He was the best intern in communication, Edoardo and I once worked briefly in our past lives in the world of fashion. Nowadays I follow his social media to feed my soul with beautiful art from his grand Palazzo Monti – an artist residency based in Brescia, and the building is dated back in 1200.
With his background in brand communication, Edo started his career interning for Stella McCartney and stayed for 8 years, he moved countries, faced challenges then he mastered every skill about how to communicate a brand to the audience around the world. I was so intrigued with his story and what a beautiful project he is leading.
So who is this boy in Art and what is Palazzo Monti? Below is our virtual conversation:
KF: Hi Edo, please share how your career started in fashion and what have you learned the most which translate to your business now?
Edo: Hi, thank you for all the questions, I thought I sent you audio with answers (SO GENIUS!! ) because I am on the run…
So my career started in fashion with an internship, which was super important because I really build the ground on top of which I build my career, I’ve been working for Stella McCartney for 8 years within the communication department for 8 years, so been able to stay within the same company and same office for this long time was super super key and super important, and allow me to really build a career and learned so much within those years, living in London then New York, that allowed me to live through challenging times, but at the same time apply the knowledge and skills I learned by working and living there on to the art world, once you know how to work on communicating a project, whether is art, fashion, music or any other product, then the game is over, you know how to handle fashion, how to handle art, and I think that was the main point by working in comms, I was able to apply my skills to pretty much anything that I could think of, and art was the best, simply because it was such a passion since I was little,
KF: How did you then get into the world of Art?
Edo: In fact I get into art by collecting first, collecting came about when I was in Italy, I was still quite young, simply because I was really wanted to own something I love, and then the desire to possess then became a desire to support, I have been living and meeting, hang out with the art world, instead of fashion, people such as artists, curators, collectors, and art directors of museums as such.
I was really wanted to own something I love, and then the desire to possess then became a desire to support.
How Edoardo got into the world of art.
KF: Please tell us about the amazing Palazzo Monti, when did you start curating art in this space?
Edo: I really wanted to create a project which then became Palazzo Monti to support this community, the project was launched in 2017, it’s been running for over 3 years, we managed to welcome, foster and support over 150 artists from all over the world, over 50 countries, and I quitted my job in 2018, ’cause I really wanted to move back to Italy and support the project physically here, and it has just been such an amazing roller coaster. I curated over 25 shows, we had countless dinners and events in support the artists, it’s been such an amazing project.
On October the 18th this year, there is going to be show opening at an amazing institution in States, it’s Mana Contemporary at their Jersey location, I am going to bring 150 artists that have been coming to Palazzo Monti to have this fantastic celebration virtually, I will be going to see the show in a few months, as it lasts 6 months, but wont be there for the opening.
KF: In your opinion, how has this pandemic affected the art world?
Edo: I think it affected in both good and bad ways. Of course sales are down, fairs have been cancelled, shows are not happening and artists are not selling anymore. But at the same time, I think it really helped the artists and galleries by telling them basically, they needed to have an on-line presence whether people already have one (website), they improved it, whoever didn’t have one got their hands on having a stronger presence on line, that is super important. That doesn’t mean that on-line presence drives sales, I always say that it’s better to have quality over quantities also on line, but I think that the digital world for sure was somehow got closer to the art world, which is something that art was never approached before.
KF: What have you missed the most during the lock down?
Edo: What I missed of course is my friends, to be honest I didn’t miss travelling, I didn’t miss my past life (fashion). I miss my friends because we Italians we value the physical connections with our friends and family. That was really missed mostly but thanks to social media we were able to keep in touch together and that was super fantastic.
KF: What is your advice / tips for choosing a piece of art?
Edo: My advice is to start with low budget, go with your gut feelings, don’t listen to anyone else rather than yourself, because no body has the crystal ball to look into the future to tell you what is good or not, set a budget, talk to the artists directly if you can instead of going through dealers or galleries, because at least you can have an honest conversation with the artists. Social media now allows to really get in touch with the artists wherever they are and wherever the stage of their career, I think it’s really really important to have a direct conversation with the artists first.
KF: You mentioned the digital world has come closer to the art world, do you believe in a virtual art show like virtual fashion week and do you have plan to do so for Palazzo Monti?
Edo: About virtual art shows, a lot has been done and proposed to the art world in these coming months but we all came to realise that it does not work. Art needs to be made, enjoyed, seen in person, with the hardwares and softwares we have now we can’t achieve the same emotions that you have when seeing an artwork in real life.
KF: What is your ultimate vision for Palazzo Monti?
Edo: My ultimate vision for Palazzo Monti the current one but more international more than ever. Expanding our contacts and experiences with other institutions like what we are doing with Mana, in order to support the artists that we can introduce to the international community of the art lovers.
