Gabriele Arruzzo
Gabriele Arruzzo was born in Rome in 1976. Until 1980 his family lived in the capital, then they moved permanently to Pesaro, his mother's hometown. Due to worsening respiratory problems he attended primary school irregularly, spending his time at home leafing through art books and learning to read from his father's comics. In 1991 he enrolled in the Liceo Scientifico, which he attended with poor results. In 1993 he began to create graffiti, thanks to the fact that Pesaro was one of the most lively Italian writing centres in the 1990s. In 1995, he left high school and enrolled in the Advertising Graphics section of the State Institute of Art in Urbino, better known as the "School of the Book" for its long tradition in artistic bookbinding. He graduated in 1998. In the same year he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino in the Painting section. In 2003 he graduated with a thesis analysing the fundamental role of asthma in the artistic production of Francis Bacon (1909-1992). From 2004 onwards she regularly exhibited in private galleries and public spaces in Italy and abroad. After obtaining a Specialist Diploma in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino in 2006, he began teaching there in 2008.
Gabriele Tinti
Gabriele Tinti is an Italian poet, writer and art critic. He has collaborated with institutions such as the Archaeological Museum of Naples, the Capitoline Museums, the National Roman Museum, the Ara Pacis Museum, the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the LACMA in Los Angeles and the Glyptothek in Munich. His poems have been read by actors such as Abel Ferrara, Malcolm McDowell, Stephen Fry, James Cosmo, Kevin Spacey, Robert Davi, Marton Csokas, Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessandro Haber and Joe Mantegna and many others. From 2016 to 2018 he composed several poems inspired by Giorgio de Chirico's masterpieces, working with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, MOMA in New York and the Museo del '900 in Milan. In 2018, his ecphrastic poetry project "Rovine" was awarded the Montale Prize in a ceremony at the Museo Nazionale Romano in Palazzo Altemps and was the only writing project chosen to celebrate the refurbishment of the Getty Villa's collections, continuing the dialogue begun with the contemporary artists' exhibition "Plato in LA" in which some of today's most celebrated artists reinterpreted Plato's impact on the contemporary world. In 2021, the publisher Eris Press (London) will collect the 'Ruins' project in a volume.
Michele Trimarchi
Michele Trimarchi is Professor of Public Economics at the University of Catanzaro "Magna Graccia". He is an economic expert in international cultural cooperation projects for the World Bank. He also teaches master and post-graduate courses in economics and management of culture: Cultural Heritage and Activities. He has worked with public administrations and private organisations on projects of evaluation, redesign, strategic orientation, technical assistance. He has collaborated with the International Festival of Cinema, Theatre and Music Taormina Arte (1985-1995). He was scientific coordinator of the management plan of the Municipal Theatre of Bolzano (1998), of the Unesco dossier of the Palazzi dei Rolli in Genoa (2004-2005), of the management plan of the Rupestrian Heritage in Matera (2007), of the strategic plan of Cultural Tourism in Siracusa (2008), of the integrated management plan of the Cultural Heritage in Spoleto (2009), of the management plan of the State Tactile Museum "Omero" in Ancona (2012). He realised the management plan (2015) of the International Festival Taormina Arte.
Mirko Pierri
Mirko Pierri (1987) is an expert, researcher and curator of urban art. He began his career as an independent curator organising events and exhibitions mainly in Rome. In 2010 he founded the collective a.DNA. Pierri is mainly concerned with the development of socio-cultural projects mediated by urban art interventions in urban public space. In about 10 years of activity, he has produced and curated more than 100 artistic interventions in numerous Italian cities, especially as part of his flagship project "Urban Area", active in two different territorial contexts between Lazio and Campania: Rome and the Province of Salerno. He collaborates with numerous associations and public and private bodies including the Lazio Region, Campania Region, Roma Capitale, Soprintendenza Capitolina, ANAS spa, MURo - Museo di Urban Art di Roma and many others such as the Defloyd association of Ascoli Piceno. He took part in the "National Table of Street Art" coordinated by Inward for ANCI. He continues to promote professional and emerging artists on an international scale, working with some of the most important names on the contemporary urban art scene including Peeta, El Niño de Las Pinturas (Spain), Jimmy C (Australia), Etnik, Alex Senna (Brazil), Millo, Luis Gomez, Ella & Pitr (France), Milu Correch (Argentina), NemO's and many others.
Nicola Alessandrini
Nicola Alessandrini was born on 31 December 1977 in Macerata. He attended a municipal kindergarten in via Panfilo, which was next to a slaughterhouse: in his memories, the children's laughter and the animals' cries mixed up during playtime in the schoolyard. Moving on to De Amicis primary school, the boys did not like him because he did not play football, and the girls kept him at a distance because he was a boy. During middle school Verdi, he used to read the Italian writer Dino Buzzati and drew prisoners in art classes. He attended the Leopardi High School without books or homework, just because he wanted to see, from time to time, the girl he was in love with. During the Academy of Fine Arts he became a father; he did several exhibitions and beautiful things; children's laughter and animal cries are still in his mind. Nicola Alessandrini has participated in many exhibitions, both personal and collective, in Italy and abroad.
Valeria Arnaldi
Valeria Arnaldi is a journalist and writer, curator of contemporary art exhibitions in Italy and abroad: she has collaborated with the European Commission, Unar-Presidenza del Consiglio, Regione Lazio, Provincia di Roma, Roma Capitale. She conceived and curated "C'era una volta...", the first Family Artentainment festival of Roma Capitale at MACRO, together with several other exhibition formats. She has published essays and art catalogues. Her most recent books include "Tina Modotti hermana", "Gli amori di Frida Kahlo", "Nico, o dell'infelicità", "Chi è Banksy? e perché ha tanto successo?", "Chi è Obey? E perché fa tanto discutere?", "Manga Art. Viaggio nell’iper-pop contemporaneo", "Metropolitan Eros - Nudo ed erotismo nella street art", "Lego e altri giocattoli – Le idee che l'arte ha «rubato» ai bambini". For Ultra edizioni she has edited various series, including ICON, in which she investigates through art and costume, also with interviews with artists, characters whose image has become iconic.