At Giunti Odeon, the project “Pillole di Design” focuses on Design Duos.
Participants include Puccio Duni, winner of the Compasso d’Oro 2014, architect Gabriella Vetrugno from Florence, Italy, Maby Palmisano, President of Com.It.Es. Washington D.C., and architect Andrea Maggi from Washington D.C.

The project

With “Pillole di Design: From Italy to Washington”, a project comes to life that brings together storytelling, culture and an international vision, helping to strengthen the role of design as an ambassador of Italian identity.

Created together with Maby Palmisano, President of Com.It.Es. Washington D.C., architect Andrea Maggi and Dr. Massimo Ciarla, under the patronage of the Italian Cultural Institute of Washington D.C., the project “Pillole di Design: From Italy to Washington” was born.

The “pills” are short stories dedicated to Italian design, its protagonists, its most iconic objects and the stories behind their creation. Each story opens a window onto a unique world, where beauty, functionality and innovation come together.

“I imagined Pillole di Design as small moments of discovery,” explains Gabriella Vetrugno. “I want to bring even those who are not part of the field closer to this extraordinary world. It is a way to share not only information, but also emotions and identity.”

The format is special because it uses simple, contemporary language that is accessible to everyone. Each episode lasts around 45 to 60 minutes. The “pills” can be shared in many different ways, reaching a broad and international audience. In this way, they become tools not only to introduce Italian design, but also to promote it around the world.

With “Pillole di Design: From Italy to Washington”, Gabriella Vetrugno, Maby Palmisano and Andrea Maggi create a project that combines stories, culture and an international perspective, strengthening the role of design as a symbol of Italian identity: a cultural bridge from Italy to Washington, and beyond.

In celebration of the bicentenary of Collodi’s birth, Bologna Children’s Book Fair has paid a significant tribute to Pinocchio, entrusting the exhibition Eccellenze Italiane. I vestiti nuovi di Pinocchio with the task of reinterpreting its relevance and iconic power. Presented at the fair during the 63rd edition of BCBF, from 13 to 16 April 2026, and from there ready to embark on a world tour, the exhibition — together with the accompanying catalogue published by Giunti — is curated by Accademia Drosselmeier. The volume is enriched by contributions from Elena Pasoli, Daniela Marcheschi, Grazia Gotti, Silvana Sola, Santo Alligo, and a poem by Beatrice Masini.

The catalogue and the exhibition:

Eccellenze italiane is a project of illustration exhibitions curated by Bologna Children’s Book Fair, launched in 2015 to promote around the world the Italian artistic creativity expressed in books for young readers. The exhibitions, accompanied by catalogues published in collaboration with some of Italy’s most prestigious publishers, travel for years and, thanks to various partners and the network of Italian Cultural Institutes, their tour reaches dozens and dozens of countries.

Over the years, the concept of “excellence” has been interpreted in different ways. With Eccellenze italiane. I vestiti nuovi di Pinocchio, the project takes a further step: at its heart, in the role of “excellence”, is a book, a work that belongs to the universal cultural heritage. Le avventure di Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, one of the most illustrated, reinterpreted and translated texts in the history of children’s publishing, becomes the focal point of an exhibition that brings great masters and new generations into dialogue, placing images created in publishing contexts alongside works produced for an international competition, confirming the extraordinary vitality of a classic capable of renewing itself over time.

“When speaking of Italian excellence in children’s literature, one cannot help but think of Collodi’s masterpiece, of which Giunti has been the custodian since its first edition in 1883. It has therefore been an honour to share this adventure with Bologna Children’s Book Fair, once again testifying to how contemporary the story of Pinocchio remains, and how this truly revolutionary novel continues to inspire artists from all over the world, who reinvent it through their illustrative interpretations, making it their own with ever-changing and astonishing techniques and perspectives.” This is the comment of Beatrice Fini, Editorial Director for Children’s and YA Books at Giunti Editore.

“With Eccellenze italiane. I vestiti nuovi di Pinocchio, Bologna Children’s Book Fair reaffirms its commitment to promoting illustration as a central language of children’s publishing and as a cultural heritage capable of speaking to the world. Le avventure di Pinocchio, one of the most illustrated and reinterpreted texts in history, represents a privileged ground for dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity. We chose Giunti because of the long-standing and solid friendship that links it to the Fair and because of the quality of the initiatives it has dedicated to this masterpiece over the years, starting with the Museo di Pinocchio in Florence, a concrete sign of a deep and ongoing cultural commitment. We share the same idea of the illustrated book as a living heritage, capable of crossing time and speaking to different generations,” adds Elena Pasoli, Director of Bologna Children’s Book Fair.

