, moderator and connector. Friso works in the communications department at the European Cultural Foundation. He also is a member of Expodium collective. Educated as a historian he has been working in various roles in the cultural sector; eg. project leader ‘Arts in Conflict’, programing ‘Tumult, cultural centre’, co-curator to ‘Hacking Habitat’ and ‘Terni Festival’ - always connecting the realms of culture and politics.
Anna Codazzi
National and European Projects, Explora
Graduated in International Sciences and European Institutions, with a specialisation in European Integration, she holds a Master in European Studies. She has gained experience as Project Manager first in cooperation projects in the Euro-Mediterranean area and then in cultural, creative, research and educational projects funded at national and European level – with a specific focus on Creative Europe and Erasmus+ programmes. At Explora, she follows the implementation of educational and cultural projects and she identifies new national and EU calls, networks and proposals, from the idea to the implementation phase.
Julia Pagel
Conference & Publication Manager, NEMO
Julia Pagel is secretary general of NEMO, the Network of European Museum Organisations. NEMO acts as European umbrella for all national museum organisations and thus speaks for over 30.000 museums in Europe. She has been working for the network since 2007. Julia graduated with a master’s degree in Art History and Latin American Studies from Freie Universität Berlin in 2004. After her graduation, she worked at the Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla/Colombia as German language and culture tutor. Before she started to work for NEMO, Julia worked at the Film Market for the Berlinale Film Festival and for the publishing company “BibSpider”. From 2013-2017 Julia was member and Vice-President of the Executive Committee of Culture Action Europe. She has contributed to various museum-related publications about life-long learning and intercultural dialogue as co-editor and author.
Katherine Watson
Director, European Cultural Foundation
Katherine Watson moved from Canada to join the European Cultural Foundation in 2006 and has been Director since 2010. Prior to working with ECF, Katherine's international experience, from both sides of the Atlantic, has combined interdisciplinary production with advocacy, research, policy and programme development for nonprofit arts and culture organisations and all levels of government. She has particular interest in investigating the impact of the digital shift on our lives, in fostering the intersection of art and culture with other fields of endeavour and in enabling voices from all corners of civil society. Furthermore, Katherine is the Cultural Leader in Residence for a Research Masters Programme in Cultural Leadership at Groningen University. She is currently Vice Chair of the European Foundation Centre, a membership organisation for institutional philanthropy that was instigated by ECF and in which ECF plays an active part.
Katherine Heid
Acting Secretary General, Culture Action Europe
Katherine is Acting Secretary General of Culture Action Europe. She began her career at the Franco-German Youth Office in Paris, where she focused on projects and events in film and music. She then worked for the German Youth Ministry’s Department for International Youth Policy, for IJAB, the International Youth Service of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as for the Council of Europe. She spent six years as co-director of RESEO, the European Network for Opera and Dance Education and was an elected member of Culture Action Europe’s Executive Committee.
Lars Ebert
Cultural and educational manager, facilitator, consultant | ELIA, Castrum Peregrini
Lars is managing board member at cultural foundation Castrum Peregrini in Amsterdam, where he lives and works. With his partners he realises a programme of exhibitions, lectures, publications, think tank meetings and international projects. For ELIA – The European League of Institutes of the Arts he advises and advocates higher arts education institutions in questions related to the development of and engagement in the European Higher Education Area. He represents ELIA in various stakeholder processes about research in and through the arts, cultural and creative industries and social inclusion.
Laura Barreca
Art Critic and Curator
Laura Barreca is an art critic and curator based in Palermo. From 2014 she has been working as Director of the Museo Civico of Castelbuono (Palermo) conducting a research about the local community and the Mediterranean area, through contemporary art. She maintains a Post-Doctorate at the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies at Columbia University, New York, and since years has been teaching history of art and curating in Rome, Palermo, Bari. She worked as a curator of several exhibitions for museums and foundations for contemporary art. She was a member of the delegation of the City of Palermo for the candidature as Italian Capital of Culture 2018.
