There are cities that have stopped making promises and started taking action. Fifteen medium-sized and large cities — from Aarhus to Warsaw, from Barcelona to Stavanger — demonstrate that effective, prudent and inclusive urban management is not a utopia, but a verifiable reality. This book explains how these cities operate without rhetoric or propaganda, drawing on verifiable data, operational projects and concrete examples. Written without sector-specific jargon, the book is accessible to both professionals and interested members of the public, offering examples that are geographically, climatically and administratively close to home. These are neither utopian ideals nor visionary projects. They are initiatives already in operation, often at modest cost, and replicable in similar contexts. The book does not celebrate wealthy cities, but those that have set clear priorities and pursued them consistently. It is a useful, well-researched, narrative-driven and European book. It speaks to those who govern, those who plan, those who teach and those who live there.

Pino Bruno is a journalist and writer. He has worked as an editor at ANSA, a war correspondent for RAI in Iraq, Somalia and the Balkans, and deputy editor-in-chief at TGR; for Rai Tre, he conceived and edited the programmes ‘Levante’ and ‘Est-Ovest’. He specialises in technological innovation, the digital society and urban models. He divides his time between Bari and Copenhagen, where he explores issues relating to urban functioning and the quality of public infrastructure. His publications include Le parole della Rete (Mondadori Informatica, 2001), Il cittadino digitale (Mondadori Informatica, 2002), Mouse? No grazie (with Marco De Salvo, Mondadori Informatica, 2004) and Dolce Stil Web (Sperling & Kupfer, 2009).

Motus <> Botto&Bruno

Following the format of the first issue of Echos, which presented a comparison between two artists – Romeo Castellucci and Alfredo Jaar – and between theatre and contemporary art, this third issue brings together Motus and Botto&Bruno. Both are couples in their professional and personal lives: on the one hand, Daniela Nicolò and Enrico Casagrande, founders of Motus, one of the most important and committed companies in Italian and international experimental theatre; on the other, Roberta Bruno and Gianfranco Botto, an admired artistic duo with an extraordinary career.

Many common threads can be identified in their respective careers: their studies at the Academy, their early careers, performances and exhibitions drawing on similar sources of inspiration, the Venice Biennale, and their appearances across half the world. But equally striking are their shared focus on the stories of urban peripheries, their exploration of myth, and their references to Pasolini. In terms of artistic language, one must not overlook both artists’ use of collage, photography and video. Naturally, the reader may look for certain differences between them – differences that serve to complete a fascinating identity.

Motus was founded in 1991 as a nomadic, independent company, constantly moving between countries, historical periods and artistic disciplines. Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Nicolò, driven by the need to engage with contemporary issues, conflicts and wounds, blend art and social commitment on stage.

Gianfranco Botto (1963) and Roberta Bruno (1966), known professionally as Botto & Bruno, live and work in Turin. From the very beginning of their collaboration, the artistic duo has primarily used the camera as a means of investigation, deconstructing photography through the use of collage, overprinting and drawing. Having both been born and raised in suburban neighbourhoods, they have treated marginality as a cultural theme in their search for new forms of vitality and poetry.

The book Arte contemporanea: Scusi, non capisco ('Contemporary Art: Sorry, I Don't Understand') originates from a famous format of the Merz Foundation in Turin, a series of events during which the public was led to listen to and interact with exceptional guests from different artistic fields. The project, based on an idea by Maria Centonze, aimed to meet the general public's need for a better understanding of the languages and thinking behind contemporary works of art.
Each one of us, if stripped of the many prejudices that hinder openness to any world other than our own, can and must try to understand, even in the way of art.
Costantino D'Orazio, art curator, museum director and cultural popularizer, takes readers on a journey through the ‘Scusi, non capisco’ - among others - of Serena Dandini, Andrea Zalone, Lucia Goracci, Ascanio Celestini and Maria Grazia Cucinotta.

Costantino D'Orazio (Rome, 1974), art historian, is the director of the National Museums of Perugia and the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Umbria. He worked at the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali as resident curator at the MACRO in Rome from 2014 to 2018; from 2008 to 2012 he was curator of contemporary art exhibitions at the National Museum of Villa Pisani in Stra. Recently, he curated the initiative 5 minutes with Van Gogh, the exhibition Artemisia Gentileschi. Coraggio e Passione at Palazzo Ducale in Genoa and Amarsi. Love in Art from Guido Reni to Banksy at the Fondazione Cassa di Rispamio di Terni. Since 2014, he has hosted the column AR Frammenti d'Arte on Rainews24 and is the art expert for Unomattina in famiglia and Linea Verde on Rai1, Geo and TG3 Linea Notte on Rai3. He is the author and host of the programmes Wikiradio and Vite che sono la tua on Radio3, as well as collaborating with the programme Radio3 Suite. From 2014 to 2019 he hosted the cultural popularisation programme Bella davvero and in 2021 the programme Due cose on Radio2. His latest publication as an author is Art Detectives. 30 cases to become real experts (Piemme, 2024).