Mapping the Hidden Threads of “Made in Italy”

Sponsoring advanced research across the disciplines via a Fellowship Program with 20 residential scholars each year, and public conferences promoting academic, cultural, and scientific exchange.Annual Report

The Italian Academy of Columbia University

Fashion Museums, Material Culture, and Cultural Heritage as Drivers of Value

Italian Academy, Columbia University

This event has been POSTPONED to Friday, February 27 at 2:30PM. OPENING REMARKS Barbara Faedda (Executive Director, Italian Academy)SPEAKERS Eugenia Paulicelli (Professor of Italian Studies, Comparative Literature, and Women's Studies at Queens College and The CUNY Graduate Center) Fashion, cultural heritage and 'Made in Italy Samuele Briatore (Assistant Professor at Sapienza University of Rome) The plural value of Italian fashion museums: from inventory to cultural mapping Romana Andò (Associate Professor at Sapienza University of Rome, Head of the Master Programme in Fashion Theory and Practices) From cultural policy to integrated heritage-industry strategy Francesca Granata (Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons School of Design) Fashion criticism: a delay in legitimizationABOUT THE EVENTThis event is part of the Academy's <a href="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/content/international-observatory-cultural-heritage" title="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/content/international-observatory-cultural-heritage" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">International Observatory for Cultural Heritage</a> (IOCH), established in 2016 by Executive Director Barbara Faedda. IOCH is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and study of cultural heritage, with fashion as one of its key areas of focus. In 2019, the Academy organized the conference <a href="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/events/cultural-heritage-practices-critical-fashion-theory" title="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/events/cultural-heritage-practices-critical-fashion-theory" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Cultural Heritage Practices &amp; Critical Fashion Theory</a> to explore fashion's interpretation of cultural heritage, alongside the exhibition <a href="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/events/full-enthusiasm-american-buyers-captured-italian-fashion-1950s" title="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/events/full-enthusiasm-american-buyers-captured-italian-fashion-1950s" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">"Full of Enthusiasm": American Buyers Captured by Italian Fashion in the 1950s</a>, which examined the emergence of Italian fashion designers in the American market.To mark the 10th anniversary of the IOCH, Barbara Faedda invited Romana Andò to present her groundbreaking research project at Columbia University's Italian Academy. Professor Andò leads a research initiative in Rome that maps, connects, and enhances Italian fashion-related collections preserved in museums, foundations, and archives across Italy. She uses a multidisciplinary and technology-driven approach, and in this gathering she will talk about her progress and converse with other experts in the field.ABOUT THE RESEARCH INITIATIVEThe project, called “CHANGES—Cultural Heritage Active Innovation for Next-Gen Sustainable Society,” is being developed within the SARAS Department at Sapienza University of Rome; it is funded by the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), a national program designed to support innovation, sustainability and digital transformation in strategic sectors, including cultural heritage. Within Spoke 2, dedicated to Fashion Cultural Heritage, the project adopts a multidisciplinary and technology-driven approach to map, connect and enhance Italian fashion-related collections preserved in museums, foundations and archives across the country. In 2023 and 2024, the research team identified and surveyed more than 1,200 institutions linked to fashion across all Italian regions. This extensive mapping has been consolidated into a digital database that gathers information on each institution and makes this largely invisible heritage accessible, interconnected, and available for future research, networking, and audience-engagement strategies. Alongside the database, the project has produced a printed catalogue titled TRAME. Il tessuto italiano dei musei e degli archivi di moda, published by Silvana Editoriale. The volume presents 450 institutions that actively contributed to the narrative of Italian fashion heritage. Each participating institution selected a representative object from its fashion or costume collection and provided an image and a short descriptive text written by curators, directors, archivists or internal staff. The catalogue offers a vivid and curator-driven portrait of Italy’s diverse and multifaceted fashion heritage.Co-Sponsor: Sapienza University of RomeOrganizer: Romana Andò (Sapienza University of Rome)Doors open at 2:00pm. Registration does not guarantee a seat; registrants are seated first-come, first served. This event is in-person only.Visit <a href="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/" title="https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">The Italian Academy</a> to read more about this and other events, and all our initiatives.

Mapping the Hidden Threads of “Made in Italy”

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