Italian Cultural Institutions Across and Beyond Covid-19: Designing Digital Cultural Experiences in Extra-Ordinary Times

Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transformation of cultural institutions. They have tackled the temporary shutdowns of their spaces shaping digital cultural experiences, to go beyond their ‘walls’ and enter their audiences’ homes with the aim of fostering existing relationships or creating new ones. Focusing on Italy, this research poses the question: how has the pandemic changed the design of cultural experiences? The five case studies track the evolution of cultural experiences during the health emergency. The assumption is that the pandemic has shaped the supply side as much as the demand, generating possibilities and scenarios for cultural experiences that could coexist with traditional modes. The cases are selected and interpreted based on a survey conducted from July 2020 to January 2021. The results suggest that online and onsite cultural experiences are converging, with important implications for accessibility and inclusion

Extracellular vesicles mediate the communication between multiple myeloma and bone marrow microenvironment in a NOTCH dependent way

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable hematologic neoplasm, whose poor prognosis is deeply affected by the propensity of tumor cells to localize in the bone marrow (BM) and induce the protumorigenic activity of normal BM cells, leading to events associated with tumor progression, including tumor angiogenesis, osteoclastogenesis, and the spread of osteolytic bone lesions. The interplay between MM cells and the BM niche does not only rely on direct cell-cell interaction, but a crucial role is also played by MM-derived extracellular vesicles (MM-EV). Here, we demonstrated that the oncogenic NOTCH receptors are part of MM-EV cargo and play a key role in EV protumorigenic ability. We used in vitro and in vivo models to investigate the role of EV-derived NOTCH2 in stimulating the protumorigenic behavior of endothelial cells and osteoclast progenitors. Importantly, MM-EV can transfer NOTCH2 between distant cells and increase NOTCH signaling in target cells. MM-EV stimulation increases endothelial cell angiogenic ability and osteoclast differentiation in a NOTCH2-dependent way. Indeed, interfering with NOTCH2 expression in MM cells may decrease the amount of NOTCH2 also in MM-EV and affect their angiogenic and osteoclastogenic potential. Finally, we demonstrated that the pharmacologic blockade of NOTCH activation by γ-secretase inhibitors may hamper the biological effect of EV derived by MM cell lines and by the BM of MM patients. These results provide the first evidence that targeting the NOTCH pathway may be a valid therapeutic strategy to hamper the protumorigenic role of EV in MM as well as other tumors

DOSTOPNOST KOT NEPREJUDICIRANI PRISTOP: ALI SE KULTURA VRAČA V NORMALNO STANJE?

