The Art of Invisible

What do inflatable crocodiles, opera staged in Erasmus house and opening a bar in theatre have in common? The guest of this episode – Francesca Sabatini – the PhD candidate in Cultural Economics. The first two lines confuse you? Then tune in and relax while listening to a very interesting experiment from the world of Italian opera that we have discussed or what are the problems possibly arising when we concentrate all cultural venues in the city centre. Last but not least, if you get to the second half of this interview, you will also hear us talking about how opera and classical music can become much more familiar to each of us (even if it´s not your cup of tea). Ready? Steady… PLAY!

So intensively present in our everyday lives, yet not a single episode dedicated to this topic – literature! Let’s reverse this situation by asking Peter Robertson – writer and literary translator – about the stereotypes and romanticised images we keep in our minds about the world of books and authors. What is literature to him? What gives a critic the right to criticise or the editor to correct the writer? Join us in this episode and apart from answers to these questions, you will also find out more about Peter’s cultural review called InterLitQ (link below). By the way, if your favourite book is translated from an original version, have you ever thought about the person who did that? Did he translate word by word or rather captured the nuances of those words? OK, enough questions, let’s now dive in! http://interlitq.org

What did the pandemic bring us apart from uncertainty, challenges and changes? Business Strategy professor at The University of Bologna – Cristina Boari – will make us re-evaluate the current crisis not only as a disaster, but rather as an opportunity for change, adaptation and creating new partnerships. Why are cultural organisations able to benefit from collaborations and how to ensure we have chosen the right partner? How did Covid-19 speeded up the transition of cultural institutions to online presence & communication? Apart from these topics, we will also touch on digitalization, entrepreneurship and networks. Tune in and enjoy this interview with a lot of first-hand examples!

Once upon a time, there was a fashion designer based in Jerusalem, taking the Art of The Invisible’s listeners into the magical world of fashion. \r\nWhether it’s magic or rather a variety of skills and years of experience that makes you a well-rounded professional in this field, will be discussed with Natalie Tahhan. This inspiring young woman will tell us if running a business collides with her creativity as a designer, but also how understanding the meaning of local cultural heritage helps her create such beautiful collections (natalietahhan.com). Lastly, we will also discuss the topic of unconventional models and if you are hungry for more, we added a few bonus points on the IGTV videos at the accounts below:\r\n\r\n@the_art_of_the_invisible\r\n@zuzana.morvayova

Urbanism. What hides behind this word? Sandra Štasselová from the Metropolitan Institute Bratislava (Slovakia) will takes us on a journey into places we know very well, yet can be seen from different perspectives – urban spaces. How life in city gets influenced by architects, sociologists, environmentalists, public bodies and others? Did pandemic crisis change our perception on public spaces in towns? Sandra does not only provide eye-opening answers to these questions but also ‘walks the talk’ by working on her own project of mobile community gardens. To find out how it works, hit the play button and let’s get started!

Welcome to Hollywood! The place where American dreams come true and you become filthy rich. Ehm, do you?! Isn’t just the idea that the films produced there create in our minds? Let’s look at it from a perspective of Jonathan Baker, an independent film maker and founder of JB Productions, Inc. based in LA. Apart from revealing his winding road to the career of a producer, Jonathan will take us also through the whole process of making a movie, what are the various budget ranges and genres available. By the way, do you know what is the difference between producer and director or why is movie industry so powerful nowadays? Tune in and you will find out! Ou, and don’t forget to check JB Productions’ newest movie – Sylvie’s Love (available on Amazon) – totally recommended! To get in touch with Jonathan and find out more, click the website or Instagram account --> jbprodinc.com @jbstudiola

Let’s cross the border between the old and the new year with an episode about something timeless – classical music & opera. As a person working in the Artistic Administration Office in the Vienna Philharmonic, Stefanie Kucsko is the perfect person to discuss “behind the scenes” of this art. Which bits from our conversation can I already reveal before you listen to it? The way to her current job was definitely interesting, just as are her day-to-day tasks, and she also shared her opinion on who is in the best position to arouse interest of young people in classical music. As a little bonus, she gave us valuable advice on how to start with opera & classical music if you are new to it, so don’t hesitate and hit the play button. Lastly, dear listeners of The Art of the Invisible, let me only wish you pleasant listening and happy New Year!

Do you sometimes feel like you know everything about certain thing or place but then you realise it’s the exact opposite? Well, that was my situation a few days ago while doing an interview with an orchestra librarian (gosh, I did not even know that kind of a job exists!). Talking with Alastair Simpson who is working at Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in the UK was exactly the turning point. It was trully fascinating to find out what are his tasks within the 127 years-old institution, what kind of education is required to work with sheet music as he does and much more! Join us in this episode and don’t forget to check out the new concert season of BSO on http://bsolive.com/ which you can join online. Now, let’s get started! PS: reference to the final part of the interview https://www.instagram.com/juliet.braidwood/

Working in fast-changing luxury & fashion industry, Vincent Doré has to always keep up the pace and come up with new creative ideas. This episode will reveal the backstage of a window designer's job. How does he cope with criticism? Subjectivity? Demanding environment? Let's dive into this interview for some really good approaches towards creative work. Ready?

