Book covers are one of the most powerful tools in publishing, capable of capturing attention and conveying the essence of a story at a glance. As Bruno Munari, master of Italian editorial graphic design, once said, a book cover is a small poster that tells the viewer there is something worth discovering inside.
The history of Italian publishing offers numerous examples of publishing houses that have turned to illustrators to create distinctive and effective covers. This approach became firmly established in the 2000s, when several publishers began collaborating with illustrators to renew the visual identity of entire book series.
Open from 19 February – 27 March 2026 at the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh, the exhibition Storie Italiane (Italian Stories) explores the central role of illustration in contemporary Italian narrative fiction, showing how publishers increasingly entrust illustrators with interpreting both classic authors and emerging voices.
The exhibition features works by Manuele Fior, Beppe Giacobbe, Andrea Serio, Mario Sughi, and Elisa Talentino — among the most acclaimed Italian illustrators of recent years — whose distinctive styles range from watercolor to digital painting.
Curated by Melania Gazzotti, an art historian specializing in Italian graphic design and illustration, for Associazione Flangini, Storie Italiane (Italian Stories) highlights the power of illustration to transform book covers into compelling visual narratives.
Launch night
Join us on Thursday, 19 February from 5:30pm for the launch night with curator Melania Gazzotti. Free entry: email rsvp.iicedimburgo@esteri.it to reserve your space.
From 19 February – 27 March 2026
Opening times
Mondays to Thursdays
9.30-13.30 / 14.30 -16.00
Fridays
9.30-13.00
Free entry (booking required: please email rsvp.iicedimburgo@esteri.it or phone 0131 668 2232 & include the full names of all the guests in your party).
Manuele Fior, born in Cesena in 1975, has lived in Berlin, Oslo, Paris, and Venice. His watercolor and gouache illustrations have appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Repubblica, and Le Monde. He has designed covers for Cesare Pavese (Einaudi) and Giorgio Scerbanenco (La Nave di Teseo), and won major comics awards including the 2011 Fauve d’Or. His latest graphic novel, Hypericon, was published in 2022. Fior also created the posters for the 70th Premio Strega (2016) and the Turin Book Fair (2018).
Andrea Serio, born in Carrara in 1973, is an illustrator specializing in pastel and colored pencil. He has exhibited internationally and created illustrations for children’s books, posters, magazines, album covers, and novels. His first solo graphic novel, Rapsodia in blu (2019), an adaptation of Silvia Cuttin’s Ci sarebbe bastato, has been published across Europe. He also illustrated Gauloises (2021) by Igort, and recently designed covers for Beppe Fenoglio (Einaudi) and Piero Chiara (Mondadori).
Beppe Giacobbe, born in Milan in 1953, lives and works there. In the late 1980s, he moved to New York, studied at the School of Visual Arts, and worked for United Airlines and publications including The New York Times and The New Yorker. His digital illustrations have appeared regularly in Corriere della Sera since 1989 (documented in Visionary Dictionary, 2013) and have been commissioned by major Italian publishers such as Einaudi, Mondadori, Rizzoli, and Feltrinelli.
Mario Sughi, born in Cesena in 1961, has lived and worked in Dublin since the mid-1990s. His digital paintings, often printed in large format, have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Italy and Ireland. As an illustrator, he creates book covers for leading Italian publishers including Einaudi, Garzanti, Neri Pozza, Rizzoli, and Fazi. In 2021, he designed the cover for the Polish edition of Domenico Starnone’s Confidenze, and in 2024 his first short story collection, Lacca, will be published by Marinoni.
Elisa Talentino, born in Ivrea in 1981, lives and works in Turin. She experiments with printmaking techniques, especially screen printing and monotype, combined with traditional painting. Her illustrations have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, La Repubblica, La Stampa, and Corriere della Sera, and she has designed covers for publishers including Einaudi, Mondadori, and Bompiani. In 2017, she created the animated short Dandelion, presented at major international festivals, and in 2023 she designed the poster for Turin’ Salone Internazionale del Libro.
Melania Gazzotti is a curator and art historian specializing in graphic design and illustration. She has worked at MART in Trento and Rovereto, the Guggenheim museums (New York, Bilbao, Venice), the Centre for Italian Modern Art (New York), and was a Yale Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow. From 2015 to 2020, she organised exhibitions on Italian illustrators for the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. Recent curated shows include Lawrence Ferlinghetti. A Life (2017), Lorenzo Mattotti: Covers for The New Yorker (2018–2019), Vietato vietare: Counterculture in Italy 1968–1977 (2018), Caleidoscopica: The Illustrated World of Olimpia Zagnoli, and Lorenzo Mattotti: Stories, Rhythms, Movements (2023).
Please note that security checks will be in place on arrival.
Please note that photographs and footage will be taken throughout the event. These images and videos may be used for marketing, publicity, and other purposes, including on our website and social media channels. If you do not wish to have your image used, please inform the event organisers or contact eventi.iicedimburgo@esteri.it before the event.
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