Lea Walter
noMade Collective
Clinical Psychologist specialized in art-therapy, is directing the noMade Collective along with its founder the visual artist Fabio Pennacchia. In the last years, she has coordinated several projects and cultural events such as "La Caravane du Rythme Francophone" presented during the XV Summit of the International Organisation of Francophony (Dakar, 2014) with artists coming from Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso and Europe; "Piccolo Festival delle Spartenze - Migrazioni e Cultura" (Paludi, 2016) ditected by Giuseppe Sommario. More recently she developed several sound productions, in particular one focusing on Burn Out phenomenon within the programme "Jusqu'ici tout va bien" curated by Anna Raimondo supported by the Belgian organisation for radiophonic productions; "Sybilla Sibille" a performance with Max Wayne and Alice Ruzzettu within a personal exhibition of Anna Romanello (2016). From January 2017 she is coordinating Radio noMade in Arberia that has been presented for the first time during the Mediterranea 18-Young Artists Biennale (Tirana, May 2017) .
Leonardo Colombati
Founder, Molly Bloom
Leonardo Colombati (1970) is the author of the novels Perceber (Sironi 2005), Rio (Rizozli 2007), Il re(Mondadori 2009) and 1960 (2014), and the editor of The Italian Song 1861-2011. Story and Lyrics (Mondadori-Ricordi 2011) and Bruce Springsteen: Like a Killer in the Sun. Selected Lyrics 1972-2017 (BackBeat Books 2017). He is one of the directors and the literary editor of the literary review Nuovi Argomenti and a regular contributor for IL, the magazine of il Sole 24 Ore. In 2006, he founded the creative writing school Molly Bloom in Rome. He’s a member of Pen Club Italy.
Luca Bergamo
Vice Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Culture, City of Rome, Italy
Luca Bergamo is Vice Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Culture of the city of Rome. Before taking up this position, Luca has been the secretary-general of Culture Action Europe. In his earlier career, Luca led the establishment of Zone Attive, a company founded on his proposal by the City of Rome focused on developing revolutionary cultural initiatives. In late 2004, Luca was appointed Director-General of the Glocal Forum, an international foundation promoting peace dialogue in post-conflict areas through local diplomacy and cultural cooperation. In 2007, he was called to lead the launch of the Italian National Agency for Youth (ANG) under the premiership of Romano Prodi.
Maria Papadimitriou
Artist, Victoria Square Project
Maria Papadimitriou was born in Athens in 1957. She is known as an artist for her ability to investigate participatory projects and collective activities that highlight the interconnection between art and social reality. A major part of her work has been developed through collaboration with artists. For 4 years she had a continuous dialogue with Martin Kippenberger, who had put her in charge with the realisation of MOMAS, Syros Island. She is Professor of Art and environment at the Dept. of Architecture, University of Thessaly and she is the founder of T.A.M.A. (Temporary Autonomous Museum for All) 1998. In 2003 she won the DESTE prize for contemporary Greek Art.
Matthew Bach
Governance & Social Innovation, The ROCK
Matthew Bach works on governance and social innovation at the European Secretariat of ICLEI, the leading network of local governments for sustainability. He helps coordinate the communication and dissemination activities of ROCK, an EU-funded Horizon2020 project, which develops an innovative, collaborative and circular systemic approach for regeneration and adaptive reuse of historic city centres. He is keen to build synergies between the areas of cultural heritage and sustainable development.
Mercedes Giovinazzo
Director, Interarts Foundation
Mercedes Giovinazzo is the Director of Interarts Foundation, a Spanish non-governmental organisation specialised in international cultural co-operation. Previously, Giovinazzo was the Chair of the “Access to Culture”, a platform organised by the DG Education and Culture of the European Commission and the Chair of Culture Action Europe’s Executive Committee. She served as the Director of Services and Deputy Director of Customer Services at the Universal Forum of Cultures, Barcelona; Administrator at the Division of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage (DG IV, Council of Europe) and Director of the Mastère Européen Management des Entreprises Culturelles at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Dijon, France.
