All Things Sacred. An Experience in Diversity and Active Citizenship at a Contemporary Art Museum

Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems 631 Daniele Villa Franca Zuccoli Editors Proceedings of the 3rd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Image and Imagination IMG 2021 Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems 631 Series Editor Janusz Kacprzyk, Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland Advisory Editors Fernando Gomide, Department of Computer Engineering and Automation—DCA, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering—FEEC, University of Campinas—UNICAMP, São Paulo, Brazil Okyay Kaynak, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Türkiye Derong Liu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China Witold Pedrycz, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Alberta, Canada Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland Marios M. Polycarpou, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, KIOS Research Center for Intelligent Systems and Networks, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus Imre J. Rudas, Óbuda University, Budapest, Hungary Jun Wang, Department of Computer Science, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong The series “Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems” publishes the latest developments in Networks and Systems—quickly, informally and with high quality. Original research reported in proceedings and post-proceedings represents the core of LNNS. Volumes published in LNNS embrace all aspects and subfields of, as well as new challenges in, Networks and Systems. The series contains proceedings and edited volumes in systems and networks, spanning the areas of Cyber-Physical Systems, Autonomous Systems, Sensor Networks, Control Systems, Energy Systems, Automotive Systems, Biological Systems, Vehicular Networking and Connected Vehicles, Aerospace Systems, Automation, Manufacturing, Smart Grids, Nonlinear Systems, Power Systems, Robotics, Social Systems, Economic Systems and other. Of particular value to both the contributors and the readership are the short publication timeframe and the world-wide distribution and exposure which enable both a wide and rapid dissemination of research output. The series covers the theory, applications, and perspectives on the state of the art and future developments relevant to systems and networks, decision making, control, complex processes and related areas, as embedded in the fields of interdisciplinary and applied sciences, engineering, computer science, physics, economics, social, and life sciences, as well as the paradigms and methodologies behind them. Indexed by SCOPUS, INSPEC, WTI Frankfurt eG, zbMATH, SCImago. All books published in the series are submitted for consideration in Web of Science. For proposals from Asia please contact Aninda Bose (aninda.bose@springer.com). Daniele Villa · Franca Zuccoli Editors Proceedings of the 3rd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Image and Imagination IMG 2021 Editors Daniele Villa DASTU Politecnico di Milano Milan, Italy Franca Zuccoli Department of Human Sciences for Education University of Milano-Bicocca Milan, Italy ISSN 2367-3370 ISSN 2367-3389 (electronic) Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ISBN 978-3-031-25905-0 ISBN 978-3-031-25906-7 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25906-7 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Preface For those who work in the field of education and professional development, a key figure in relation to the theme of image is John Amos Comenius (1592–1670), known as Iohannes Amos Comenius in Latin and Jan Amos Komenský in his native Czech. An eclectic character, Comenius was a philosopher, educationalist, theologian, and educator. He is considered to be the father of didactics because he concerned himself with the overall design of the human educational trajectory across the lifespan. Comenius believed that schools should be open to all: places where anything could be taught to anybody/by anyone, albeit via tailored offerings and methods [1] (Comenius 1658). His Orbis sensualium pictus (1658) was the first textbook to include pictures, which dominated over the written text. Here, he made targeted and intentional use of images, chosen with a view to fostering knowledge and learning in children [2] (Comenius 1658). Roberto Farné includes Comenius’ approach in his rich overview of the diverse uses of images in the field of education, which he calls “didactic iconology”; explicitly drawing on the work of Erwin Panosfky (1939) [3], he defines this perspective as “[…] the study of images for educational purposes or, more narrowly, for the purposes of schooling. The term ‘image’ is the common denominator in an extremely broad and diversified range of visual and audio-visual repertoires, which primarily act as media and whose “iconic dimension” is key to the educational communication they are deployed for” [4] (Farné 2002, p. VIII). Since Comenius’ day, despite encountering a host of difficulties and at times serious obstacles, images have become part of the world of school, and a crucial element of the teaching–learning process, during which they may be variously consumed, interpreted, produced, and manipulated. Images enhance all educational trajectories, from early years education with children as young as 0–3 years to university and educational and professional development research settings. Scholarly interest in the educational use of image and images themselves as a primary source of knowledge has inspired ongoing debates and processes of inquiry [5,6,7] (Calvani 2011); to be more specific, within the constantly evolving impact of the sphere of image on the world, substantial differences remain between those who understand images to be decorative rather than laden with meaning, and even at risk of distracting us from the sphere of words and numbers, and those who engage with images in all their possible forms. We should note here in passing that the iconic sphere underpins the visual thinking paradigm that was early theorized by Rudolf Arnheim, and whose enormous potential has been coming progressively to the fore [8]. Sometimes educational theory and practice still struggle to draw creatively from the multifaceted potential of constantly evolving and shifting representations and images. However, the suspension of in-person teaching and learning due to the COVID-19 health emergency and the announcement of a global pandemic by WHO (March 12, 2020) forced all forms of education to switch to distance-learning modes that involved exploiting digital instruments to the full. In this case, the world of images not only represented an aid to teaching and learning but also became the very place of possible educational encounter. Consequently, the