&
FONDAZIONE SANDRETTO
RE REBAUDENGO
in collaboration with
How creative
industries are
reshaping
sustainability
September 17, 2025
FRC – Via Gaetano de Castillia, 28, Milan
ABOUT
Acqua Foundation, a charity dedicated to the preservation of water and oceans, organizes together with Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation And ELLE Active the fourth edition of IMAGINARIUM a project dedicated to sustainability on September 17, 2025.
A programmatic conference on "climate change" and the importance of the fashion and design sectors in driving a paradigm shift in sustainability. Speakers will include leading figures from the creative industries, scientists, designers, artists, and influencers, for a roundtable discussion of thematic topics and proposals.
Kyocera Document Solutions Italy is a partner of Acqua Foundation for Imaginarium, where it will present Forearth, the textile inkjet printer that reduces water consumption by up to 99% thanks to an innovative system “Water Free Concept”Capable of printing on cotton, silk, polyester, and blended fibers without requiring local water sources, it represents a radical breakthrough for fashion and textile furnishings, combining creativity and sustainability with a significant environmental impact.
SPEAKERS
Carlo Capasa
President of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion
Cardinal Fabio Baggio
CS Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development
Giulio Boccaletti
Honorary Research Associate at the Smith School of Enterprise, University of Oxford, Scientific Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change
Art Panel
Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo - Italian art collector and patron, founder of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation
Letizia Moratti - Member of the European Parliament and philanthropist
Binta Diaw - Artist
Sustainability Panel
Suzy Amis Cameron - CEO and Founder of Inside Out LLC
Matteo Ward - Author and CEO of Inside Out Fashion, Textile & Home
Carl McInnes - Executive Vice President of Innovation of Inside Out LLC
Francesca Greco
Water policy expert and Marie Curie researcher at the University of Bergamo
Ipologica
Artist duo
Sara Roversi
Founder of the Future Food Institute
Panel Fashion
Marina Spadafora - Global Ambassador for Ethical Fashion
Francesca Monaco - Sustainable Fashion Entrepreneur THEMOIRè
Stella Stone - Designer and artist, co-founder of AT Studio
Michele De Lucchi
Architect and designer
Alex Braga
Experimental artist, producer, activist
Alessandro Mambretti
Expert Production Print Solution, Kyocera
Gabriele Bonfiglioli
Co-founder, Acqua Foundation
ARTISTIC PROJECT
Il peut pleurer du ciel, Binta Daw
For the 2025 edition we present ““It may fill the sky”, a work by Binta Diaw, previously featured in the exhibition and co-produced by the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo and the Associazione Genesi. The work addresses the complex issue of migration and its history between two continents: Africa and Europe. The video, shot in Yarakh, Senegal, and conceived as a visual meditation on the ocean, focuses on the sea and the waves forming offshore. Lampedusa, a land at the crossroads of two continents, appears in the distance in the background. A dark mass appears in the water, floating against the wind and tides. This form is a mat of earth through which the artist references the sensitivity of the migrant human body and the land we choose for ourselves, or that which is imposed on us, with particular reference to the history of Africa and its colonial past.
PARTNERS
ACQUA FOUNDATION
WHO WE ARE
Acqua Foundation is a non-profit philanthropic association that deals with water conservation and its governance at a global level.
The association wants to develop over time a network aimed at financing strategic projects on an international scale to increase awareness on the topic of water resources. Our goal is to inform the community about the importance of water as a fundamental resource to be safeguarded.
To do this within our program: ART FOR WATER. We believe that art is the most powerful tool to spread our message and can influence public opinion in a strong and effective way.
To this end, the association collaborates with major international and Italian artists to raise public awareness on the topic of its mission.
IMAGINARIUM 3
Scroll for the 2024 edition of Imaginarium
ABOUT
Against the backdrop of a futuristic Milan in constant contact with historical and past elements, the next September 12, 2024 will take place at Riccardo Catella Foundation the third edition of IMAGINARIUM, a debate meeting that will examine the role of creative industries within the current environmental scenario.
Acqua Foundation, a philanthropic organization for global water conservation and governance, and Vanity Fair, in collaboration with LVRSustainable, are the promoters of this event with the aim of raising public awareness on the controversial topic of sustainability, promoting responsible good practices.
The thematic tables, thanks to the participation and testimony of exceptional guests, will focus their attention on topics related to fashion, diversity & inclusion, art and design giving rise to interesting food for thought.