Michel Magnier
Director for Culture and Creativity, European Commission
Michel Magnier (born 1960) graduated in Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (1981) and the Ecole nationale d'Administration (1986). He started his professional career in the French public service, serving as a "sous-préfet" in the French West Indies and in the Provence. He joined the European Commission in 1992, as a member of the then President Jacques Delors' private office. From 1995, he held various positions in the European Commission services, in particular in the directorates generals in charge of human resources, budget, competition, and home affairs. He has been a director since 2008, and took up his current post of Director for Culture and Creativity in January 2013.
Mirjam Rääbis
Adviser, Estonian Ministry of Culture
Mirjam Rääbis has worked as a collection coordinator at the Estonian Art Museum and from 2013 been coordinating museum collections in larger scale across Estonia at the Ministry of Culture. Graduated in information science (University of Tartu, 2007) she has been involved with the development of Estonian national Museum Information System since 2008. One of the tasks at the Ministry is to analyze and coordinate museum´s collection policies. She has also been involved in several European projects : DCH-RP, Athena Plus, Europeana Space and RICHES.
Niels Righolt
Director, Danish Center for Arts & Interculture (CKI)
Niels Righolt is the Director of the Danish Center for Arts & Interculture (CKI). Niels has over 25 years of experience from the field of arts and culture. He has worked as information manager, producer, artistic director, cultural policy adviser in various arts and cultural institutions. He was managing and artistic director of Dunkers Art Center in Helsingborg, and chief curator and the producer for Møstings Hus & Bryggeriets Hus in Copenhagen. Today Niels is a board member for the Dansehallerne, the Danish stage for modern dance in Copenhagen, and of the network Audience Europe. Niels has a background in literature, modern culture and cultural communication as well as in Spanish culture and language as a graduate from the University of Copenhagen.
Nicholas Anastasopoulos
PhD and Professor, School of Architecture NTUA, Greece
Nicholas Anastasopoulos, PhD architect, researcher, lecturer at the National Technical University of Athens. His work addresses aspects of sustainability, spatial expressions of the commons in architecture and social structures, alternative communities, future alternatives, systems, complexity, and participation. As Prometeo post-doctoral Researcher (IAEN, Quito, 2014) he contributed with policy papers for the FLOK Society project and conducted research on aspects of Buen Vivir and the impact of the commons on urban environments. His critical research “Imagining alternative futures for Ports in transition” assembling a group of researchers and activists worldwide formed part of the official program of Habitat III (10/2016, Quito).
Patrizia Braga
Founder, Melting Pro
Founder of the organisation Melting Pro. Laboratorio per la Cultura and Melting Pro Learning – Cooperative. Project Manager in cultural sector – focus on designing project ideas and implementation, building network and partnership at national and international level. Trainer and facilitator in digital storytelling with particular interest in the application within the museum sector as an impact monitoring tool and to build relations with audiences – accredited with the StoryCenter, Berkeley, USA. Researcher and trainer in developing people’s and organization’s skills in cultural sector.
Paul Dujardin
General Director & Artistic Director, Bozar
Since 2002 Paul Dujardin is General Director and Artistic Director of the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels (BOZAR). Before committing to BOZAR he was Director of the Philharmonic Society of Brussels, Co-Artistic Director and Director of Programming at the National Orchestra of Belgium from 1992-2002. Since 1996 he maintains several International mandates such as Member of the Board of Directors of the European Festival Association, or President of the International Opera Academy. He received various National Honours like being knighted by King Albert II of Belgium in 2009.