use of images in education vi Preface accelerated at a speed that would otherwise have been unthinkable [9]. The lessons that COVID has taught us, as Edgar Morin has aptly described this painful trajectory, can and must be transformed into challenges [10], which educational research and professional development must embrace and not overlook. Within the process of transformation that is currently underway, images—understood in plural and complex terms—must count among the foundational components of an alternative paradigm in which mindfulness, creativity, and openness in interpretation and production will all be essential characteristics. This conference, the first to take place as a physical encounter following a long hiatus, ably, and fully exploits the meeting of different disciplines that bring different understandings to bear upon images and use them for different purposes [11]. It is a point of interdisciplinary encounter, of enrichment and debate, and of real learning about other areas of knowledge in which images have become indispensable; it explores a shared pathway that we should never tire of pursuing. Franca Zuccoli Daniele Villa References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Comenio: Orbis Sensualium Pictus. Noribergae, M. Endteri, Noribergae (1658). Comenio: La grande didattica, trad. a cura di A. Biggio. La Nuova Italia, Firenze (1993). Panofsky, E.: Studies in Iconology. Oxford University Press, New York (1939). Farné, R..: Iconologia didattica: le immagini dall’Orbis Pictus a Sesame Street. Zanichelli, Bologna (2002). Martin, M.: Semiologia dell’immagine e pedagogia. Itinerari di ricerca educativa. Armando Editore, Roma (1990). Farné, R.: Pedagogia visuale. Un’introduzione. Raffaello Cortina, Milano (2021). Calvani, A. (ed.) : Principi di comunicazione visiva e multimediale. Fare didattica con le immagini. Carocci, Roma (2011). Rivoltella, P.C. (ed.): Apprendere a distanza. Teorie e metodi. Raffaello Cortina, Milano (2021). Arnheim, R.:Visual Thinking. University of California Press, Berkeley (1969). Morin, E.: Changeons de voie. Les Lessons du coronavirus. Éditions Denoël, Paris (2020) Pinotti, A.: Alla soglia dell’immagine. Da Narciso alla realtà virtuale. Einaudi, Torino (2021) Piranesi, G.B.: Carceri d’invenzione. Roma (1761) https://artmuseum.princeton.edu/collec tions/objects/2959. Fisher, R.B., Dawson-Howe, K., Fitzgibbon, A., Robertson, C., Trucco, E.: Dictionary of Computer Vision and Image Processing. Wiley, Chichester (2005). Rossetti, D.: Il sepolcro di Winckelmann. Alvisopoli, Venezia (1823). Scaloni, G.: Carceri. In: Mariani, G. (ed.) Giambattista Piranesi: matrici incise 1743–753. Mazzotta, Milano (2010). Purini, F.: Attualità di Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Librìa, Melfi (2008). Contents Image Processing for Knowledge and Comparison of Piranesi’s Carceri Editions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sofia Menconero 1 Using Image-Based Research Methods in Vulnerable Populations as a Culturally Sensitive Approach: Ethical and Methodological Aspects . . . . . Alessandro Pepe 11 Video Mapping for Cultural Heritage: State of the Art and Future Developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sandra Mikolajewska 18 Learning from the City: An Emotional Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marinella Arena 27 Narrative Space in Videogames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greta Attademo 38 Is the Future of Exhibitions in Digital Storytelling? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giulia Cordin 48 The Restoration Drawing by Images: The Dominican Monastery of the Holy Cross in Croatia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adriana Trematerra It is Your Town: Know How to Protect It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paolo Belardi Settled/Nomadic: The Disappearance of the Project and the Invention of the Image. Two Projects by amid.cero9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Mucciolo The Use of Photographs in the Teaching of the Shoah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonella Tiburzi The “First Step” of Images the Tangible Illusion of Stop-Motion Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federico O. Oppedisano 54 65 73 83 90 viii Contents Drone Survey of the Monastery of Panagia Kosmosoteira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gennaro Pio Lento Imitate, Cite, Contextualise. Approaches and the Use of History in the Teaching of Graphic Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gianluca Camillini BACK TO THE PAST. Narrative and Storytelling Learning in a Digital Modeling Reconstruction Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elisabetta Caterina Giovannini, Massimiliano Lo Turco, and Andrea Tomalini 100 110 120 Images Save Life. The Role of Graphic Communication in Social Health Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Valeria Menchetelli 131 Pictorial and Spatial Image Learning – Using Diamond Ranking to Understand Students’ Perception of Learning Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ulrike Stadler-Altmann 145 Image: Necessity and Truth. The Narrative Medium in Valerio Olgiati . . . . . . . . Lorenzo Giordano The Effectiveness of Digital Visualization Tools to Enhance Co-design Activities in Urban Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara E. A. Piga, Nicola Rainisio, Marco Boffi, Silvia Cacciamatta, Giulio Faccenda, and Gabriele Stancato Narrating the Museum: Developing Critical Thinking Skills Through a Collaborative Storytelling Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonella Poce, Maria Rosaria Re, Mara Valente, Carlo De Medio, and Alessandra Norgini Unveiling Beauty Through Maps Affective Image Determination for Spatial Learning Through Metropolitan Cartography Maps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Antonella Contin and Valentina Galiulo Interventions for Dissonant Heritage in Bolzano-Bozen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexandra Cosima Budabin The Woman in the Propaganda Posters. Categories and Graphic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Starlight Vattano 156 163 172 182 195 206 Contents ix Vulva Moulding. Contact Image as a Feminist Practice Producing Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Claire Salles 215 Representation and Environmental Damage The Case of Edward Burtynsky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arianna Papale 222 On the Habitus of Students - Reconstruction of Explicit Self-concept and Incorporated Norms in Mental Images of the Future Profession . . . . . . . . . . Susanne Schumacher 230 Hackcity – Hackbodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maria Grazia Berlangieri and Vincenzo Maselli 238 Digital Spaces and Digital Places: Recovering Ancient Traditions