This research explores the general and actual accessibility to cultural spaces and organizations, focusing on the network of relationships between contents, innovation, and participation. It investigates how Culture can be perceived as a normal experience, actually able to set a rich dialogue with each of us, normal ordinary people/consumers. Normality means inclusion and sharing. The proposed investigation is based on a triad of interactions among culture, economics, and design. Assuming that Culture generates its value from a cognitive approach, or from a dynamic and context-dependent value chain that is subject to a cognitive evolution, this research acknowledges that the cultural experience is subject to a double issue of access: - The horizontal question is related to complications associated with the structure. Believing that ‘culture is special’ implies the risk of progressively widening the gap between cultural supply and society. Culture is ‘locked’ in specific sites and a big slice of the world’s adult population has yet to be involved in any cultural experience. - Once physically inside the cultural structure, the vertical issue is generated by the difficulty in entering in contact with the offered contents. This research focuses only on museums and multimedia exhibitions in which the learning process has changed: the research presents itself as a conversation where both ‘those who know’ and ‘those who learn’ play equally active parts in a relative process of understanding. Starting from the existing processes, forms, previous studies and case studies, the survey yearns for their systematization in innovative models. The process, from theory to practice and vice versa, goes beyond a traditional mechanism of deduction: it moves from specific contexts to the abstraction of replicable approaches. The question of how the narration emerges guides you toward a new method of analysis, study, and cataloguinga schematization capable of investigating not only knowledge, but also the visitor\u27s ‘cognitive metabolism’ (how knowledge is acquired) during the multimedia experiencean innovative multipurpose tool, useful for both the museum institution and the designer. The research finally assesses and takes into account an actual experiment, the outcomes of which may prove to be useful in feeding theoretical implications with empirical experiences: RovelloDue - Piccolo Spazio Politecnico, a temporary multimedia space.Ta raziskava raziskuje splošno in dejansko dostopnost kulturnih prostorov in organizacij, s poudarkom na mreži odnosov med vsebino, inovacijami in udeležbo. Raziskuje, kako je mogoče kulturo zaznati kot normalno doživetje, ki lahko dejansko omogoča bogat dialog z vsakim od nas, običajnimi navadnimi ljudmi/potrošniki. Normalnost pomeni vključitev in delitev. Predlagana raziskava temelji na triadi interakcij med kulturo, ekonomijo in oblikovanjem. Ob predpostavki, da kultura ustvarja svojo vrednoto s kognitivnim pristopom ali iz dinamične in kontekstno odvisne verige vrednot, ki je predmet kognitivnega razvoja, ta raziskava potrjuje, da je kulturna izkušnja podvržena dvojnemu vprašanju dostopa: - Horizontalno vprašanje je povezano s komplikacijami, povezanimi s strukturo. V prepričanju, da je "kultura posebna", se razkorak med kulturno ponudbo in družbo postopoma povečava. Kultura je "zaklenjena" na določenih lokacijah, velik del svetovnega odraslega prebivalstva pa še ni vpleten v kakršne koli kulturne izkušnje. - Vertikalno vprašanje nastane, fizično znotraj kulturne strukture, zaradi težav pri vstopu v stik z ponujeno vsebino. Ta raziskava se osredotoča le na muzeje in multimedijske razstave, v katerih se je učni proces spremenil: raziskava se predstavlja kot pogovor, kjer tako "tisti, ki vedo" kot "tisti, ki se učijo" igrajo enako aktivne vloge v relativnem procesu razumevanja. - Na podlagi obstoječih procesov, oblik, predhodnjih študijah in študijskih primerov in sistematizaciji le teh, je cilj raziskave oblikovanje inovativnoih modelov. Proces, od teorije do prakse in obratno, presega tradicionalni mehanizem dedukcije: prehaja iz posebnih kontekstov v abstrakcijo ponavljajočih se pristopov. Vprašanje, kako naracija nastaja, nas vodi v novo metodo analize, študije in katalogizacijeshematizacija, ki lahko preizkuša ne le znanje, ampak tudi obiskovalčev "kognitivni metabolizem" (kako se pridobiva znanje) med multimedijskimi izkušnjamiinovativno večnamensko orodje, uporabno tako za muzejsko institucijokot za oblikovalca. Poleg tega raziskava ocenjuje in upošteva dejanski eksperiment, katerega rezultati so koristni za krepitev teoretičnih posledicpreko empiričnih izkušenj: RovelloDue - Piccolo Spazio Politecnico, začasni multimedijski prostor

DIGITAL CULTURE AND SOCIETY Filters and recommended doses CULTURA E SOCIETÀ DIGITALE Filtri e dosi raccomandate

Il libro scardina alcune convinzioni diffuse sul significato di cultura e sul suo consumo. Supera gli assolutismi, a favore o contro l’introduzione del digitale nei musei, e invita a modulare la dimensione tecnologica con prontezza e lucidità.This book challenges some widespread beliefs about the meaning of culture and how it is consumed. It dispels wholeheartedly approaches, for or against the introduction of digital devices in museums, and invites us to judiciously use/modulate/ the technology dimension

Drawings to Be Read / Disegni da leggere

When he was almost twenty years old, Saul Steinberg moved to Milan to study architecture at the Politecnico: his Italian years (1933-1941) laid the foundations of his future vision, acting as the starting point, albeit an early one, of his unique ability to chart unexplored territories and to rely on humor to “conceal” the seriousness of certain topics, which he combined with an extraordinary graphic talent. The Steinberg collection at the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense in Milan, recently gifted by The Saul Steinberg Foundation, pays homage to Steinberg’s eight Milanese years and casts new light on an artist whose many-leveled output (from magazines to murals to stage sets) makes it difficult to situate him within the established canons of art history. Starting from the works now in the Brera collection, this books develops a narrative journey where the artist speaks for himself, through the texts of the conversations with his friend Aldo Buzzi—some of them published here for the first time. Steinberg’s life and work are seen up close, showing how his own history traversed his work to create a great autobiography