Welcome to the world of fantasy, music, dance and theatre. Leonardo Palacios will share his experiences as a Musical Director of MISI – musical theatre company in Colombia. How such high-level shows as Beauty and the Beast, Oliver or The Sound of Music get created? Is the situation of musical production different in Mexico or Argentina? Last but not least, the whole interview is also a tribute to the amazingly inspirational woman behind all of this - María Isabel Murillo, familiarly called Misi. If you are ready to get blasted by positive energy of Leo and the powerful message of Misi, hit play and enjoy!

You think a podcast focusing on art & culture management has nothing to do with smoked salmon? After listening to this episode, you might be surprised. Iacopo Fincato from Smokin' Brothers, company producing smoked salmon, will reveal how design thinking can be applied to any sphere, what is the power of story telling and how they managed to shift the perception of something old-fashioned to something very cool. Our little experiment to use all of this on an example of classical music proved as inspirational and encouraging. Ready for this adventure? Enjoy! For more inspiration, checkout smokin-brothers.com

The aim of this interview was clear: find out more about the job of Pia Ottes. As a gallery manager at one of the Victoria Miro galleries in Venice, I was curious about all her tasks, how the artist residencies work and what is the relationship between an artist and a commercial gallery. But later, we got to very interesting discussion about what makes us – the ordinary visitors of galleries – comfortable or afraid to step into a place like gallery. Would you consider an art piece more valuable if you knew the background story? Let’s find it out!

Have you also fallen for the magic of silent movies? Even those with scratches and funny, fast-moving figures? This passion for old movies is being shared also by today's guest, Clément Lafite, who is the film archivist at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. We will discuss how the film restoration looks like, how cinematheques vary across France and Italy, and lastly to what extend digitalisation influenced this industry. Ou, and I almost forgot - we will also have a quick guide on different film formats. Do you like this movie night programme? Let's get started then!

“Pablo Picasso in the room at 65 million, gentleman’s bid at 67 million dollars… Would anybody give me 68? Selling in here for 67! And it’s yours, sir!” Yes, you are guessing right, apart from the sound of hammer hitting the auctioneer’s table, this is how it sounds in an auction house. At one of these, Christie’s, works our guest of today’s episode – Martina Negro. As an Executive Assistant in the Impressionist and Modern Art Department, she will share with us how art markets work, what is the role of art fair and galleries and if you are an emerging artist, stay tuned in because we will also uncover ways to break through.

Here we go with another imaginary trip, this time to Casablanca, Paris and Barcelona, to discover how art and culture play important role in urban development. Whether it’s just a matter of branding or sincere citizens-centred approach will be discussed with today’s guest – Ludovica Michelin. As she is the Project Manager for EU projects, we will talk also on how to build trust with your partners and how exciting the transcdisciplinary projects combining art, science and technology are. Tap the play button and enjoy!

"World of imagination and fantasy" - that could be a cool name for this episode on visual effects and its use in movie industry and advertising. Matteo Antona, freelance 3D artist working in London on projects like The Crown, will share with us his experiences with computer graphics, how every detail of a scene gets created or if too many effects can negatively influence the quality of a plot. Join us to uncover the secrets of a job which is done in the best way, if (paradoxically) you cannot even notice it.

Come with me and Cesare Fiala to London (at least virtually) to see how the power of artificial intelligence can be harnessed for the benefit of arts and cultural institutions. His personal journey together with Culture Hint, a company he co-founded, takes us also into the topic of differences between the British and Italian public sector using the figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte or Margaret Thatcher. Last but not least, let’s reflect on the current situation of COVID 19 and its impacts on culture. Is there a way out?

What do words like gold, robots and pope have in common? Well, these are only a few of the fascinating elements and treasures of the Bologna University library and historical archive. Giacomo Nerozzi, the Project manager of development and promotion of the University Library of Bologna will take you behind the scenes to discover more about why does a library digitise books, how robots help with storage, who is the real owner of more than 400 000 books inside the library and what will the future of classical books look like in the digital era. Ready, steady, listen! ____________________ https://bub.unibo.it/it

Audience is crucial for your success but how to transform it to a loyal community? Financial resources can help your cultural institution grow but are you willing to give up for them the freedom? Stay tuned and we will travel to Rossini Opera festival, Venice and Athens to find out how today's guest - Gaia Bernabè - looks at the trade-off between morality and public funding in these cases.

What makes culture and arts conditions in Bologna so generous and is it possible to survive without such support? The answer can be found in today's episode with Guido Manfrini, explaining what kind of organization is Mercato Sonato and how does its structure look like. If you are curious about how can big opera houses get inspired in terms of innovation and what is the financial reality of people working in arts & culture sphere, let's get started! __________________ mercatosonato.com