with Contemporary Forms in Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giuditta Cirnigliaro and Angelica Federici 245 Displaying Displays. Contemporary Architecture Exhibitions and Their Production of Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roberto Gigliotti and Nina Bassoli 261 Re-imagining Spaces and Places. Spatial Imaginary Methods: The Creative Process and Iconographic Circulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rossella Salerno 270 Virtual Representation to Narration Roman Turin. Interactive Didactic Paths from the City to the Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michela Benente, Cristina Boido, and Melania Semeraro 280 Visualizing the Italian Way of Life: Italian Design Products Through the Pages of Domus, 1955–1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Raissa D’Uffizi 290 Stick Images. Learning by Drawing Lines with Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michele Valentino, Enrico Cicalò, and Marta Pileri 297 Sound Beyond the Hedge. Towards an Acoustic Construction of Images . . . . . . Martino Mocchi, Carlotta Sillano, and Lorena Rocca 307 Infodemic, Visual Disinformation and Data Literacy. How to Foster Critical Thinking Through the Emerging Data-graphicacy Competence . . . . . . . Alessio Caccamo and Ida Cortoni 315 x Contents Image Variables of Collectible Design: Art, Luxury, and Country-of-Origin Effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federica Codignola The Repression of Techno-Aesthetic Creativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cristina Coccimiglio Black Space, White Space. Transdisciplinary Reflections for a Pedagogy of the Void . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elisabetta Villano Drawing as a Reflective Practice in Life-Long Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patrizia Garista Augmented Reality as a Thirdspace: Simultaneous Experience of the Physical and Virtual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rob Eagle 325 334 341 348 355 Animalizing: Immagination to Enhance Italian Towns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giulia Pettoello 364 Architectural Imaging Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrea Lupacchini 374 Learning from Scientific Visualisations: Knowledge Exchanges Between Science, Design and Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E. Rattalino, Matteo Moretti, and S. Schmidt-Wulffen Sylva as Anima Mundi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vincenzo Moschetti Inside and Outside Schemes. Stereotypes and Creativity in Childrens’ Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. L. Belisario, B. Di Donato, M. Gilli, and E. Mancino Museum in Absentia the Staging of the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isabella Friso and Gabriella Liva 384 394 404 412 From Visual Studies to Interactive Design: What About Digital Aesthetics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aurosa Alison 423 Graphic Journalism: Multi-perspective and Intersubjective Visions Seeing, Thinking and Recognising the Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cinzia Zadra and Simona Bartoli Kucher 428 Contents From Art Image to Video/Comic-Image Learning. The Video Spot Stay at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vincenzo Cirillo, Valentina Alfieri, and Igor Todisco What Images Say/What Users See. Exploring Mobile Augmented Reality for Visual History-Telling of Architectural Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pamela Maiezza, Fabio Franchi, Alessandra Tata, Fabio Graziosi, and Stefano Brusaporci All Things Sacred. An Experience in Diversity and Active Citizenship at a Contemporary Art Museum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna Chiara Cimoli A Video-Performance as a (Professional) Mirror. The Use of Composition in a Performative Research with Primary School Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicoletta Ferri Reimagining Cognitive Visualizations: Designers’ Leading Edge & Innovative Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enrica Lovaglio Costello xi 435 445 455 465 471 Victimsville. Or How Hedjuk Landed in Berlin 2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Juan Carlos Castro-Dominguez, Carlos Barberá Pastor, and Alexandra Rodes Gómez 479 Knowledge and Appreciation of Manga Comics in an Italian Sample . . . . . . . . . Nicol Ellecosta and Demis Basso 486 From Mutilated to Complete Image. Lacunae in Paintings Through the Eyes of Restorers, Art Historians and Ordinary Viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eliana Billi, Alessandra Maria Genovese, and Stefano Sdoia 496 Grasping the Fragility Aspects Through Spatial Inequalities Mapping. The Case of the Alpine Areas in Lombardy, Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marco Vedoà 504 Bauhaus-Room: Design at the Service of New Didactic Applications . . . . . . . . . Sonia Mollica and Andrea Marraffa 514 Illustration and Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adelaide Tremori and Marco Ricciarini 524 xii Contents The Design of Product’s Packaging: Different Perception from Different Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Demis Basso and Yuri Borgianni 534 This Person Does not Exist. Representation Theories and Practices of a Desired Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Massimiliano Ciammaichella 544 Using Virtual Reality as a Tool to Research, Analyze and Learn: The Competition for Palazzo del Littorio in Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefano Botta and Daniele Calisi 552 The Power of the Image in the Comics Culture. Two Examples Applied to Architectural Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Agostino Urso and Francesco De Lorenzo 562 Images of Property Market Analysis in a GIS Environment. The Exploration of a Unesco Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fabiana Guerriero 572 Educating Spaces and Hybrid Images. Learning Strategies in School Buildings on the Kenyan Coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giuseppe Capriotti and Rosita Deluigi 581 Thinking and Design Through Analogical Image Knowledge, Visual Simulation and Modeling Learning: The Uncanny Space of the Hall . . . . . . . . . Luca Cardani and Fabrizio Banfi 590 La Casa de los Toros de Barcelona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrés Lupiáñez and Iñigo Ugalde-Blázquez Decay Buildings and Their Impact on Urban Regeneration Through Art: A Case Study in Taiwan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rafael Sumozas and Maria Cacique 600 608 Hervé Morvan, Artist and Poet of the “optique de la rue” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marcello Scalzo 617 Archaeological Documentation from Drone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giorgia Potestà and Vincenzo