LOCATION
FONDAZIONE RICCARDO CATELLA, MILANO
SPEAKERS
Gabriele Bonfiglioli
Co-founder & President, Acqua Foundation
Luisa Panconesi
Chief Sustainability Officer LuisaViaRoma
Simone Marchetti
Editor in Chief, Vanity Fair Italy
Carlo Capasa
President of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion
FASHION & SUSTAINABILITY
Eva Kruse - Founder, Global Fashion Agenda
Fernanda Hernandez - Sustainability Director, Temera
Matteo Ward - Co Founder, WRÅD
The Little Orchestra of the Sea
Cello Performance & Introduction by Arnoldo Mosca Mondadori
HOLISTIC & SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
Kelly Russell Catella - Managing Director Catella Foundation
JJ Martin - Founder and Chief Creative & Spiritual Officer DoubleJ
Mario Cucinella
Founder & Design Director, Mario Cucinella Architects
Paolo Brescia
Co-Founder at OBR Open Building Research
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Artist
ART & CULTURE
Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo - Founder and President of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation
Elena Mazzi - Artist
Francesca Colombo - General Director of Culture BAM Biblioteca Alberi Milano
TECH & INNOVATION
Arcangelo D'Onofrio - Founder Temera
PierMario Barzaghi - Head of ESG KPMG Italy
Luigi De Vecchi
President of Sylva Foundation & Chairman of Continental Europe for Corporate and Investment Banking at Citi
Massimiliano Rosolino
Swimmer & Olympic Champion
Chiara Galiazzo
Singer
Salma Bougarani
Co-Founder & CEO at GREEN WATECH
Diana Yousef Martinek
Change Water Labs
Charity Project with WeWorld
Cecilia Ago - Acqua Foundation Co-Founder
Giuseppe di Vita - Acqua Foundation Co-Founder
Tudor Havriliuc - Acqua Foundation Ambassador
Closing & Acknowledgements
Aurelia Musumeci Greco - Acqua Foundation Co-Founder
ARTISTIC PROJECT
AQUATIC TALES, Elena Mazzi
For the 2024 edition we present works by Elena Mazzi with a series of works from his various productions such as “Becoming with and unbecoming with” (2018-2023), 9 sculptures (mixed-media); “Sapmi Flatbed” (2022), a floor tapestry composed of several pieces; “Polar Silk Road (Map 1)” (2023), a wall tapestry and “The upcoming Polar silk Road” (2021), a video work (between the ground floor and the upper floor of Fondazione Catella).
Elena Mazzi, starting from the examination of specific territories, in her works reinterprets the cultural and natural heritage of places by intertwining stories, facts and fantasies transmitted by local communities, with the intent of suggesting possible resolutions to the conflict between man, nature and culture. Her working methodology, close to anthropology, favors a holistic approach aimed at mending fractures in society, which starts from observation and proceeds by combining different knowledge.
CHARITY PROJECT
WITH WEWORLD IN CAMBODIA
This year Acqua Foundation has entered into a partnership with We World to realize a water compensation project in Cambodia, a country where the highest number of textile industries are concentrated and there are villages where it is very difficult to have access to drinking water. In this way, people often drink polluted water that causes serious damage to the health of adults and children.
During the conference a fundraising will be carried out that will allow the following objectives to be achieved, which can be divided into phases based on the funds raised.
Phase 1: Access to Drinking Water
We will finance the purchase and installation of 2 filters to purify polluted water and provide access to drinking water to 2 schools and nearby villages. Each school is attended by 300 children and their families also have access to water.
Phase 2: Cambodia Water Pollution Study
We will finance a scientific research carried out directly in Cambodia to verify the level of pollution of the aquifers of the areas near the textile industrial settlements. This research aims to verify the consequences for humans of the pollution directly related to the industrial settlements and will be one of the first studies carried out with this purpose.
Phase 3: Access to medical visits:
We will finance free medical visits for school children in order to monitor and possibly treat illnesses caused by the fact that they have continuously drunk non-potable water.
PARTNERS
IMAGINARIUM II
Scroll for the 2023 edition of Imaginarium
SPEAKERS
2023 EDITION
Gabriele Bonfiglioli
President of Acqua Foundation
Luisa Panconesi
Chief Sustainability Officer LuisaViaRoma
Giulio Boccaletti
Honorary Research Associate at the Smith School of Enterprise University of Oxford
Carlo Capasa
President of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion
Fernanda Hernandez
Head of Sustainability of LuisaViaRoma
Franco Loro Piana
Sease CEO
Andrea Baldo
Ganni CEO
Mario Borroi
Citizens of Humanity COO
Kulsum Shadab Wahab
Executive Director at Hothur Foundation, Founder Ara Lumiere
Blandina Bobson
Director of Oxfam's women's rights programs in Kenya
Michele De Lucchi
Architect and Founder of AMDL CIRCLE
Kelly Russell Catella
Managing Director Riccardo Catella Foundation
Stefano Belingardi Clusoni
Architect and Founder of BE.ST
Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo
Founder and President of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation
Quayola
Artist
ARTISTIC PROJECT
2023 EDITION
For the 2023 edition we hosted works by Davide Quayola, with a series of works from Storms, a series of photographs on the ground floor and a video on the upper floor of the Catella Foundation.
