Exploring human identity through a graphic novel conceived and developed in a place of scientific research. This is the idea behind the first Artist Residency, which will begin at SISSA - Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati in Trieste on 26 October. The initiative is the first project of Officina Editoriale, a new permanent initiative dedicated to science book culture, launched by SISSA as an additional activity linked to Scienza e Virgola.
The project is supported by AgorAI, the AI company founded in Trieste by Generali, illy and Fincantieri, together with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. It is part of the activities surrounding Scienza e Virgola, the science book festival organised in Trieste by SISSA’s Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Science and Humanities (ILAS), under the artistic direction of writer Paolo Giordano. Each year, the Officina Editoriale Artist Residency will host authors and artists working in different creative fields, inviting them to explore the festival’s themes through their own artistic language.
Over the course of two weeks, he will engage in dialogue with SISSA researchers, students from the Franco Prattico Master’s Programme in Science Communication, and the AgorAI team. The themes he may explore include artificial intelligence, the perception of time, neurobiology, the geometry of spacetime and cosmology. The graphic novel will be presented to the public in May 2027, during the 2027 edition of “Scienza e Virgola”.