Gelsomino 627 Image and Choreography. Transmitting to Replicate, Transferring to Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . María Eugenia García-Sottile, Sebastián Gómez-Lozano, and Alessandra De Nicola 637 Contents xiii The New Frontier of Images NFTs. The Digitalization of the Image in the Art World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Margherita Cicala and Nicola Chiacchio 647 Educational Power of Images. Visual Narrativity and Iconicity in Scientific Dissemination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Letizia Bollini and Maria Pompeiana Iarossi 657 Learning by Representing. Architectural Drawing Between Visual Simulations and Graphic Abstractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Federica Maietti and Andrea Zattini 667 The Image of Sacred Space in Desiderius Lenz’s Drawings the Aesthetics of the Rule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Aiello 677 Lidar Sensor for the Enhancement of the Architectural Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maurizio Perticarini, Valeria Marzocchella, and Alessandro Basso Survey and Lighting Retrofit as Instrument of Knowledge and Valorisation: The Casa de Vacas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Davide Carleo, Martina Gargiulo, Giovanni Ciampi, Luigi Corniello, Michelangelo Scorpio, and Pilar Chìas 687 697 A Partire dalla O di Giotto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francesca Bassi, Rita Bonfanti, Alessandra De Nicola, and Franca Zuccoli 707 That (Interrupted) Refined Ludus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Valerio Maria Sorgini and Greta Maria Taronna 716 Verbal Space and Visual Space Between Reality and Imagination . . . . . . . . . . . . Fabio Luce, Giovanna A. Massari, and Cristina Pellegatta 723 Design for Graphicacy: The Case of Glocal Climate Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matteo Moretti 733 The Development of Images in Mass Choreography: From Manual Notation to Computerized Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isabella Scursatone and Maria Eugenia García-Sottile 742 Image as a Vehicle of Cultural Expression Between Education and Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mario Bottinelli Montandon and Cristiana Canonica Manz 751 xiv Contents Drawing COVID-19. The Viral Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ornella Zerlenga and Luciano Lauda From Head to Toe: An “Exquisite” Hopscotch as Learning and Research Through Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . María-Isabel Moreno-Montoro, Alicia Martínez-Herrera, and Estrella Soto-Moreno Interpretive Communities: When Collaborative Writing Meets Metaphor-Based Object Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . José Carrasco Hortal, Sara Prieto García-Cañedo, and José A. Sánchez Fajardo 761 771 780 Images in Motion: Percective Codes for Shared Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paola Raffa 790 Students’ Eyes Like Reality-Based Sceneries in E-Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Demis Basso, Giovanni Lecci, and Alessandro Efrem Colombi 799 The Image of Touristic Italy in the Magazines of the Late 19th and Early 20th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Manuela Piscitelli 809 3D GIS Information System for the Inventory of the Mudejar Heritage in Aragon. Architecture and Territory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marta Quintilla-Castán 819 The Image of the Contemporary City, a Critical Reflection on the Spaces We Live in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Corrado Castagnaro 828 Historical Views: Images for Comprehension of the Modern Garden . . . . . . . . . Domenico Crispino Holographic Representation Tools and Technologies for New Learning Actions: DhoMus Project Applied to Pitigliano and Vetulonia Museums, Tuscany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beatrice Stefanini, Alessandra Vezzi, and Marta Zerbini The Graphic Representation of Data in Architectural Scientific Research. The Definition of Visual Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marta Zerbini @Re-Art Archive Experience. Innovation and Beauty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dalia Gallico 835 845 854 864 Contents Housing Narratives. Stories of Distortion, Promotion and Originality Linked to the Marketing of Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michela Pace The Observer’s Distance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francesco Bergamo A Course of Architectural Documentation Through the Clouds. The Challenge of Teaching Survey Techniques During the Pandemic Emergency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luca Rossato and Martina Suppa Insights of Images Within the Chilean Student Architecture Press, 1930–1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patricia Méndez, Jessica Fuentealba Quilodrán, Matías Ramírez Bravo, and Consuelo Emhardt xv 876 885 895 905 Participatory Actions in Virtual Spaces. The Role of Images in the Construction of Shared Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monica Guerra and Lola Ottolini 919 When the Artifact Becomes Image: Representing Geometrical Query with Tangible Tools. Catalogues of Physical Models at the Turn of 1900 . . . . . . Caterina Cumino, Martino Pavignano, and Ursula Zich 926 New Narrative and Graphic Tools in Museums. Experiments of Motion Graphic Technique Applied to Japanese Illustrations of Museo d’Arte Orientale (MAO) of Turin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francesca Ronco and Giulia Bertola Street Art: From Impertinent Transgression to Inclusive Citizenship . . . . . . . . . Donatella Fantozzi 937 947 Style, Taste, Trend Perceptions, Statements and Misunderstandings in Design Theoretical Discourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Luisa Chimenz 953 Photography and Representation of the Museum Visit Experience. Getting to Know Museum Audiences Through the Photographic Image . . . . . . Rita Capurro 961 Drawing Modernity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francesco Maggio 969 xvi Contents Learning from Patterns: Information Retrieval and Visualisation Issues Between Bioimage Informatics and Digital Humanities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Irene Cazzaro 979 The Mathematical Table of the Palazzina Cinese in Palermo. Animation and Virtual Reality Techniques for an Edutainment Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fabrizio Avella and Stefania Agnello 989 Unusual Rainbow. Images and Projections Between Art and Science . . . . . . . . . Alessio Bortot 998 Images as Communication of a New Normality. The Representation of the New Social Habits Introduced by the Covid19 Emergency in Public Spaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007 Mariapaola Vozzola Processes and Tools for Understanding the Survey Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014 Luigi Corniello ABR Training for Educational Research: The Global Classroom Project . . . . . . 