Raluca Iacob
Cubic Metre Romania
Raluca Iacob is a cultural policy professional, manager and founding member of CubicMetre - resources for culture. Her work spreads across different areas, such as cultural planning at local and national level, research and advocacy about the misuse of European funds, the design of support activities for arts and heritage in education communities of practice, and good governance. She is the coordinator of Culture in Education (since 2013), a programme that aims to support the development of cultural initiatives with an educational dimension based of partnerships between schools and cultural actors, through the development of a professional network of people and organisations, and the creation of resources about practices and public policies in the field.
Robert Manchin
President of Culture Action Europe
Robert Manchin is the president of Culture Action Europe and the President of Europa Nova. He is also a Distinguished Senior Scholar at the University of Pannonia Koszeg Knowledge Center. Previously, Robert Manchin was the Senior Vice President of Gallup Organisation, Princeton and the Chairman and Managing Director of Gallup Europe.
Dr Simona Neumann
CEO, City of Timişoara 2021
Simona Neumann is CEO for Timisoara 2021 - European Capital of Culture (Romania) since January 2013. She has successfully led the 4 year bidding process of the city for the European title. She has 19 years of professional experience in managing multi-stakeholder programmes in Romanian and international context in culture, education, public diplomacy, and civil society development. She worked at: the European Commission, Brussels; UNDP, Bucharest; the Institute for International Education, Washington, DC; the West University and the Intercultural Institute both in Timisoara. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Diplomacy (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj ) and specialized in strategic management of non-profit organisations at Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
Silvia Costa
MEP, European Parliament
Silvia Costa, is an Italian MEP born on 12 June 1949 in Florence. She was elected in the European elections of 2009 in the constituency of central Italy and re-elected on 25 May 2014. In the European Parliament, she sits on the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Since the 7th legislature, she has been a member of the Committee on Culture and Education, which she has chaired since 2014 and has sat on the Committee on Women's Rights and Equality of the genres from 2009 to 2012.
Tina Ellen Lee
Artistic Director, Opera Circus
Tina Ellen Lee is the Artistic Director of Opera Circus, an arts organisation based in Dorset, UK and Europe which commissions and produces new chamber opera and music theatre and works with young people through informal arts education. Tina was an opera singer, actress, voice over artist as well as producing over 30 documentaries, co-founding Opera Circus in 1991. She was invited to Srebrenica, Bosnia in 2008 to work with young people determined to use the arts to develop their community. The Complete Freedom of Truth international youth arts programme and network began in 2014. This ongoing process with young people led to a number of awards and fellowships, including the European Citizen’s Prize in 2015.
Zsófia Villegas-Vitézy
Director, Balassi Institute, Brussels
Since May 2013 Zsófia Villegas-Vitézy is the Director of Balassi Institute, Brussels - the Hungarian cultural institute in Brussels. Her work includes event organizing, cultural diplomacy, keeping contact with and participating in the Advocacy Group of EUNIC and preparing meetings with Commissioner Tibor Navracsics. Before (2011-2013) she worked as Managing and artistic director with Budapesti Festival and Tourism Center Nonprofit Ltd. as well as Head of press office at the Ministry of National Resources (2010-2011). As a Journalist she worked with various media houses including documentary movie making.
Francesco Dobrovich
Founder & Managing Director of Nufactory
Cultural and communication entrepreneur deeply rooted in urban culture, he is an institutional affairs expert. Francesco Dobrovich is founder, owner and Managing Director of Nufactory, a creative agency based in Rome, and Outdoor Festival. Today, he serves on collaboration with IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) and is Managing of Special Projects and Events: Google Gran Tour d’Italia, Redbull BCOne, RedBull Music Accademy Bass Camp, Cross The Streeets at Macro Museo, New Smart fortwo and forfour lounch, “LUCE diversità è energia” Acea.
Lilian Grootswagers
Council Secretary, Future for Religious Heritage
Lilian Grootswagers-Theuns – is Council Secretary of Future for Religious Heritage (FRH) since 2011. She is Dutch and owner of Erfgoed.nu, a Dutch Heritage Institute. Furthermore, she is Vice-President of the Task Force Toekomst Kerkgebouwen, a national and independent citizen’s movement aiming to re-establish religious buildings as living elements of the urban and rural landscape and communities. Before working in heritage, she had a career in financial management.
