Talk with Oliviero Toscani

You’ve read it correctly: the legendary Italian photographer who wrote both advertising and cultural history as a result of his controversial advertising campaigns for Benetton between 1982 and 2000, is coming to Styria for the very first time for an exhibition, to give a talk and to hold a masterclass.  On 17 October he will give one of his widely acclaimed talks in the “Grazer Congress” during which Toscani will present his view of things in a nutshell and in a powerfully eloquent manner.

His talks in English offer not only authentic insights into conceptualization in the world of fashion and advertising but also provide an open analysis of creative processes. Toscani, who always enriches his talks with current issues, challenges taboos like no other and gives both young and well-established creative minds the courage to think laterally and differently. For him, communication is never an end in itself, but is given the task of reflecting social phenomena instead.  Through his fascinating work and his persistence, he has also succeeded in evolving traditional companies by using completely new methods.

At this point we can probably spare an introduction to Olivieros Toscani’s extensive works. In addition to his work for Benetton he also created iconic images and campaigns for Esprit, Chanel and Fiorucci. He worked for Elle, Vogue, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Stern and Liberation. He founded the magazine “Colorsˮ and was significantly involved in the establishment of Benetton’s creative workshop “Fabricaˮ. And his book “La pub est une charogne qui nous souritˮ (Advertising is a carrion that smiles at us) was a publication which settled a score with the advertising branch as well as being a bestseller, which is still considered to be a standard work. His talks are always attractions for people of all occupations in the so-called creative industries.

Warning: listening to Toscani attentively may change your thinking.

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