From Page to Plate: Sketching Food Resilience: Cibo di Domani opens on January 31, 2025, at the cultural laboratory Industrie Fluviali. The art of illustration, food studies, and journalism intersect to explore the concept of resilience in contemporary food systems. Sixty digital illustrations by twenty-eight artists from the food insert of the newspaper Domani are presented in an exhibition path divided into six thematic areas, which develop the public debate on food: stability, nutrition, governance, biodiversity, social equity, and food cultures. The project is the result of a collaboration between the Arts Department of The American University of Rome (AUR), with the support of its Center for Food Studies, and the newspaper Domani..
The exhibition offers a perspective on the effectiveness of illustration as an art form in addressing the concept of resilience in food systems, analyzing how individuals and communities adapt and regenerate in response to large-scale phenomena such as climate change and socio-economic instability. Visitors are invited to reflect on food as a social, cultural, and political practice.
The event series is programmed as follows:
INAUGURATION
January 31 (Friday), Industrie Fluviali (Via del Porto Fluviale, 35, Rome - https://maps.app.goo.gl/imagQwXVUdPobArEA)
- 18:30 – Presentation of the Exhibition
Carlotta Vacchelli, Michela Rossi Sonno: Overview of the exhibition
Sonia Ricci (Gambero Rosso), Maria Tornielli (Domani), Lisa Di Giuseppe (Domani): Overview of food and journalism
Maria Grazia Quieti (The American University of Rome), Paul Gwynne (The American University of Rome): Overview of Food Studies and Food in Art History
- 20:00 – Guided Tour (Italian & English)
Led by the curators team: Jaxon Cooper, Carlotta Vacchelli, Michela Rossi Sonno
- 21:00 – DJ Set by Grosso Bernardo
Comics & Food
February 7 (Friday), Industrie Fluviali (Via del Porto Fluviale, 35, Rome)
- 15:00 – 16:30 – Comics & Science: "Il cibo è in crisi?"
With Comics & Science, researchers in Food Studies from CNR and AUR, and journalists from Domani
With live drawing performance by cartoonist Gabriele Peddes - 16:30 – 17:00 – Coffee Break
- 17:00 – 18:00 – Guided Tour (Italian & English)
Led by the curator team: Jaxon Cooper, Carlotta Vacchelli, Michela Rossi Sonno
- 18:00 – 19:00 – Food in the Graphic Novel
Alessio Trabacchini (NABA, Coconino)
Giuseppina Frassino (Tricromia)
Manfredi Ciminale (Comics artist and Illustrator for Cibo, Domani)
Luca Raffaelli (PAFF! Palazzo del Fumetto Pordenone)
Conference: Picture the Future
February 28 (Friday) - Auditorium, The American University of Rome (Via Pietro Roselli 4, Rome)
- 10:30 – 10:45 – Coffee
- 10:45 – 11:00 – Presentation of the Project
Carlotta Vacchelli, Michela Rossi Sonno, Jaxon Cooper
- 11:00 – 12:00 – Roundtable: Food in Literature, Comics, and Illustration
Francesco Verso (Novelist and Scriptwriter)
Ginevra Lamberti (Writer, Contributor to Cibo Domani)
Laura Angelucci (Comics artist and Illustrator for Cibo Domani)
The Sando (Comics artist, Teacher at NABA, and Illustrator for Cibo Domani)
Moderated by Carlotta Vacchelli
- 12:00 – 12:45 – Keynote: Food Studies in Contemporary Art
Ginevra Ludovici (Scuola IMT Alti Studi Lucca) & Valerio Del Baglivo, Introduction by Carlotta Vacchelli
- 12:45 – 14:00 – Lunch Break
- 14:00 – 14:30 – Keynote: Food in Art History
Professor Paul Gwynne (The American University of Rome) with an introduction by Jaxon Cooper
- 14:30 – 15:00 – Food in Contemporary Illustration Art
Fabio Barilari with an introduction by Jaxon Cooper
- 15:00 – 15:30 – Coffee Break
- 15:30 – 16:30 – Roundtable on Food and Journalism
Featuring editors and directors from Domani, moderated by Michela Rossi Sonno and Carlotta Vacchelli
Finissage
- 18:30 - Closing exhibition tour by the curator team: Carlotta Vacchelli, Michela Rossi Sonno, Jaxon Cooper
- 20:00 - Food Inspired DJ Set by Tehrsa