Wendy Sadler
Director, Science made simple
Wendy is the founding Director of science made simple and a lecturer in Science Communication and Engagement at Cardiff University. Wendy is passionate about inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and communicators, and making STEM subjects accessible to more diverse audiences. Furthermore, she is a fellow of the RSA, University of Wales Trinity St. David, and the ERA Foundation and was formerly a member of the Science Advisory Council for Wales. She was the Chair and co-author of the Task and Finish report on STEM engagement in Wales and was part of the group behind the ‘Talented Women for a Successful Wales’ report for the Welsh Government. Her first degree was in Physics and Music and she has always had an interest in combining science and the arts.
Nicola Ciancio
Funder and Special project curator, Non Riservato
Creative director, curator and concept developer, specialized in live formats for communication and culture. A multifaceted professional able to merge creativity and strategy to answer the needs of institutions, companies and cultural organisations. Creative director of different projects for Pantone, Sanrio, Rovio and others. He is author and founder of NON RISERVATO, an open community of creative and cultural organizations acting in Milan’s public spaces. He is also co-founder of the EX-VOTO, a cultural crew composed of communication and art professionals focused on theories and practices connected to the sharing culture, new forms of socialization and networking using entertainment codes.
Vasyl Cherepanyn
Head of the Visual Culture Research Center, Kiev
Vasyl Cherepanyn (1980, Ukraine) is Head of the Visual Culture Research Center (VCRC, Kiev) and an editor of the Political Critique magazine (Ukrainian edition). He works as a lecturer at the Cultural Studies Department of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and holds a Ph.D. in philosophy (aesthetics). Also he worked as a guest lecturer at European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, at the "Political Critique" Institute for Advanced Studies in Warsaw, Poland, and at Greifswald University, Germany. He was also a visiting fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, Austria. In 2015, VCRC has received the European Cultural Foundation's Princess Margriet Award for Culture for its activities. Visual Culture Research Center is the organizer of The School of Kyiv – Kyiv Biennial 2015 and The Kyiv International – Kyiv Biennial 2017.
Ludovico Solima
Associate professor of management, University of Campania
Ludovico Solima is Associate professor of management in the University of Campania and holder of the chair of “Management of cultural organizations". Author of more than 100 publications at national and international level on museum management, with particular regards to strategic planning, technological innovation and the relationship with creative industries. For the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, among other things, he has also recently developed and coordinated the elaboration of the "Strategic Plan 2016-2019" and the "2016 Annual Report".
Serene Huleileh
Cultural activist, Arab Education Forum, Jordan
Cultural activist, social entrepreneur, writer, editor, and trainer, Ms. Huleileh has been active in the community education scene in both Palestine and Jordan since 1990. Working with the Tamer Institute for Community education in Palestine from 1990 – 1998, she established the publishing unit for children and youth, helped develop the national reading campaign, and established and coordinated the Yara3at weekly newspaper page and supplement for youth, all of which continue to this day as essential projects to the Institute and the Palestinian community at large. In her capacity as cultural manager, she organized and coordinated several cultural festivals and events in Palestine and Jordan, both as a volunteer and on a consultancy basis as of 1992. Since 2000 she has been the regional director for the Arab Education Forum, developing projects and partnerships with and for youth, community educators, and artists across the Arab world. She is also the editor-in-chief of Waw Al Balad, a monthly agenda of cultural activities in Jordan, and serves on the board of directors of Al Balad Theatre and the El Funoon dance group.