1024 Elisabetta Biffi, Lucia Carriera, and Franca Zuccoli Architecture Beyond Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1030 Riccardo Amendola, Monica Battistoni, and Camilla Sorignani Image Learning at the Crossroads Between Human and Artificial Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1038 Lorenzo Ceccon Clandestine Word. Images of Gesture Among the Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1050 Alessandra De Nicola Coloured Patterns: Designing Urban Spaces Through Chromatic Abstractions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1059 Alice Palmieri The Role of Images in the Dematerialisation of Design Presentations During Pandemics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1069 Fausto Brevi and Flora Gaetani Read or Watch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1078 Pedro José Zarzoso López The “Allegorical Facade” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1086 Giovanna Ramaccini Contents xvii Future Teachers’ Implicit Ideas on Creativity: Visual Stimuli for Idea-Generation Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1095 Eleonora Farina and Letizia Della Zoppa Image Education and Didactics of Cultural Heritage. Graphic and Creative Workshops Within the Project “La Scuola Adotta La Città” . . . . . 1106 Gian Marco Girgenti and Eleonora Mancuso Emphatic Designs: Reclaiming Imagination in Architectural ‘Thinking’ . . . . . . 1116 Nathalie Kerschen 1964–2020, from Tokyo to Tokyo. Heritage and Actuality of Pictographic Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1124 Nicoletta Sorrentino Image Education and Visual Digital Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131 Anita Macauda and Veronica Russo OPEN Communication of Science: The Role of Audiovisual Language in the Digital Museums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1141 Chiara Panciroli and Laura Corazza Animated Representations. Multimedia Techniques for Storytelling . . . . . . . . . . 1147 Vincenza Garofalo, Emanuele Romanelli, and Chiara Vasta Narratives of Glitch: Towards a New Understanding of the Imaginal . . . . . . . . . 1156 Cedric Kayser Semantic Model Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1165 Maurizio Unali and Giovanni Caffio The Power of Images to Imagine and Create Worlds Yet-To-Come . . . . . . . . . . . 1175 Judit Onsès Polypony of Gazes in an Emergency. What Images Relate and How. The Tangible and Intangible Elements of Suspended Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1182 Alessandra Meschini “Infuturarsi”. Imagination and Argumentative Competence in Digitally Augmented Learning Contexts. Notes and Reflections on a Didactic Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1192 Stefano Moriggi and M. Giuseppina Grasselli xviii Contents From Mental Maps to Art: A Project on the University-Bicocca Sense of Place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1201 Alessandra Agrestini, Matteo Colleoni, Andrea Mangiatordi, Stefano Malatesta, Giampaolo Nuvolati, Enrico Squarcina, and Franca Zuccoli The Collages of Athens. The Representation of the City in the 21th Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1210 Fabiano Micocci Pittronica Towards an Archaeology of the Electronic Image on Italian Television . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1220 Daniele Rossi Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1231 All Things Sacred. An Experience in Diversity and Active Citizenship at a Contemporary Art Museum Anna Chiara Cimoli(B) Università degli studi di Bergamo, Bergamo, Italy annachiara.cimoli@unibg.it Abstract. In 2020–21, the Italian government introduced citizenship education in middle and high school curricula. One of the central subjects of this curriculum is the protection and enhancement of artistic heritage, in coherence with Art. 9 of the Italian Constitution. The paper analyses a case study concerning the mediation of artistic heritage promoted by Gallery of Sacred Contemporary Art in Milan (GASC) and designed by ABCittà, a collective of social researchers. The project places visual media within the broader framework of cultural diversity education and aims to build up a dynamic, ongoing “library of interpretations” characterized by an interreligious and intercultural approach. The paper argues that, through the interpretation of contemporary artworks, the museum setting can become one of the main actors in education to active citizenship for adolescents. This work also aims at disseminating a methodology which presupposes interculture as a part and parcel to image learning in contrast to the more prevalent rhetoric revolving around “inclusiveness” at museums. This strategy is even more relevant when a museum of Catholic art is engaged in questioning stereotypes about the perception of religion, cultural belonging, race, etc. Keywords: Contemporary Art · Interpretation · Migrant Audiences · Religious heritage · Education to citizenship · Adolescents · Cultural diversity Civic education for teen-agers is not an easy task, especially at a museum dedicated to Catholic contemporary art. In particular, the Gallery of Sacred Contemporary Art (GASC) has a peripheral location and is difficult to access via public transport. How can a museum like this become an active interlocutor for students for whom, incidentally, the civic curriculum is mandatory, and who – at the project’s onset – had to attend courses online due to the Covid-19 pandemic? Art history, seen through the lens of the Italian Constitution’s ninth article, ought to enable all citizens to engage with their heritage through layered acts of awareness and safeguarding. This challenge heightens when trying to involve a group of teenagers in interpreting contemporary religious art which can, at times, take on highly abstract and opaque forms. The difficulty increases even further when these visitors are asked to interpret works freely without pretending to be a curator and to express their impressions, beliefs, and feelings. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 D. Villa and F. Zuccoli (Eds.): IMG 2021, LNNS 631, pp. 455–464, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25906-7_50 456 A. C. Cimoli If accompanied and mediated, students can experience a gradual, personal encounter with artworks in a “safe” space, allowing meaning to manifest and the educational role of art to express its potential. Moreover, it is only within a pact of mutual trust that museums can become spaces which allow active citizenship to take shape. 