DI-DA. non solo una didascalia / not just a caption

Troppo lunghe, troppo brevi, enigmatiche,non esaustive o eccessive, poco visibili, non comprensibili... a tutti noi è capitato di lamentarci delle didascalie. Perché? Forse perché il museo non è riuscito a stare al passo? Conosce i bisogni del suo pubblico? In un mondo di didascalie, come può la didascalia museale lasciare il segno? Quando interviene e a chi parla? Come parla e in quale veste? E poi, esistono regole nel crearla? Un lungo susseguirsi di domande ci invita a indagare questo dispositivo comunicativo, solo apparentemente un dettaglio, tanto dibattuto quanto determinante, sia in fase di realizzazione sia durante l’esperienza di visita. A seguito di un’approfondita ricognizione dello stato dell’arte, grazie all’espediente dell’intervista si intende aprire l’argomentazione a visioni, approcci ed esperienze che offrano una pluralità di sguardi e voci

Museum, Human Archive, and Technologies: Digital Serving Oral Culture

In a museum, digital technology can strongly influence the perceived experience, the content creation and transmission, and the environment or visitor actions. However, we wonder whether it is always appropriate to introduce it and how, as well as wondering when technologies are actually able to contribute to the extraction of cultural value. This article, aware that the digital dimension should not compensate for the lack of content but rather help in conveying it, highlights the key role of technology in the staging, storage, and transmission of intangible heritage with a particular focus on the culture of orality. Far from the abstractionism of pure theoretical reflection, a concrete example is here examined, highlighting the backstories of the design. “Made with Care” is the multimedia exhibition organized in the new Kohelr museum in Reggio Emilia to keep the immense human heritage of the company alive, usable, and enduring. A direct experience in the design and production of this multimedia exhibit enables us to deal with the main topic in a systematic and concrete way, testing in the real dimension the sharp intuitions of theory

Museo e Design alimentano processi di comprensione. Si incontrano e favoriscono l’incontro

Negli ultimi anni, il Museo ha cambiato la sua funzione per la città e di conseguenza le sue modalità̀ di produzione di valore. Non si limita più̀ alla conservazione degli oggetti. Cerca di condividerli ed interpretarli continuamente. È diventato dispositivo di attrazione, alimenta processi di comprensione; il luogo dell'incontro e delle relazioni tra il visitatore e la collezione e tra il visitatore e gli altri visitatori. Tale evoluzione investe inevitabilmente altre pratiche disciplinari connesse al museo stesso. Il design è diventato un attore fondamentale, per la progettazione dell'esperienza del visitatore all'interno (ed esterno) del museo su diversi livelli, di cui quello delle esposizioni e percorso di visita è un esempio. Il presente lavoro intende proporre un’interpretazione delle pratiche emergenti in cui il consumo culturale museale può essere concepito come una molteplicità di incontri e narrazioni. L’argomentazione procede secondo l’individuazione di due aree in cui l’attività interdisciplinare di design e museo, cooperanti con rinnovata sinergia, ruota attorno al valore e all’ unicità della persona. Nell'ottica della conversazione, il design organizza il percorso di visita, sia temporaneo che permanente, in installazioni (momenti di contatto tra visitatore e contenuto o tra visitatore ed esperienza) puntuali, generando una narrazione che, seppur nella medesima storia, può apparire del tutto personale e costituirsi diversamente di volta in volta. Internamente al museo, il consumo culturale instaura dinamiche di scelta e di espressione di preferenza da parte del visitatore. Esternamente, cioè fuori dal museo stesso, che si fa dispositivo poroso nei confronti della città, il contenuto esce dai suoi limiti perimetrali e fisici e incontra non più esclusivamente il visitatore ma il passante, con dinamiche incidentali e informali. In entrambi i casi una fruttuosa e curiosa relazione bilaterale si genera