List of artists:

Peter Bailey - Justine Brax - Iacopo Bruno - Attilio Cassinelli - Nicoletta Ceccoli - Swarna Chitrakar - Carll Cneut - Vittoria Facchini - Sara Fanelli - Alberto Gamón - Philip Giordano - Robert Ingpen - Marcello Jori - Kęstutis Kasparavičius - Emanuele Luzzati - Lorenzo Mattotti - Chris Mcewan - Mike Mignola - Minalima - Gabriel Pacheco - Ferenc Pintér - Alessandro Sanna - Guido Scarabottolo - Chrudoš Valoušek - Tony Wolf - Wolfango - Ed Young - Dominic Agsaway - Fernando Arce - Marta Bartolj - Svetlana Bratukhina - Helen Bryant - Aurora Cacciapuoti - Andra Alida Calligaro - Pui Fun Chan - Yogee Chandrasekaran - Sabrina Cigada - Patrizia Colombo - Bruno De Almeida - Merve Dilek Efe - Alice Gualandi - Lucía Miranda - Mohammad Reza Moghimi - Massimo Pastore - Abbie Preston - María Rico - Peiyin Shih - Emma Lidia Squillari - Nicole Tecchio - Emila Yusof - Xiang Zhang.

At Giunti Odeon, the presentation of the catalogue of Andrea Roggi’s 2025 exhibition in Florence, at San Lorenzo, curated by Laura Speranza and published by Giunti. Also on stage will be Felicia Cigorescu.

The catalogue

From 10 May to 8 August 2025, the monumental complex of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence hosted the exhibition Humanitas. La Forza dell’Amore, which this volume presents through numerous and evocative images.

In San Lorenzo, one of the iconic sites of the Renaissance city, several monumental bronze sculptures by Andrea Roggi were displayed. Roggi is a renowned master in the creation of works of great expressive power. He is also the artist behind Albero della Pace, the sculpture dedicated to the victims of the Via dei Georgofili bombing and donated to the city of Florence.

The dynamic casting technique, conceived and patented by the artist, allows matter to express its full potential. It is not simply a technical gesture, but a poetic act: a continuation of nature itself, a way of extending its breath and transforming metal into emotion.

Curated by art historian Laura Speranza, the exhibition retraces Roggi’s long creative journey through nine sculptures.

The artist

Andrea Roggi was born on 2 July 1962 in Castiglion Fiorentino, Tuscany. From a young age, he showed a strong artistic sensitivity.

During his adolescence, he cultivated various interests, including painting and poetry. Over time, however, his path led him increasingly towards sculpture.

To deepen his knowledge of technique, he spent a period in the studio of Enzo Scatragli, also from Castiglion Fiorentino. This experience allowed him to refine the foundations of his artistic language.

The real turning point came during a visit to Florence. Entering the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, he was struck by Masaccio’s fresco The Holy Trinity. The plastic force of the work profoundly shaped his creative spirit.

In 1991, he founded the workshop La Scultura di Andrea Roggi. Here, he personally creates his works. With the support of his assistants, he is also able to produce monumental sculptures rich in detail.

Bronze became his main material. Through the lost-wax casting technique, he transforms clay models into works of extraordinary power.

In 2017, fascinated by the quarries of Pietrasanta, he also began sculpting marble. Later, from 2020 onwards, he experimented with new forms using stainless steel, further expanding his artistic language.

Valentina Albertini and Maria Antonietta Gulino present Diamoci del Lei at GO, published by Giunti Psicologia.io. In the book, they do not simply list biographies, but reconstruct the way in which fifteen women transformed their scientific marginalisation into innovation.

Also on stage: Professor Luciano Mecacci, psychologist and former Full Professor of General Psychology at the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Florence, and Professor Caterina Primi, psychologist and psychotherapist, Full Professor of Psychometrics at the School of Psychology of the University of Florence.

The book:

The history of psychology has long been told from a male perspective, often leaving in the shadows the women who played a decisive role in its development. In a professional field that today is made up largely of women, recovering these roots is not merely a historical exercise, but a necessary act of awareness — one that restores the discipline to its full complexity.

From the clinical insights of Lou Andreas-Salomé and Sabina Spielrein to the theoretical strength of Anna Freud, Melanie Klein and Karen Horney, the volume brings back to light the very DNA of our daily clinical practice.

The journey also explores the methodological battles of experimental researchers such as Mary Whiton Calkins and Margaret Floy Washburn, as well as Eleanor Maccoby’s studies on development. There is also space for the social psychology of Mamie Phipps Clark, who was able to read human complexity within contexts marked by deep racism and exclusion.

The other figures included in the book are Leta Stetter Hollingworth, Margaret Mahler, Eleanor Gibson, Mary Ainsworth, Mara Selvini Palazzoli and Brenda Milner.

The book reminds us that contemporary psychology is, in fact, an architecture of thought shaped also by women. It is a compass for anyone interested in the history of psychological science: an invitation to stop considering women as “historical exceptions” and to rediscover them as part of an authoritative genealogy, capable of offering new generations of psychologists models in which they can fully recognise themselves.

With a preface by Serena Dandini.