HOW TO SUPPORT: Palazzo Monti has Friends of the Palazzo program, they accept donations and is a 100% non-profit organisation. For both donations and interests they can get in touch through their website, instagram or at ciao@palazzomonti.org
藝術饗宴 – 與總監 ＥＤＯＡＲＤＯ ＭＯＮＴＩ 的虛擬訪談：
從一個傳播部的實習生變成藝術總監，把一個13世紀的宮殿改變成讓當地藝術家的住宿 還有展覽作品的藝術館，我今天來和ＥＤＯ談談他是怎麼樣把這一個藝術事業創造出來地。
ＫＦ： Hello ＥＤＯ請分享一下啊你是怎麼樣到時尚業開始然後你學到什麼之後變成是你現在創造出了這一個藝術的事業？
ＥＤＯ： Hi首先先謝謝你所有的這些訪談題目，因為我本身常常很忙跑來跑去所以我把這些就是留言直接傳給你。 （ 我必須說他是第一位非常知道怎麼節省時間而且真的是知道他在傳播部工作過直接丟語音給我非常方便，就是生意天才）
我的事業起跳是從時尚的實習生做起來的，這個經驗對我來說這是非常的重要因為我從零開始，然後之後我開始真正從事自己的事業。
我當時是在Stella McCartney的傳播部門工作了8年， 在同一個公司環境工作待這麼久對我來說是一個很重要很重要的，因為這個讓我真的是能夠把自己的事業慢慢的創造起來，我學了很多很多的東西全部都是從零開始，也讓我知道說要怎麼樣可以真正的空手創造自己想要做的事。在Stella, 我從義大利搬到倫敦，後來又搬到了紐約，事實上在生活上工作上都有很多的挑戰，但是相對的，這經驗讓我學習到更多工作上的知識。 在傳播部門工作上最重要就是把這一個品牌怎麼樣去表達到世界上不同的地方，所以當我知道怎麼樣把時尚傳達到任何的媒體，傳給觀眾與支持者之後，我以相對的知識還有技能可以把它放在藝術上或是音樂上，當你知道怎麼樣操作這份知識，不管是什麼產品你都可以做得很好，那對我來說我的選擇是把藝術的熱情傳片世界。
ＫＦ：那你是怎麼樣進入藝術的這個世界？
ＥＤＯ： 我從小就對藝術有很大的熱情。事實上是我在義大利的時候就開始收藏藝術， 我當時還很年輕我的想法只是我想要收藏我喜愛的東西，慢慢從想要擁有和收藏喜歡的東西變成長要支持和傳達這樣的熱情。 所以我就開始跟一些做藝術的人 混在一起所以與其是跟時尚人一起我跟藝術家還有欣賞藝術的人在一起的時間比較多這些人可能自己是做藝術的有些人是收藏者有些人是在知名的博物館或是畫廊工作等等。
ＫＦ： 那現在告訴我們這個精彩的 ＰＡＬＡＺＺＯ ＭＯＮＴＩ
你是什麼時候開始策劃這樣子的這個地方？
ＥＤＯ： 在2017年的時候，我當時開始策劃這一個新的Project的時候主要就是想要能夠支持藝術，所以現在這一說現在這個已經是超過3年的一個project。我把Palazzo Monti變成是一個藝術社區 ，我們歡迎了還有支持從世界各地來的藝術家，超過50個國家一共超過150位天賦。我在2018年的時候就離職，第一，因為我很想要搬回意大利，然後我想完全親生支持與拓展我的藝術發展，很難以置信的我已經策劃了超過25場秀，做了很多不同的活動，藝術的宴會晚餐，還有不同的活動來支持這一些藝術家。
那在今年10月18號的時候我們會有一場藝術的秀是在美國的Mana contemporary institution位在紐澤西我們將會以視覺上的方式帶150位藝術家參展，我自己也希望能夠在六個月之內過去看看。
ＫＦ： 你自己的經驗這次的事情是怎麼樣影響到我們的藝術世界？
ＥＤＯ： 我覺得這個影響是有好也有壞。當然藝術的銷售是下降的因為所有的show 還有藝術展都是被取消的那藝術家就沒有辦法出展。但是相對的我覺得好處是這能夠讓藝術家了解到網路世界是很重要的，所以至少自己要有一個網站，要有一個好的網站，還有也要開始自己的社交媒體。當然這不代表有一個好的網站就可以有比較好的銷售成績，至少可以讓自己的作品接觸到更多的地方。還有網路世界衝來和藝術界並不是特別的友好但是自從了疫情之後我發現藝術家們也開始了解到社交媒體的重要。
ＫＦ： 對於喜歡收藏的朋友，要怎麼樣挑藝術品你可以給一些建議嗎？
ＥＤＯ：我的建議是先從小的預算開始如果自己喜歡的話其他人說什麼都不重要因為沒有人可以跟你說這一個藝術品以後會不會變得非常的值錢所以最重要的是自己喜歡。還有直接用社交媒體跟你欣賞的藝術家聯絡問他們的意見所以與其跟藝術館還有經銷商買，直接跟藝術家買會更好。
ＫＦ：那你剛剛提到網路世界和藝術界終於比較親近了，那你覺得這個虛擬藝術秀就像是虛擬時尚秀的看法是什麼？
ＥＤＯ： 關於虛擬藝術秀事實上在這幾個月會有這樣子的展覽， 但是我們在這話的時候也慢慢的發現到藝術品是必須要慢慢做出來畫出來藝術品需要被欣賞貝親身體驗的所以即便虛擬世界可以幫我們做到一些但是還是沒有辦法真正表達親身體會一件藝術品的感覺。
ＫＦ： 那你對於Palazzo Monti 的願景是什麼呢？
ＥＤＯ：我最終的願景是將Palazzo Monti變得更全球化 擴大我們對其他世界上的聯繫和交流，希望有更多像Mana Institution的機構能夠來支持我們的新的藝術家也希望能夠把它變成全球化的藝術社區分享給所有對於藝術有熱好的人。
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Kuofi O'Connor 