We have been working together for many years. We are the founders of the Museums and Stereotypes Training School, responsible for its program and workshops. We also take care of all the communication, graphics and logistics.
Maria Chiara Ciaccheri (ABCittà) is a museum consultant and project manager based in Milan, expert in the field of museum learning with a focus on accessibility, interpretation and participatory practices in adult education. With a background in History of Art and Museum Studies, she completed a Master’s Degree in Learning and Visitor Studies in Museums and Galleries at the School of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester (UK).
Since 2015 she teaches Museum Accessibility at the Master’s in Museum Education at Università Cattolica di Milano and she is often involved as a lecturer for Masters and seminars classes, working as well as a freelance consultant for many institutions and museums. In 2014 she obtain a grant for mapping and investigating over one hundred best practices in sensory and intellectual accessibility in US museums, where she frequently travels to since 2008. She writes about museums for social innovation for the Italian magazine cheFare.com, pursuing her independent research nationally and internationally.
Anna Chiara Cimoli (ABCittà) is an art historian and museum consultant based in Milan. After graduating in Art History, she earned a diploma in Museology at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris and a Ph.D. in History of Architecture from the Polytechnic of Turin. At present, she teaches Heritage Preservation and Valorisation at the State University in Milan, as well as facilitating a workshop in Museum mediation. In 2012-14, she has collaborated as a free-lance researcher at the MeLa* Project-European Museums in an age of migrations, within the Polytechnic of Milan research unit. She has published extensively in the fields of inclusion and accessibility of culture to diverse audiences. She is the author of Musei effimeri. Allestimenti di mostre in Italia 1947-1963 (2007), Che cosa vedi? Musei e pubblico adolescente (2017) and, Approdi. Musei delle migrazioni in Europa (2018). Anna is the editor of the blog museumsandmigration.wordpress.com (with Maria Vlachou) and co-director of the online magazine roots§routes.
João Pedro Sousa Rosa (4iS) is director and co-founder of 4iS – Platform for Social Innovation, NGO – promoted by the University of Aveiro and its Alumni association. Since 2006 he has been developer and coordinator of volunteering and community based projects for local development and in 2009 co-founded the first Iberoamerican students’ network collaborating with UNESCO, OECD, OIT and SEGIB for youth empowerment. Co-founder of VivaCidade – Dress-up city Voids project under the framework of Actors of Urban Change program, one of the first cross-sectoral urban commons project in Portugal. Co-author of the CitizensLab publication “Mapping New Forms of Civic Engagement in Europe”. He is a cultural manager and a certified trainer in project management, non-formal education and education for human rights and active citizenship, the latter by the north-south center of the Council of Europe and the Network University of Amsterdam. Since 2016 is part of the strategic and implementation board of Tandem Europe – Social Innovation program, promoted by European Cultural Foundation and MitOst (www.tandemforculture.org). Together with the University of Aveiro, the Portuguese Anti-Poverty Network and the Incubator Network of Aveiro Region he gives support to a joint knowledge transfer unit and a capacity building program.
Marta Vireca is a graphic designer. She graduated in Industrial Design at the Politecnico di Milano. Since 2005 she has been cooperating with ABCittà, involved in participatory planning processes, aimed in particular at the direct involvement of children and youth in educational and cultural frameworks, with tasks of facilitation, organization and coordination.
She oversees the planning, design and execution of participatory planning workshops and active citizenship initiatives. Marta’s focus is on all aspects that surround communication and visual supports for ABCittà’s initiatives, with particular attention paid to formats and the audiences they are designed for. Her work in ABCittà has recently been addressing social and cultural communication in a growing manner, developing accessible tools such as the anti-stereotype kit I pregiudizi che siamo (in Italian).
Enrico Giori is an architecture student at the Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, USA). As a designer, Giori is interested in participatory planning and co-design processes, which, through experimental design methodologies aim to empower both designers and final users, instilling the much-needed practice of designer-user dialogue within creative professions. Additionally, Giori is fascinated by techniques of visual representation, and constantly aims to embrace and critically examine the strong suits and shortcomings of different techniques of visual communication.
Recently, Giori was awarded the second prize in the design competition DaM–Giovani Designer per i Musei Italiani, sponsored by MiBAC–Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, Comune di Modena,Giovani d’Arte and GAI–Giovani Artisti Italiani. Giori also collaborated as a project intern with ABCittà as a recipient of the2019 RISD Maharam STEAM Fellowship in Applied Art and Design.
Museums and Stereotypes 