One of our objectives of common benefit as a Società Benefit (an Italian corporate law typology comparable to a benefit corporation) is to support our surrounding region and those within it; we have always been connected to the world of art and love creating new connections. “Gli occhi e la visione” (The Eyes and the Vision), a project and award for young artists, is one example of these trajectories perfectly aligning.
'The Eyes and the Vision' is a project promoted and supported by VANNI in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Turin, aimed at creating an original piece of art based on the themes of light and colour, to be gifted, considering the specific topic, to the Department of Physics at the University of Turin - which houses the Optics and Optometry degree programme.
5 selected students from the Chromatology course at the Academy of Fine Arts of Turin attended an introductory lecture last February on the theme of vision, to foster interdisciplinary exchange between optometric and artistic perspectives. They were invited to create 'sketches' of a piece of art relating to the eye. The sketches, exhibited at our VANNI Showroom, were judged by a technical jury (composed of a representative from each institution involved), and supplemented by a popular jury, which together determined the prize winner.
Cesare Goria Gatti's work 'Reflection' emerged as the winner. The artist received VANNI’s contribution for the realisation of the large-scale piece of art, to be donated to the University of Turin.
On Friday, January 12th, at the Department of Physics in Turin, the piece of art was officially unveiled in a ceremony and will remain permanently exhibited on the ground floor of the department’s historic premises in town. The project has made it possible to establish a connection between optical/optometric topics in particular and visual art, in search of an exchange between two vocations that share the common identity of 'seeing,' renewing the tangibility of artistic achievement.
We thank all the students who participated in the contest: Christian Grasso, Clarissa Moretto, Elettra Maria Norfo, Tatin Tanzi. Special thanks go to professors Edoardo Di Mauro and Viola Barovero from the Albertina Academy of Fine Arts in Turin; and Maria Pia Bussa, Silvio Maffioletti, and Claudia Colandrea from the Optics and Optometry degree programme at the University of Turin.