Stefano Giovanardi
Astronomer & Science Curator, Zetema
Stefano Giovanardi (Rimini, 1972) is an astronomer and science curator for Zetema at the Planetarium and Astronomical Museum of Rome. He holds a master degree in Astronomy from the University of Bologna and a Master in Communication of Science from the Sissa school in Trieste. After research experiences at the STScI in Baltimore and at Columbia University in New York, he has been working in astronomy education and public outreach at the National Institute for Astrophysics and the Planetarium of Rome. He contributes to national tv shows, radio programs and magazines. He discovered the minor planet 1994QC and is author of more than 100 astronomical shows and other educational and outreach events, aimed at exploring new formats for the public communication of astronomy: i.e. the Astroconcert project, the Starwalks in Rome, astronomical travels and theatre productions.
Marco Tabilio
Comic Author, Illustrator & Videomaker
Marco Tabilio (born 1987) is a comic author, illustrator and videomaker. He took part in some collective exhibitions in Bologna, Hamburg, Berlin and his comics were published in independent comic magazines. In 2013 he was awarded first prize in the first edition of "Animated Europe", the comic contest organised by the Brusseler office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. In 2015 appeared his first long graphic novel "Marco Polo. La via della seta", written and drawn by Tabilio and published in Italy by Beccogiallo; at the time the book was translated and published in France and in the USA. Marco Tabilio currently works and lives in Italy.
Emina Višnić
Executive Director, Rijeka 2020
Emina Višnić is a cultural worker, experienced in cultural management, networking on local, national and international level, and cultural advocacy and capacity building. Since January 2017 she is executive director of the project Rijeka 2020 - European Capital of Culture. Before that she was an active member of independent cultural scene in Zagreb, operating as cultural activist and manager, co-starting and/or working in various organizations and networks in Zagreb (BLOK, Multimedia Institute, Clubture Network). Before she left to Rijeka, she served as Director at POGON - Zagreb Centre for Independent Culture and Youth (Zagreb), an open centre for independent culture and youth, funded as public institution based on a new model of civil–public partnership. She served as vice-chair of the Executive Committee of the European advocacy network Culture Action Europe (Brussels), and as a chair of Management Board of Kultura Nova Foundation (Zagreb).
Filippo Lange
Teatro del Lido di Ostia
Filippo was born in Rome but grew up in Chicago, US. He spent a year working in West Africa (this made him much more aware of the issue of migration and diaspora), then moved back to Ostia. He enjoyed a socio-anthropological education and he has always been involved in designing social and cultural services - engaging in the field as a youth educator. He has been involved in the local council of the municipality Ten of Rome for a year and a half, and is a staff member (networker) of the Teatro del Lido di Ostia. Furthermore, he participates in European networking activities in order to send young people to the field in European projects, in the framework of Erasmus Plus. He is convinced that civil society has a lot to contribute and need to get more involved in local development through participatory processes.
Christin Büchele
Communication & Events, Culture Action Europe
Christin works as Communication and Events Officer at Culture Action Europe. She studied Literary- Cultural and Media Studies, Hispanic Studies and International Relations in Germany, Spain and Russia. She voluntarily worked for various NGOs caring for human rights and civil society empowerment. Working for an incubator and accelerator for social entrepreneurs in Germany she discovered her passion to support social alternatives to our existing economic system. With the social consultancy Somos Más she furthermore developed her skills as facilitator and consultant. In general, her fields are management, communication, empowerment, and she is keen on including creativity in current methodologies and strategies.
Claudia Di Giacomo
Co-Founder, PAV, Italy
Claudia Di Giacomo is co-founder of PAV. Since 2013, PAV is a member of Culture Action Europe. Since 2014 PAV joins the Brokering Migrants' Cultural Participation project (MCP Broker), aiming to stimulate the cultural participation of immigrants and enhancing the interaction capacity of institutions in public places. Since 2015 she is works as well as professor for "Theater Management Models" at DAMS of Roma Tre University. Furthermore, she teaches "Organisation and theatrical legislation" at the National Academy of Dramatic Art Silvio D'Amico.
