Theme: Vis-à-Vision

Vis-à-Vision is about our personal encounter with the future, a glimpse of tomorrow. It means to be brave and open for discussion, to drive further, to imagine long term projects, where the concept of vision assumes multiple meanings. To reinterpret the myth of the words carpe diem, finding comfort only in the enclosing walls of the present, is way too easy. What we are really missing is the ability to believe in what’s coming, to try a different way than our way, to give space to new possibilities. The “Here and Now” concept structures our daily experience, giving us little time to catch a sight of our reflection in the mirror, to confront ourselves with what we really see and to start designing our future selves. Vis-à-Vision wants to gift us of a new perspective, pushing us beyond the immediacy of the present, broadening our gaze, pushing our boundaries further. Becoming aware of today’s world allows us to get closer to a new vision of the future with enthusiasm and confidence.

Vis-à-Vision reminds us to take the time to really look at ourselves and to realize we can be brave enough to act, that we are the ones who can make a difference. To act means to imagine and build change with curiosity and passion. Innovative ideas are risky but they have the power to expand our view and give our lives new directions. Today, we can play a part in our tomorrow. With Vis-à-Vision we expose ourselves, facing fearlessly the times to come, so we can look for new stimuli and new experiences from a whole new perspective. Vis-à-Vision gives us the strength to challenge ourselves; it’s a mirror that not only reflects who we are today, but it is able to show us what we could be, inspiring us.

Vis-à-Vision is a play on words, symbolizing the necessity of debate in order to broaden our horizons. It represents the willingness to use today to better tomorrow. We want to reflect constructively about the future, our place in it and what mark we will leave in this world. “Here and Now” is not enough anymore: it is time to look further.

Teatro Comunale Città di Vicenza
Viale Giuseppe Mazzini, 39
Vicenza, Vicenza, 36100
Italy

Adam Ben Ezra

Musician

Adam Ben Ezra is a double-bass player and a multi-instrumentalist born and raised in Tel Aviv. His mission is to bring the double-bass to the 21st century: from background and accompaniment instrument to the dominant front-presence it deserves. Thanks to his ability to move from one instrument to the other during his performances, Adam creates a unique atmosphere combining jazz, rock and world music with a sweeping, fascinating and visionary sound. He shared the stage with Noa and with some of the biggest fusion musicians including Pat Metheny, Richard Bona, Mike Stern, Victor Wooten. With his YouTube channel boasting close to ten million views, it is clear that Adam is a star on the web. His debut album “Can’t Stop Running” showcases not just a virtuoso performer, but also a sensitive composer with no musical boundaries, as confirmed also in his brand new solo album “Pin Drop”.

Alessia Gloder

Aerospace engineering student

Alessia has a full marks bachelor degree in clarinet and she is an MSc Aerospace Engineering student. In 2016 she has been selected, together with four other Padua University students, to participate in the Drop Your Thesis! campaign: a programme promoted by the European Space Agency Education Office that allows only two student teams from all over Europe to test an original idea in microgravity conditions. During her talk, she will speak about the Earth debris problem and about an innovative mechanism to solve it: STAR (Space Tether Automatic Retrieval).

Camilla Vivian

Mom

Camilla was raised in several different places in the world; she is a photographer, an English interpreter but, most of all, she is a mom of three wonderful children. In September 2016 she decides to start a blog called Miofiglioinrosa, to tell the story of her family and how they deal with their eight year old boy, who also feels like he is a girl. After years of studies on this topic and comparisons with families from other countries, she decided it is time to talk about gender fluid, a very hard topic to bring up in a country like Italy. The blog draws the attention of the readers and of the media. She is now finishing the book that will tell her story and she is also dedicating herself to other projects, like the creation of an association that helps families like hers to feel “normal”.

Caroline Buchanan

Journalist and writer

Caroline is a journalist, author, agony aunt and counsellor. Her latest book ‘The 15-Minute Rule – How to Stop Procrastinating and Take Control of your Life’ has been in the top Amazon charts for motivation, procrastination and self-help. She has been a journalist all her working life, specializing in relationship features for national magazines and newspapers. Fascinated with the human condition, Caroline also became a certificated Relate counsellor. She has worked with both couples and singles for years. This gives her journalistic talent an edge not generally matched by her peers, as she possesses the knowledge and experience of the therapy world and presents them in a warm and accessible way. Caroline is working on a whole series of 15-Minute Rule books because she believes in them so passionately. Her writing style is very inspirational.

Daniel Disselkoen

Visual artist

Before Daniel Disselkoen studied at the Royal Academy of Art in the Netherlands, he read through his share of textbooks while studying law and philosophy. One day, he realized he didn’t want his own ideas to be tucked away in journals. Today, Daniel is one of the leading interactive artists of his generation. Daniel runs Headmade: a concept studio where he and his team turn thoughts into tangibles. His ongoing fascination in social behaviour and interaction results in playful interventions in the everyday life. Daniel believes curiosity trumps routine.