1 (Un)safe Spaces for Unsafe Ideas? Beyond “Integration”, Towards “Interaction” When I refer to the idea of a “safe space”, I mean a place for open debate, where differences and even conflicts can emerge and be addressed nonjudgmentally (through professionalism and not mere good will): I distance myself from the rhetoric of the “comfort zone” which suggests a therapeutic approach to museum work. As Bernadette Lynch writes, “It is important to remind ourselves that museums must be ever-vigilant not to slip back into a carer-client relationship, adopting a therapeutic museum model […]. The emphasis in some museums on a consensual, empathetic approach may be in fact more to do with the museum’s (and the museum professionals’) discomfort with people openly expressing emotion, anger and widely differing points of view”.1 When Elaine Heumann Gurian said that “museums are safe places for unsafe ideas”,2 back in 1981, the museum studies’ field was at the beginning of a long trajectory towards a new consciousness of its political agency and its social role. While most scholars today recognize the timely and even anticipatory potential of that quote, they also agree that the accent should shift away from “safety” towards free speech, dissent, and conversations about controversial issues such as gender inequality, non-binary sexuality, colonialism, patriarchy and other social justice concerns. In order to delve concretely into the idea of the museum as a place for open conversations, and the role of artworks as catalysts, let us take a step back and describe briefly the project’s background, main features and objectives. In 2020 Luigi Codemo, director of the museum, asked ABCittà, a collective of social researchers (educators, museum mediators, cultural operators, architects) of which I am a member, to create an educational tool for multicultural audiences. The tool was aimed at transcending the boundaries of Catholic messages incorporated in the collection, to make it transversally accessible to different beliefs, faiths and spiritual attitudes, be them confessional or not. In the director’s words, it is time to “decolonize the realm of the sacred”:3 in other words, to dismantle the complex net of meanings, taxonomies, automatisms that tie a certain iconography to a certain faith, linking these to a certain community as if it had given, static properties. To “decolonize” means here to introduce greater dynamism and fluidity to the superposition of a country and its main religion, in this case, Italy and Catholicism. On the one hand, there is a growing variety of religions due to immigration and, on the other, due to the weakened ties between Italians and the Catholic religion 1 Lynch, B. Introduction. In: Chynowett and others (2021). 2 This quote is elaborated in the essay Answers to the ten questions I am most often asked: A review of exhibitions and learning. In: Heumann Gurian E. (2005), pp. 137–149. An updated reflection on that concept can be found in episode 31 of the Museopunk podcast. 3 Email exchange, 2021/04/04. All Things Sacred 457 (caused by a number of historical, political, societal reasons which is unnecessary to recapitulate here). Italy is often associated with a certain reactionary, even folkloristic form of faith characterized by a hint of superstition. This stereotype is unfortunately reinforced the ubiquitous image of a rosary in the hands of right-wing politicians like Matteo Salvini, leader of the Lega Nord party. By loosening linear and top-down narratives, “decolonialized” museums gain the capacity to generate new meanings and make room for new epiphanies.4 Museums have to find new tools to open up honest discussions, in a time of huge global upheaval concerning identity, race and colonial legacies (to which religion is also privy). Cultural historian Clémentine Deliss articulates the concept of “remediation”, specifically in ethnographic museums, by suggesting a lens which might be fruitful for all museums: “What do I mean by remediate? First, to remedy something: for example, the ambivalent resonance of the colonial past. Here we need to develop something like a post-ethnographic museum […] taking those extraordinary objects as stimulus for future innovation and therefore the starting point for new knowledge production”.5 There is a subtle form of ambiguity lying in the will to “teach” to immigrants the meanings of religious symbols, as if these were part of a monolithic culture or an integral element of society as a whole. Today’s reality is much more nuanced. It seems more fruitful to connect the dots between different religions and their iconographies so as to gain mutual understanding, always preserving their differences. In keeping with these assumptions, the GASC decided to incorporate diversity as part of the process from the very beginning and deliberately avoided asking participants about their faith, origin, race, etc. (Fig. 1). Fig. 1. Davide Coltro, Continuous Still Life, digital paintings, 2015 4 As Paul Ariese writes (Ariese 2021), “Public knowledge of religious stories and practices is slowly disappearing. However, (…) the role and impact of religion in the broader sense is all but diminishing. Spirituality is a growing market, and religion is central to the life of many migrants and expats. In this context, religious heritage can be assigned new roles, functions and meanings. These developments urge museums to change collection policies and require the inclusion of new perspectives and additional contextual information in their displays”. 5 Deliss (2020), p. 37. 458 A. C. Cimoli 2 Teenagers Interpreting Sacred, Contemporary Art: Images of Diversity, Ways of Looking 2.1 The Context The Gasc is a museum of Christian art founded by the St Paul’s Society and opened in 1955, when the Milanese diocese built many churches in the city’s suburbs to accommodate mainly southern Italian immigrants. This cultural project concerned both the museum and the city and was led by Giovanni Battista Montini, Archbishop of Milan from 1954 to 1963, the year he became pope Paul VI (1963–78). On the eve of Italy’s economic boom, many Lombard and Milanese factories attracted migrant workers mostly from the country’s south. New neighbourhoods were designed to host them in the city’s outskirts, broadening the cityscape with interventions often of high urbanistic value. As new churches were built, a new generation of artists was encouraged to engage with religious themes (Gramigna, Mazza 2001). During its first years of life the museum was located in a magnificent, 18th -century villa and served as a workshop, a shared “co-working” space where those artists could meet, create and discuss their art. Along a similar vein, the GASC has sought to open its premises to a wider public and to work as a reference point for embracing diversity in its neighbourhood, in the city, and beyond. Due to the social aspects of its original mission and to the particular attention paid to local immigrants, the museum decided to invite fresh voices to meet and interpret the collection. The Interpreters of diversity project, described in this paper, was funded by Fondazione di Comunità Milan. It began in Fall 2020 and technically speaking, ended in Spring 2021, when the participants’ interpretations were published as an online book.6 As explained below, a second stage foresees contributions collected from future museum’s visitors and related podcasts. 