Federico Campagna - 234 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
SPEAKING TO THE DEFEATED. Federico Campagna is an Italian philosopher based in London. His research concerns the metaphysics, politics and history of world-building. His books are Technic and Magic (Bloomsbury, 2018) and Prophetic Culture (Bloomsbury, 2021) and his next book Otherworlds, Mediterranean Lessons on Escaping History will investigate the history of cosmological imagination during times of crisis in the Mediterranean area. “The values of old are gone, and you have to reinvent your way of life from scratch” “An apocalypse reveals all the things that usually, in your daily life,...
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James Daunt - 233 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
A REMARKABLE BOOKSELLER. James Daunt is the founder of the Daunt Books chain in the UK, and has been managing director of Waterstones, the bookshop chain of more than 300 stores, since 2011. In 2019 he also became CEO of Barnes & Noble, the American bookstore chain of some 650 stores. An Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Daunt was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to publishing. “The real joy of a bookstore is that it does curate and it does the job of ensuring that readers and customers are browsing the best...
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Laurence des Cars - 232 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
A LARGE MUSEUM IS LIKE AN OPERA. Laurence des Cars is a French museum curator and art historian who President Macron appointed President and Director of the Louvre Museum in September 2021, becoming the first woman to hold the position in the establishment’s 228-year history. Her previous role was President of musée d’Orsay and musée de l’Orangerie. Laurence des Cars is the author of several books including ‘The Pre-Raphaelites: Romance and Realism’. “The Louvre is more than a museum. It’s a symbol of France, of Paris.” “We are definitely in a very complex moment, and...
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Graydon Carter - 231 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
GOOD GOING. Graydon Carter launched his enjoyable digital weekly newsletter Air Mail in 2019. He was the editor of Vanity Fair for twenty-five years, and under him Vanity Fair won numerous awards. Named to the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame, he is also an author and editor of books, a producer of plays and documentaries, and a restaurateur. In the newly published memoir When the Going Was Good Graydon recounts how he made his mark as one of society’s most talented editors and shapers of culture. “I’m a very kind person,...
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Guillaume Bonn - 230 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
AFRICA: FACING THE FACTS. Guillaume Bonn is a documentary photographer who has commented on conflict, social and environmental issues for the last 25 years. As a contributor to the New York Times and Vanity Fair he covered topics ranging from the conflict in Northern Uganda, the Darfur humanitarian crisis and the ivory trade in African elephants. Bonn grew up in Kenya and his subsequent reporting bought him to 40 countries on the African continent. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, he is the author of a beautiful new book Paradise Inc.. “African...
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David Veal - 229 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
EDUCATING THE CONSUMER ABOUT COFFEE AND TEA. DAVID VEAL has been deeply involved in both the coffee industry and the tea industry for over 40 years. He is the former Executive Director of the Speciality Coffee Association of Europe and is currently Executive Director of The European Speciality Tea Association, a position he took up in May 2019. “There is a commonality between tea and coffee, and that is education.” “We’re all about promoting speciality tea and fostering a speciality tea community worldwide.” “The path that speciality tea is taking is similar to the one that...
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Thomas Heatherwick - 228 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
HUMANISE: A DEEPLY PASSIONATE MANIFESTO. Thomas Heatherwick is a British designer whose varied work over two decades is characterised by its originality, inventiveness and humanity. As the founder and design director of Heatherwick Studio, Thomas now heads a team of over 250 problem solvers dedicated to making the physical world around us better for everyone. This team wants to see a world where the buildings and places around us are radically more joyful, engaging and human. The approach driving everything is to lead from human experience rather than any fixed design belief. "I advocate...
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Cécile Verdier - 227 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
ART ELEVATES YOU EVERY DAY. Cécile Verdier is President of Christie's France. She graduated from Sciences Po and Art History at Paris IV, before spending 4 years at Christie's as Head of Valuations then moving to the 20th Century department, in parallel of taking the hammer for Christie’s France since the inauguration sale in 2001. From 2008 to 2018, she was heading the 20th Century Design Department globally at Sotheby’s and Vice President of the French office at the end of her tenure. In 2019, she came back to Christie’s as President for France. “An auction house is rightly called a...
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Professor Sheng Lim - 226 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
RESTORING AND MAINTAINING EYESIGHT. Professor Sheng Lim is an internationally renowned ophthalmologist and consultant at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. He was trained in the UK and also spent one year as the International Glaucoma Association’s postdoctoral fellow at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota. He was promoted to Professor of Ophthalmology (Glaucoma Studies) at King’s College London in 2020, in recognition of his contribution towards ophthalmology research. He is currently the head of ophthalmology research at St Thomas’, and founder of their KCL Frost Eye Research...
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Idarica Gazzoni Frascara - 225 - Alain Elkann Interviews
Alain Elkann Interviews
BEAUTIFULLY TRANSFORMING WALLS AND ROOMS. Idarica Gazzoni Frascara’s hometown is Bologna, Italy. After she studied with Van Der Kelen in his painting school in Brussels, Belgium, and learned the technique of faux bois and marbleizing she became a passionate artist, painting rooms and walls and ceilings in Italy and many other countries. In 2009 she founded Arjumand’s World and opened her first showroom for fabrics and wallpapers in Milano. “I fell in love with Arjumand because she was quite extraordinary and had all the details I was looking for.” “All the rules have changed.”...
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