Over the last few decades, a new form of capitalism has emerged on a global scale, a whirlwind of change that has transformed the forms of production, distribution and consumption, as well as social relations and imaginaries, through digital technology. Spartaco Greppi and Christian Marazzi, historians from Ticino, anticipated these transformations in the past and will present their current research on the subject.

The event is organised in connection with the public exhibition “Material Virtualities” and concludes it (more information below).

Speakers: Spartaco Greppi (former Head of the SUPSI Competence Centre for Labour, Welfare and Social Research) and Christian Marazzi (economist and former SUPSI lecturer)
Discussant: Barbara Antonioli Mantegazzini (Head of the SUPSI Competence Centre for Labour, Welfare and Social Research)

Info and participation

Free event and free admission to the exhibition.

The event is part of a series of four public events that explore the theme of the hidden materiality of digital technology from different points of view and with a focus on audiences of different age groups.

Each initiative will be introduced by a brief presentation of the exhibition and followed by an aperitif.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with Stiftung Mercator, SUPSI, i2a and Big Tech Watch – Think Tank, as part of the Horizon Europe INCA project (funded by the European Union with GA no. 101061653).

Exhibition opening hours: Thursday and Friday, from 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Saturday from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m..

The programme with all public events is available in the poster, which can be downloaded on the side.

Material Virtualities

How does a “like” materialise? How many deserts become processors? Where is the work that connects us hidden?
In the folds of everyday digital life, where every click seems magical and every parcel seems to arrive “out of nowhere”, the exhibition Material Virtualities brings to the surface what the illusion of the virtual tends to remove: the material.
The exhibition, open to the public from 30 October to 22 November 2025, invites us to look beyond the screen to discover the infrastructure, bodies and natural resources that lie behind every interaction with our devices. The Limonaia of Villa Saroli in Lugano is transformed into a critical and sensory space, where six art and research installations guide visitors through the invisible physicality of the digital world, among silicon beaches, work tents, theological tables and visual experiences.

In dialogue with the exhibition, a programme of four public events expands and deepens the themes of the exhibition, offering opportunities for discussion between art, technology and society.