David Monacchi

Eco-acoustic composer

David Monacchi is an eco-acoustics researcher, composer and interdisciplinary artist. He developed the project Fragments of Extinction, conducting field research in the world’s remaining areas of undisturbed primary equatorial forest. Monacchi is pioneering a new compositional and science dissemination approach based on 3D soundscape recordings of ecosystems to foster discourse on the biodiversity crisis through educational and sound-art installations. His immersive Eco-acoustic Theatre invention has received the international patent in 2014. He has worked for 25 years in cross-disciplinary contexts and produced works for contemporary music, art installation, cinema, video-art, site specific public art, science and contemporary art museums, and is founding member of several scientific and artistic networks. The documentary film “Dusk Chorus - based on Fragments of Extinction” is now receiving awards in environmental and science film festivals throughout the world.

Francesco Venturini

CEO of Enel Green Power

Born in New York (USA) in 1968, Mr. Venturini graduated cum laude in Economics from the University “La Sapienza” of Rome, Italy. At the onset of his career, Mr. Venturini served as Financial Controller for Elsag Bailey Process Automation, a Finmeccanica group company. He joined the Enel Group in 1997 and from May 2014 he took on the role of Chief Executive Officer of Enel Green Power, a company of the Enel Group devoted to the development of renewables, with an obsession: to make the world a better place through energy. Not only through renewable energy but also through the power of ideas. During his talk he will discuss how Enel is approaching the theme of electrification in those countries that do not have access to energy and the initiatives that they are putting in place to have an impact in this field.

Luca Alessandrini

Engineer of innovating design

Luca Alessandrini is a design engineer, artist and entrepreneur. He was born in Urbino and his education ranges from mechanics, science of communication to industrial design. In 2010 he completed the Industrial Design course at the Accademia Italiana in Florence and in 2016 he graduated cum laude from the master in Innovation Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College of London. Following his master in the UK, he registered two patents concerning a new technology that allows to create an “acoustic customization” using the properties of innovative materials. Thanks to this technology he created two violins and a bass amp made out of silk, spider silk and carbon fiber, that were greatly appreciated by some world-renowned musicians and drew the attention of media from all over the world. With his startup Fibreacustics, Luca is now working on new prototypes: a guitar, hi-fi speakers and headphones.

Luca Longo

Assistant professor (right & left brain thinker)

Luca Longo is currently assistant professor at the Dublin Institute of Technology, where he is a member of the Applied Intelligence Research Centre. He is also associated to the ADAPT Center (Global Center of Excellence for Digital Content and Media Innovation) and the Innovative Human Systems at Trinity College Dublin. His core research interest is in Artificial Intelligence, particularly in Mental Workload modelling using deductive inference techniques (Defeasible Reasoning) and inductive modelling techniques (Machine Learning). Luca owns a BSc, a MSc in Computer Science, a PgDip in statistics, a MSc in Health Informatics, a PhD in Artificial Intelligence a PgDip in Learning/Teaching. He is author of 30+ academic articles appeared in conference proceedings, book chapters and journals in various theoretical and applied Computer Science fields.

Marta Antonelli

Researcher

She lives for research, mentorship and to create awareness on water management, virtual water, land grabbing and sustainability of the food system. She is a co-curator of the book “The water we eat” (Ed. Ambiente), which explains the indissoluble link between water and food. With a master in development economics – School of Oriental and African Studies – and a PhD in geography – King’s College London – in these years she has been collaborating with Tony Allan (water guru) and with the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, IUAV University of Venice, Rome Tre University, City University London, CMCC, BCFN Foundation. Originally from Rome, Marta lives in Zurich with her husband Luca, dreaming of a farm that will be a hub for co-production, exchange and discovery of food sustainability.

Matteo Ward

Purpose investor

Matteo Ward is one of the co-founders of WRÅD, a project focused on bringing a radical change in the fashion industry. To define this as a brand, would be putting boundaries to Matteo’s mission: Wrad, in fact, is not a brand, it’s a call to action. Matteo began to reconsider his position in the fashion industry after realizing its negative global impact: fashion is the second most polluting industry in the world. In 2015 he decided to quit his job at Abercrombie & Fitch, driven by purpose and wanting to be an active part of a change. WRÅD soon grew as a collaboration of people ready to revolutionize the world of fashion, by stepping up in the name of positive change. In a matter of months, institutional partners, supporters, investors, contributors joined the movement. WRÅD’s destination? To catalyse the rise of livable fashion. Fashion that emphasises the life of the natural and human resources behind it in order to guarantee a future for the generations to come. A lifestyle for th

Salvatore Aranzulla

Blogger and founder of Aranzulla.it

Salvatore Aranzulla spreads the word on IT concepts and is the founder of Aranzulla.it (https://www.aranzulla.it). Aranzulla.it is the most visited website in Italy in the “Computer and Consumer Electronics News” section, with a 39% market share. Every day, almost 500.000 people visit Aranzulla.it to find a solution to their IT related issues, by reading one of his 7.000 step by step tutorials. Aranzulla.it was concieved in 2002 as a blog. In the following years, there was such a growth of followers that Salvatore Aranzulla, founder and owner of the blog, became a celebrity in the IT field. As an IT guru, Salvatore is a guest of several radio broadcasts and TV programs (including Rai Radio 1, Radio 2 and La7), speaks at conferences and gives lectures at different universities (including Università Bocconi, Parma and Pavia).

Sergio Imparato

Foreign policy professor

Sergio Imparato teaches American foreign policy and political philosophy at Harvard University, in the US. He earned his PhD in political science from the Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane of Florence and earned his philosophy degree at the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele of Milan. In the past he was a Visiting Scholar at Cambridge University in England and an assistant stagiaire for the European Parliament.