2.2 Articulating the Process ABCittà, which coordinated and facilitated the process, decided to involve two cohorts in order to elicit new interpretations of the collections: adult immigrants and 16- and17year-old high school students. The book published by GASC contains results developed with both groups, but this article focuses on the second, as the teens constitute a larger and a – so to speak – “newer” audience for this museum. Two school groups were invited: a fourth-year class from the Cesare Beccaria High School and a third-year class of Bertrand Russell High School, the latest located very close to the museum. These groups worked together throughout the whole process, regardless of their institutional affiliation. Their teachers verified that approximately 30% of the students had migratory backgrounds: not the highest rate compared to other Milanese neighbourhoods, but still a representative sample. Through a series of online workshops, the project covered two different obligations: the “civic education” curriculum, mandatory from 2020–21, and the PCTO (Percorsi per 6 https://www.villaclerici.it/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/interpreti-della-diversita-3.pdf, accessed 2021/05/31. last All Things Sacred 459 le Competenze Trasversali e l’Orientamento: the sum of a number of experiences related to different work environments, aimed at helping students recognize their professional vocations).7 Initially, the process envisaged the use of the museum’s premises: its huge rooms decorated with ancient frescos, the atmospheres, the gardens would have played a big part in the learning experience. But we had to do without. The backbone of the project was clear from the start: the slow process of empowering interpretation. We were aware that finding one’s voice in writing would have been challenging, especially since this form of expression is so unfamiliar to many. So we decided to proceed at a comfortable pace. Despite the presence of youth with different migratory and presumably religious backgrounds, operators shared the main assumption that they would ask no direct questions whatsoever in this regard. Diversity was subsumed in the process, “taken for granted” as a data inscribed in today’s society. At least this is the case in big cities like Milan, whose immigration history dates back to the 70’s. Rather than erasing differences, this choice considered them constitutive parts of “everyday multiculturalism” (Wise, Velayutham 2009). Talking about intercultural approaches in museums, Simona Bodo assumes that instead of reifying difference and circumscribing people in “imagined communities” (Anderson 1983) or strict categories, a new approach “will demand an honest, open and comprehensive rethinking on the part of museums around what it really means to carry out intercultural work… as a bi-directional, dialogical process which is transformative of all parties (majority as well as minority representatives; those from host as well as immigrant backgrounds) and in which all are equal participants?”.8 Our answer to this question is affirmative and we consider this point a methodological stepping stone. After an in-depth analysis of the collection, we selected four themes based on our prior experience as educators and mediators. We chose artworks from the at the GASC which were likely to elicit pronounced reactions from student visitors.9 We decided that the themes should be broad enough to allow everyone to identify with them. The themes were worded in an interrogative form to convey them more evocatively. The huge painting by Elvis Spadoni dedicated to the adulteress (2019) was linked to the question: Can you make mistakes and be forgiven? The digital tryptic by Davide Coltro (2015) representing slightly, slowly changing still-lives, reminiscent of the Dutch Golden Age but through a technological medium, was related to the question: Will we be able to wait? The diptych by Patrizia Novello, born out of a text exchange with her then-boyfriend (2017), elicited the question: Will you be there? A certain presence. Finally, How long shall we wait for the light? was the question accompanying a group of three paintings hung side-by-side 7 The PCTO is a 90-h program distributed across the last three years of high school, and it can be formed by the sum of different experiences in any professional field. 8 Bodo (2019), p. 520. See also Bobick, DiCindio (2020); Buggeln, Franco (2018); Buggeln, Paine, Brent Plate (2017a); O’Neill (1995). 9 The choice presented some risks: would the students find the works selected interesting? Wouldn’t they feel uncomfortable? A previous experience of peer-education in a contemporary art museum, led at the Museo del Novecento in Milan, constituted a reference point in this regard. The project is described in Cimoli (2017). 460 A. C. Cimoli and related to the three days before Easter (Michele Dolz, Notte oscura, 2010; Raul Gabriel, Cristo Buon Pastore e Agnello, 2011; Valentino Vago, R.9–62, 2009) (Fig. 2). Fig. 2. Elvis Spadoni, The Adulteress, oil on canvas, 2019 The first workshop took the form of an introductory lesson whose aim was to describe the contemporary museum (and the art museum in particular) as a place for debate, as a mirror for our varied and multi-layered society. The overall idea was to suggest that the museum can also be an arena for dissent, protest, self-expression (and of course also fun, consolation, rest…).10 In the following workshop, the director presented selected art works as well as the related issues. Two of the artists, Coltro and Spadoni, were invited to take part in the next one, sharing their artistic trajectory, their sources of inspiration and their work routines. The encounter with two artists – something which rarely happens also in Art History faculties – was highly appreciated by the students, as pointed out in their evaluations. The next step was dedicated to individual writing. Since the “blank page” can be scary to many, we had clarified this task from the very beginning of the process. At that point, the participants had had the opportunity to see the artworks several times, only through their screens, but mediated through different voices: the mediators’, the director’s, and – in two cases – the artists’ themselves. We deliberately planned time between one workshop and the next, allowing students to become familiar with the themes, iconographies and their hidden, multiple meanings. As an “ice-breaker” we provided a sheet with open questions which served as a flexible guide for writing. It read as follows (Fig. 3): Answer in a personal way, maximum 15 lines. You can follow the outline we propose or write a free text. 1. 