Biographies

Manuel Cicchetti (1969-2026)

Manuel Cicchetti built his artistic career in the 1990s, across music, theatre and the visual arts. He created album covers for BMG, EMI and CNI, and worked as a production photographer for major theatres and music companies, including the Teatro Regio in Turin, I Pomeriggi Musicali and Compagnia dell’Opera Buffa.

In 1999, he directed his first theatrical production for Cantieri Internazionali d’Arte di Montepulciano: Philippe Petit’s On the High Wire, also designing the set. In 2001, in Milan, he staged Orfeo a fumetti as part of the Suoni e Visioni festival, inspired by texts and illustrations by Dino Buzzati, with music by Filippo Del Corno. Around the same time, he founded Officium, a company specialised in the production of cultural events, collaborating on projects such as Milan’s Festa della Musica, Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD and the opening ceremony of the Sestriere Ski World Championships.

Between 2000 and 2015, he worked for renowned international companies such as J. Walter Thompson, Fullsix, Reply, Weber Shandwick, Hill+Knowlton and Young & Rubicam, covering roles that spanned from creative consultant to artistic director.

In 2016, profound personal changes led him to shift his focus and dedicate himself entirely to photography, pursuing the study of landscapes and places as holders of memory, transformation and contemporary cultural identity.

His gaze engaged with reality in all its complexity, working in black and white, colour and medium format film.

Over his career, he published four photography books: Monocrome (2018, Touring Club Italiano) — a homage to the contemplative silence of the Dolomites; Vaia. Viaggio consapevole dentro un disastro (2020, The Music Company) — an account of the destruction left behind by Storm Vaia; Tempo Intermedio (2022, Postcart) — an exploration of contemporary Italy and its suspended landscapes; and Dolomiti. Un paesaggio tutelato (2025, Marsilio Arte), created with writer Antonio G. Bortoluzzi.

Cicchetti’s work has been exhibited at several major Italian institutions, including the Milan Natural History Museum, Palazzo Ducale in Genoa, the Museo Rimoldi in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Palazzo Bembo in Belluno, Le Stanze della Fotografia in Venice, and as part of the Bergamo Brescia Italian Capital of Culture 2024 events.

In 2024, he returned to directing with Forest, an interdisciplinary show that blended photography, music, dance and theatre to create an immersive exploration of the relationship between humanity and nature.

The show featured Susanna Beltrami (DanceHaus), Giuliano Vozella, Angelo Miotto and Salvatore Lazzaro.

2024 also marked the beginning of his collaboration with BenEssere and Famiglia Cristiana, magazines for which he produced editorial portraits and photography projects.

His work is now at the centre of an extensive travelling exhibition across Italy and Europe.

In June 2026, the European Parliament in Brussels hosted his last exhibition, part of his Continental Notebooks project, created with journalist Angelo Miotto in collaboration with Corriere della Sera and Marsilio Arte. The work was the result of a journey of over 50,000 kilometres across Europe aimed at developing a new European atlas through photography and testimonies — a portrait of the peoples, landscapes and identities that continue to unite the continent despite its borders and current fractures.

Exhibitions

Monocrome. Camminando tra le Dolomiti d’Ampezzo, Museo Arte Moderna Mario Rimoldi, Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2019
Monocrome. Camminando tra le Dolomiti d’Ampezzo, Museo Paleontologico Rinaldo Zardini, Cortina D’Ampezzo, 2019
Monocrome. Camminando tra le Dolomiti d’Ampezzo, Palazzo Crepadona, Belluno, 2019
Vaia. Viaggio consapevole dentro un disastro, Museo di Storia Naturale, Milano, 2021
Vaia. Viaggio consapevole dentro un disastro, Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura, Genova, 2021
Vaia. Viaggio consapevole dentro un disastro, mostra diffusa, Palue, Sottoguda e Rocca Pietore (BL), 2021
Tempo Intermedio, Fondazione Archivio Lorenzo Ferrero, Torino, 2022
Tempo Intermedio, Collettivo TIFF, Piacenza, 2022
Tempo Intermedio, Galleria Hoepli, Milano, 2022
Tempo intermedio, Still Fotografia, Milano, 2023
Vaia – Tempo intermedio, Bergamo Brescia Capitale della Cultura, Bergamo, 2023
Dolomiti. Un paesaggio tutelato, mostra diffusa, Cortina d’Ampezzo, 2025
Dolomiti. Un paesaggio tutelato, Palazzo Bembo, Belluno, 2025
Dolomiti. Un paesaggio tutelato, Le Stanze della Fotografia, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venezia, 2025
Dolomiti. Un paesaggio tutelato, mostra diffusa, Longarone, Belluno, 2026

Publications

Monocrome. Camminando tra le Dolomiti d’Ampezzo, Touring Club Italiano, 2018
Vaia. Viaggio consapevole dentro un disastro, The Music Company, 2021
Tempo Intermedio, PostCart, 2022
Dolomiti. Un paesaggio tutelato, Marsilio Arte, 2025

www.manuelcicchetti.com

Angelo Miotto (1969)

A journalist since 1992, he has worked in radio, produced documentaries and podcasts, and written essays, theatrical scripts and operas.

He can be considered a pioneer in the production of internet documentaries. His work has gained recognition worldwide, winning the Baldoni, Bizzarri and Anello Debole awards. Over the years, he has collaborated with Radio Popolare, PeaceReporter, E il Mensile and various digital brands.

His writing has touched on multiple styles, exploring forms of journalism such as reportage and investigative writing, as well as dramaturgy for theatre and opera, essay writing and fiction.

In 1997, he began studying the Basque question, becoming one of the leading European experts on the subject.

In the same year, he founded Sentieri Selvaggi, a contemporary music ensemble, together with Filippo Del Corno and Carlo Boccadoro.

In 2007, he began working on documentaries — both for traditional broadcast and online platforms — which appeared at international events such as the IDFA in Amsterdam and Visa pour l’Image in Perpignan.
2012 marked the beginning of his collaboration with Yam112003 — part of the Endemol group — as a strategist and video author.
Between 2016 and 2018, he worked as a political communication consultant for Ideificio..

In 2019, he became the Head of Communications at Avanzi Spa, a sustainability consultancy.

With Manuel Cicchetti, he co-wrote “Vaia, viaggio consapevole dentro un disastro,” a book exploring the impact of climate change on Alpine forest ecosystems. He also wrote the dialogue for “Forest, the Green Code,” a multimedia play combining theatre, music and dancing inspired by Manuel Cicchetti’s photographic work in Vaia and Tempo Intermedio. He collaborates regularly with Radio Svizzera Italiana and with DIG festival as coordinator of the Podcast jury. He has taught audio storytelling on the Master’s programme in Journalism at Università Cattolica in Milan.

His latest essay, published by Altreconomia, is titled “Produci Consuma Crepa” (produce, consume, die) and explores possible alternatives to the lifestyle and exploitative economy we live in. With Intrecci Media, he has produced a podcast series on stumbling stones. In 2013, he founded Q Code Mag, of which he is co-director alongside Christian Elia.

Publications

Storie basche. Democrazia partecipata sotto processo in Euskal Herria, NDA, 2005
Itxaropena, e-book. Peacereporter, 2010
L’Italia chiamò, Verdenero, 2011
Il ritorno delle cose, Altreconomia, 2014
Milano siamo noi, Altreconomia, 2016
Vaia. Viaggio consapevole dentro un disastro, TMC, 2021
2001-2021. Genova per chi non c’era, Altreconomia, 2021
Produci Consuma Crepa, Altreconomia, 2023