Zoran Majstorovic
Musician, Atma Mundi Ensemble, Croatia
Zoran is Jazz musician, guitarist, multiinstrumentalist, sound artist, arranger and composer. He plays professionally since the age of 13. His first guitar teacher was his father, a well known guitar player in Rijeka area during 1960’s and 1970’s. Later on he studied with the most prominent guitar players in Croatia and many world famous guitar players. In the years that followed he collaborates with many famous singers, mostly in Croatia. Beside leading his own “Loose trio” and his world music group “Atma Mundi Ensemble” he as an active member in various other groups & projects.
Alessandro Salvati
CTO and Senior Developer, TuO Museo, Italy
Alessandro Salvati spends a ridiculous amount of time being nerdy, both professionally and personally. At TuoMuseo he's the CTO and Senior Developer of "Father and Son". He's also a Unity3D videogame developer and programmer, VFX artist on the Unity Asset Store, with a soft spot for indie games, pixel art, the 8bit/16bit era, and localising apps and games to Italian. He loves to play with geeky devices, prototypes, emptying his wallet on crowdfunding sites, VR, indie games, Steam, ties, suspenders and cheesy nerdy shirts. As bears do, he enjoys taking his pet out for a walk, to let people caress it. That's why he never leaves his cave without his beard.
Andrea Gallo
Publisher, Online Media FASI.biz, Italy
Andrea is 'Dottore Commercialista' of Fasi, expert in finances - thanks to the ultradecennal activity of evaluation / review for credit institutions and financial institutions of regional development for more than 1200 investment programs funded with European, national and regional facilitations. He is furthermore auditor, expert of the Civil and Criminal Court of Rome and professor at the Business School of IlSole24Ore.
Giulio Stumpo
Advisor, Eccom, Italy
Giulio deals with analysis, economic evaluations and design in the field of Cultural Heritage, live performance and creativity. As part of Eccom's activities, he is responsible for analyzes and economic evaluations. From 2008 to 2010 he was managing director of Eccom Progetti s.r.l. and since 2009 he is a director of the Fondazione Teatro delle Muse of Ancona. Among the main activities, from 2004 to 2008 he has been the Consultant of the Entertainment Observatory at the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities. He has been a consultant to the Cataloging Center for Cataloging and Documentation (ICCD) and was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Cultural Observatory of the Marche Region. He has published on topics of economy of culture, local finance, cultural consumption for various magazines, specialized publications and collective books. He has also been a speaker at national and international conferences on the topics of the economy of culture and creativity. He teaches economics, management and cultural activities.
Claudio Di Biagio
Manager, Zètema Progetto Cultura, Italy
Claudio Di Biagio has been working for Zètema Progetto Cultura - the company managing Rome’s Civic Museums on behalf of the City Council- since 2002. He has covered a managerial role in Zetema’s Exhibition Area first and, since2007, he has led Zetema’s Event Organization Area, which is in charge of the organization of cultural events and spaces. He has coordinated the organization of a number of cultural events in Rome, including the yearly editions of Notte dei Musei (European Museums Night), Musei in Musica (Museums and Music), and Letterature, Rome’s International literary Festival. Graduated in History of Art/Italian literature at the Sapienza University of Rome, before joining Zètema, he had worked for the Educational Department of some of Rome’s main Museums, such as: Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna; Galleria Borghese; Istituto Nazionale per la Grafica.
Chloe Melchionne
Programme Coordinator, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung
Chloé Melchionne joined FNF Europe Mid-August 2017 as a programme coordinator. Her main responsibilities include developing and coordinating visiting and information programmes for international delegations coming to Brussels to meet with EU, national and regional officials, NGOs and think tanks. She also manages and promotes FNF comics competition “Animate Europe”.
Ms Melchionne studied International Relations and Political Sciences at the Université Aix-Marseille, France and the University of Ottawa, Canada. She then moved to Paris to do her Master’s degree in “European Studies” at the Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, where she graduated in 2013.