Quayola uses technology as a lens to explore the tensions and balances between seemingly opposing forces: the real and the artificial, the figurative and the abstract, the old and the new.
Constructing immersive installations, often in historically significant architectural sites, the artist engages with and reimagines canonical images through contemporary technology. Hellenistic sculpture, Old Master painting, and Baroque architecture are some of the historical aesthetics that serve as a starting point for Quayola's abstract compositions.
His varied practice, all stemming from custom computer software, also includes audiovisual performances, videos, sculptures and works on paper.
PARTNERS
2023 EDITION
PRESS
2023 EDITION
IMAGINARIUM I
Scroll for the 2022 edition of Imaginarium
ABOUT
2023 EDITION
Acqua Foundation and LVRSustainable by LUISAVIAROMA launch the second meeting of:
IMAGINARIUM – How the creative industries are rethinking sustainability
a conference involving representatives of the creative industries and an exhibition of an international artist.
The current and evident inability to put an end to the environmental and climate crisis or at least try to keep it under control is one of the biggest collective problems relating to the scenario we face. Humanity has never faced a more complex, ambitious and far-reaching challenge than halting the collapse of our ecosystem and stabilizing the climate.
In this context, both in terms of impact and the resonance they have in public opinion, the Creative Industries can play a fundamental role in identifying long-term sustainable solutions and contributing to directing individual behaviour.
The Creative Industries in Italy today represent an annual turnover of over 200 billion euros and approximately 2 million employees. They are sectors with high added value and strategic for the country's competitiveness, with the opportunity to create a system and lead a renewal and a change of cultural paradigm at a national and European level for a sustainable transformation of the industry. In a general context that has seen a succession of emergencies, the ecological transition represents a response to reposition and regain a leadership position that allows for long-term, lasting growth.
SPEAKERS
2022 EDITION
Gabriele Bonfiglioli
President of Acqua Foundation
Alessandra Rossi
CEO LuisaViaRoma
Francesco Perrini
Director of the Sustainability Lab and President of the Bocconi Sustainability Committee
Stefano Boeri
Studio Boeri and President of
Milan Triennial
Fabio Novembre
Studio Novembre
Kelly Russell Catella
Head of Sustainability and
Communication Coima
Carlo Capasa
President of the Chamber of Fashion
Andrea Rosso
MYAR Founder & Diesel Sustainability Ambassador
Fernanda Hernandez
LVRSustainable
Luca Travaglini
Founder Planet Farm
Davide Bollati
Chairman Davines Group
Valentina Cerolini
Co-founder & CEO Deesup
Noah Stolz
Curator, Head of The Stella Maris Archive
Andrea Conte
Visual Artist and Environmental Engineer Ph.D. Owner at Climate Art Project and Andreco Studio
Anja Leuenberg
Model, Founder Wild Plant Food
ARTISTIC PROJECT
2022 EDITION
In the 2022 edition we created an exhibition in collaboration with the contemporary art curator Noah Stolz which concerned a artistic project on sustainability, with site-specific installations by artist Marion Baruch, whose works are made from waste threads and fabrics recovered from fashion ateliers. Marion Baruch's intervention included artistic installations in the internal spaces of the Catella Foundation. Works that give life back to something that would be lost and that represents a link with a "brand" that Baruch had invented some time ago, when she signed herself with the pseudonym "Name Diffusion", to underline the importance of fashion and art to a relational and social point of view, and not a commercial one.
Marion Baruch (BIO)
Born in 1929 in Romania, she currently lives and works in Italy. It offers feminine, socially engaged and daring work that constantly aims to question its own status by exploring infinitely new dimensions sometimes found on the fringes of the art scene through the use of performances, installations and sculptures characterized by anti-establishment political and poetic positions . His recent work pursues this dialectical research between art and society. Using leftovers from the textile industry, these fabric sculptures introduce a dialogue between two immaterial forces: space and memory. Dialogue as a form of creation; waste as a potential object; emptiness as a form of the possible and mediation as an act of creation are some of the rules of the game that Marion Baruch has always faithfully observed. In this way the artist addresses issues related to the body, the productive world and the consumption of resources.
PARTNERS
2022 EDITION
PRESS
2022 EDITION
