Welcome to the International Forum on the Sustainability of Cultural Institutions: an invitation to discuss practices rather than principles. From 26 to 28 September 2025, the small town of Santa Sofia (Forlì-Cesena, Italy) – the starting point of a network that also involves New York and Guangzhou in China – will be transformed into a global laboratory that aims to translate theoretical commitments into concrete solutions for museums, foundations and cultural organisations. The programme, which is hybrid in terms of both its environmental and design choices, focuses on operational issues – from the actual emissions of the cultural industry to the circularity of materials, from digital tools to reduce impact to the accessibility of content – and aims to collect the proposals that emerge in a final shared dossier.
Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea Vero Stoppioni, Santa Sofia (FC), ph. courtesy Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea Vero Stoppioni
Participating in Institution means listening to voices from different and often distant fields of expertise: philosopher Timothy Morton, an expert in theoretical ecology and author of the concept of “hyperobjects”, Jérôme Bel, a choreographer whose work challenges performative and institutional codes, Zigeng Wang, an architect working in China and a recent interpreter of practices related to reuse, sustainability and the issue of circularity. The Forum is not just an audience for keynote speeches: the thematic tables will be curated and moderated by professionals who translate managerial, design and curatorial expertise into operational tools. Among them there are: Małgorzata Ludwisiak, with experience in directing and opening new museums and a member of the CIMAM board, Edith Doron, active in education and public engagement, Nicola Bianchi, active in innovation and institutional relations at EDI Confcommercio. Alongside these names, emerging figures and local professionals – from territorial design to participatory curation – will work to transform high-level reflections into usable guidelines: Alice Cappelli (social designer), Christiana Zheng Yi (art critic), Nazli Parvizi (president of MOFAD), Valentina Avanzini (curator). The Forum aims to move beyond vague statements and provide the sector with measurable and replicable tools, suggesting concrete ways to reduce impact, share resources and integrate new knowledge into heritage conservation.
Boxes Art Museum, Songshan Lake (Dongguan, Greater Bay Area of Guangzhou). View of the museum’s entrance façade. Photo courtesy of Boxes Art Museum
The perspective that Institution encourages is distinctly forward-looking: it is not just a matter of adapting existing practices, but of imagining institutions capable of co-evolving with the territory, with non-humans (materials, infrastructure, ecosystems) and with audiences in constant transformation. When thought critically, digital technologies can reduce travel and emissions (which is why the event is hybrid) and at the same time broaden audiences; material circularity can become a driver of new cultural economies; the sharing of resources between different entities can produce sustainable and resilient models. All these issues will be addressed in a pragmatic and operational manner during the three days. Those who approach Institution will therefore find a dual agenda: on the one hand, the territory – Santa Sofia as an exemplary hub that shows how a minor location can become a node in international networks – and on the other, the replicable dimension of the proposals (toolkit, dossier, guidelines) that the Forum is committed to leaving as its outcome. If art and culture are to be part of climate and social solutions, we need to make the leap from rhetoric to technique; Institution proposes itself as an operational step in that direction.
MOFAD – Museum of Food and Drink, New York. Graphic presented by the museum for the Forum, as part of Climate Week NYC 2025. Photo courtesy MOFAD
Participating is therefore an opportunity for those who work in institutions, cultural planners, researchers and communities: come with cases to submit to the tables, with specific questions and with the willingness to experiment with concrete collaborations. The Forum promises to deliver much more than just reflection: it will provide tools, contacts and a final dossier designed to guide future practices in the spirit of responsibility and shared care. The project coordinator is Lucilla Grossi, designer and doctoral candidate at the Doctorate of National Interest in Design for Made in Italy; collaborators include Lara Gaeta, Masha Shramko, Lifu Wang, Damini Yadav, Milana Zakarieva, Cecilia Riccardi and Pier Servetti, in close dialogue with Chiara Bellini, Councillor for Culture of Santa Sofia, as well as the Culture Office of the Municipalities of Galeata, Santa Sofia and Premilcuore.
Info:
INSTITUTION: International forum on the sustainability of cultural institutions
Santa Sofia (Forlì-Cesena, IT), New York (USA), Guangzhou (CHN)
26-28/09/2025
www.visitsantasofia.it
Art Curator and Art Advisor, graduated in Visual Arts and Cultural Mediation, with Master in Curatorial Practices, born in 1995, lives in Naples. He collaborates with Galleries and Independent Spaces, his research is mainly focused on Emerging Painting, with a careful and inclined gaze also on other forms of aesthetic language.
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