The authors:

Valentina Albertini is a psychologist and psychotherapist, currently President of the Foundation of the Order of Psychologists of Tuscany. She teaches at CSAPR, the Centre for the Study and Application of Relational Psychology in Prato, and is a member of the clinical and teaching committee of SIPPR, the Italian Society of Relational Psychology and Psychotherapy.

She is the author of numerous scientific articles published in Italian and international journals, as well as several books, including Dal disagio psichico alla salute mentale. Il lavoro relazionale e la promozione del benessere.

Maria Antonietta Gulino is a psychologist, psychotherapist and lecturer at CSAPR. Since April 2025, she has been the first woman President of the National Council of the Order of Psychologists, and since 2020 she has served as President of the Order of Psychologists of Tuscany.

Over the years, she has worked on welfare and social issues as a member appointed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies. She is the author of many essays published in scientific journals and collective volumes, including La relazione che cura. L’unità della psicoterapia.

Franco Legni presents Il club delle 86, published by Giunti: the final chapter in the wildly unpredictable adventures of Italy’s unluckiest lawyer, Nichi Moretti — an antihero, or perhaps a hero in spite of himself. Also on stage will be Filippo Castiglioni and Bruno Magrini.

The book

After his criminal rehabilitation, with the charges of drug dealing, human trafficking, tax evasion and embezzlement finally set aside, Nichi Moretti is at last a free man and returns to his extremely boring hobby: practising law.

Every now and then, someone turns up to make use of his services. But when a heavily tattooed man with a strong Sicilian accent and his henchman appear, things go particularly badly: Nichi is kidnapped.

The two belong to a powerful “Family” currently dealing with a few misunderstandings with what civil society calls “justice”. They need a good lawyer to get them out of trouble — someone whose job is not so much to have the defendants acquitted, but to make sure they are convicted.

Irreproachable and, as always, unexpectedly effective, Moretti soon finds himself in trouble once again and more ready than ever to run. Marseille, Pamplona, Bilbao… constantly hunted by old and new pursuers, incredibly skilled at getting himself into the worst possible situations and somehow getting out of them battered — but alive.

The author

Franco Legni was born in Prato, where he lives and writes while pretending to work as a lawyer.

In 2003, he missed his return flight from Cairo and narrowly escaped an air disaster. He has run with the bulls in Pamplona and was arrested in Belarus for possession of false documents. In 2008, he published his first book with a publishing house specialising in pornographic magazines.

In 2016, aboard a commercial cargo ship, he travelled up the Amazon River as far as Manaus.

For Giunti, he has published Io, Nichi Moretti and Due di briscola. Rumours that Nichi Moretti is his alter ego are false and malicious, although his friends consider them entirely well-founded.

Andrea Iacomini, author, journalist and spokesperson for UNICEF Italia, will present La forza sia con te (People).

The event will be introduced by Olivia Castellino, President of the UNICEF Committee of Florence and Province.

Joining the discussion on stage will be Oxana Polataitchouk, delegate of the Honorary Consulate of Ukraine, cartoonist BIGO, and photojournalist Niccolò Celesti.

The event will be moderated by Sabrina Guzzoletti, journalist and Editor-in-Chief of Seeds of Florence.

The book:

At a time when war has become, for many, an unavoidable evil, La forza sia con te tells the stark reality of the conflict in Ukraine through the eyes of a traveler: Andrea Iacomini, journalist and spokesperson for UNICEF Italia. It is a deeply human journey shaped by encounters, fears and silences, where the tragically ironic title — the phrase spoken by an air-raid alert app after every narrowly avoided danger — becomes a powerful symbol.

The author travels through a wounded yet vibrant country, where everyday life intertwines with the sound of explosions and where every place holds a seed of resistance: a nocturnal melody played on the piano, an invisible suitcase, a bouquet of flowers offered so as not to forget beauty. But it is in the gestures of children — children who dream simply of being able to sleep, instead of sleeping in order to dream — that strength continues to endure, giving the title phrase an even deeper meaning. Because even in the midst of conflict, true strength lies in the dignity of those who resist.

The author:

Andrea Iacomini was born in Rome in 1974 and has been National Spokesperson for UNICEF Italia since 2012. A graduate in Political Science from the University of Tor Vergata, he has worked with UNICEF since 2008, documenting emergencies in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Ukraine.

A contributor to the HuffPost Italia and author of essays such as Buona Strada (2007) and Il Giorno Dopo (2016), he has also brought to the stage monologues inspired by his humanitarian missions, receiving the “Ignazio Silone” Prize in 2019.

After creating the campaign Tutti giù per terra, since 2019 he has traveled to more than 1,000 cities across Italy to raise awareness among young people about children’s rights. At the end of 2025, he published La forza sia con te with People. The book is already in its third reprint.

Andrea Iacomini is currently touring across Italy presenting the book, and all author royalties are entirely donated to UNICEF projects supporting children affected by the conflict in Ukraine.