1. This work resonated with me because it… (e.g. speaks to a time in my life, addresses questions that I also ask myself, touches on a topic that interests me, talks about values I believe in/do not believe in, reminds me of someone in my family or circle of friends, etc.). 10 Janes, Sandell (2019). See also Sandell (2007). All Things Sacred 461 2. What in this work is familiar or what is new in relation to my idea of “sacred”? Fig. 3. Patrizia Novello, Will you be there?, oil and vinyl on canvas, 2017 Each student was asked to choose just one subject, but had the option to pick more than one. All students provided an interpretation and some more than one. For example, here are two responses to the diptych Will you be there? : I was very struck by this “will you be there?” because it made me think of my mother, who unfortunately left us after a long fight against cancer. I thought a lot about this painting and its meaning and, frankly, at first glance I saw little that was sacred, but after an explanation by the museum director I came to a conclusion: in the end everyone can think of anyone they want when they read the phrase, that occurs several times on both panels of the painting. The sacred is also in this. A believer turns to God the doubt about that presence that will have to be there tomorrow, while I can see my mom in it and someone else can see something else. In the end, it’s just a matter of different perspectives. (Alexandra, Bertrand Russell High School). The question “Will you be there” is one of the many that I often ask myself. The phrase is repeated in an almost excessive way: it is a typical characteristic of the lover, who never gets tired of repeating the same phrases because he needs those words, those certainties. It happened to me to have feelings for someone who reciprocated me with words, but not with facts; in spite of suffering, I believe that the power of words gives security and transmits positive values. Especially at our age, I think that the confirmation of presence, is one of the many contents that we write to each other with the phone or that we say to each other in voice, in friendship and in love. 462 A. C. Cimoli I wondered if the artist’s question could be a request for presence even after our existence. What will be next? Where will we go? In the collective imagination, death represents a mystery, something to be feared. There are people who are convinced that death is an evil, the evil par excellence, but I don’t think so. Death is part of life, and I like to believe that afterwards there will be something extraordinary (Marta, Cesare Beccaria High School). These two texts, like most of the others, reveal a perfect balance between the personal – sometimes even the intimate – and the universal, as if the time spent looking at the artwork had decanted and generated a new landscape. In some cases, the pieces were as succinct as a haiku. Even though the literary quality of the texts was not at task, many of the reflections are extremely poetic. The last workshop took place in the museum premises at the end of the lockdown and took the form of a farewell. In that occasion we split into four groups and rotated among as many meeting points. Each group could therefore experience the visit through different approaches: a “slow museum” immersive experience (for Novello’s artwork), a meditation class in association with music (for Coltro’s), a participatory design workshop about ways to collect interpretations from future visitors, and a “classic” walk through the villa and its gardens (Fig. 4). Fig. 4. A session of the project at GASC, 2021 2.3 Evaluation and Future Perspectives The student evaluations (anonymous, qualitative, led through a Google form) demonstrated a high appreciation for the process, despite the online format. 69% of the participants said that the visit to the museum was the best workshop, while 38% appreciated the All Things Sacred 463 encounter with the artists most. When asked about about writing, an equal percentage of participants (46,2%) said that it had not been too hard and that it had been hard but worth it, while only 7,7% declared it was very difficult. As for the question “How do you feel about your text being signed and published?”, 61,5% said they were excited about it, while 23,1% said they were a bit embarrassed. A final, open question prompted a personal comment. The most frequent observations were appreciative of the variety of viewpoints and voices involved and underlined the pleasure of visiting a museum after such a long time. Many students were also surprised by the museum world “behind the scenes”: its self-interrogation about about ways of dealing with society. As part of the funding received by Fondazione di Comunità Milano, the museum will create a series of podcasts with interpretations provided both by the students and the adults. This digital tool will be implemented in the future through other contributions. The agenda includes a collaboration with religious and cultural centres throughout the city. The “library of interpretations” will therefore grow slowly and hopefully provide an example of participatory, multi-layered, trans-generational practice. This repository highly values religious and cultural diversity without putting it under a spotlight, considering this condition as data about our community and information worth protecting and preserving: which is exactly what museums do. References Anderson, B.: Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso, London, New York (1983) Ariese, P.: Interpreting religion with cultural heritage students. Mus. Soc. 19(1), 17–65 (2021) Bodo, S.: Museums as intercultural spaces. In: Watson, S., Barnes, A.J., Bunning, K. (eds.) A Museums Studies Approach to Heritage, p. 520. Routledge, Oxon, London (2019) Bobick, B., DiCindio, C. (eds.): Engaging Communities through Civic Engagement in Art Museum Education. IGI Global, Hershey (2020) Buggeln, G., Franco, B. (eds.): Interpreting Religion at Museums and Historic Sites. Rowman & Littlefield Lanham, MD (2018) Buggeln, G., Paine, C., Brent Plate, S. (eds.): Religion in Museums: Global and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Bloomsbury, London (2017a) Chynowett, A., et al.: Museums and Social Change. Challenging the Unhelpful Museum, p. 13. Routledge, London (2021) Cimoli A.C.: Il museo come metodo. E tu, che cosa vedi? In: Id. (ed.) Che Cosa Vedi? Musei e Pubblico Adolescente, Nomos, Busto Arsizio, pp. 15–22 (2017) Deliss, C.: The Metabolic Museum. 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