Promoted by RUFA – Rome University of Fine Arts and conceived by Emanuele Cappelli, the RUFA Contest fosters meaningful encounters between emerging talents and internationally renowned artists. In 2018, 25 selected projects explored the annual theme through art, cinema, design, dance and music, creating a multidisciplinary journey. Shirin Neshat conducted a masterclass with the finalists and awarded the winning project during the public ceremony—turning the stage into a shared space of learning and transformation.
For the 4th edition of the RUFA Contest, Cappelli Identity Design shaped a narrative and spatial identity inspired by the work and vision of Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat, Guest of Honour and Chair of the Jury. Known for her powerful visual explorations of the female condition through cultural, political and psychological tension, Neshat guided the Contest under the theme: “SOUND, SPACE or TIME in White and Black.”
The scenographic concept translated this theme into a kinetic, sensorial experience. Ninety-eight luminous spheres, suspended in choreographed formations, descended from the theatre ceiling to interact with the moving bodies of three dancers. This interplay of light, space and presence reflected the contrasts embedded in the theme—absence and presence, silence and noise, memory and future.
The entire event identity was designed using Cappelli’s Dynamic brand methodology (https://www.cappellidesign.com/it/dynamic-brand/). Instead of offering a static visual solution, the Contest identity was conceived as a relational system, responsive to the environment and able to evolve across platforms: physical space, stage performance, digital media, and public dialogue. The relationship between students, the audience and the Guest of Honour was central to the communication design—an identity that lived in time, in motion, and in exchange.