2026 Edition...how was it?
Below you will find info and data
The Winner
Andrea Pogliani
Andrea Pogliani, illustrator with a background in architecture and set design. He took part in and won the second edition of Radici Festival with "Chi va piano".
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Special Mentions
Gabriele Merlino
Gabriele Merlino, illustrator, receives a special mention from Radici Festival with "Giardino Interiore".
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Micaela Mele
Micaela Mele, graphic designer, receives a special mention from Radici Festival with "Il Nerconiglio".
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The Jury of the Edition
Giulia Pastorino
Born in Genoa, she trained first at the Ligustica Academy of Fine Arts and then at the ISIA in Urbino, where she specialised in illustration. In 2016 she won the Tapirulan competition and shortly afterwards released her first picture book "Il Capitano D'Albertis e le sue entusiasmanti imprese" (Tapirulan, Matti da rilegare), which gave rise to an exhibition and a permanent children's trail at the Museo delle Culture del Mondo at Castello D'Albertis in Genoa. In 2021 she took part in the exhibition "Eccellenze italiane" at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. She is among the ILLUSTRI 2024 illustrators. She has illustrated several books, including "Dentro me cosa c'è?" (Terre di Mezzo), "Quando sarò grande" (Edizioni Clichy) and "Se fossi Ugo" (Corraini edizioni), winner of the 2025 Andersen Prize in the 3–6 years category. She works regularly with publishers, magazines, galleries and communication studios. Her best friends are oil pastels, but she likes to experiment and play with different techniques. She runs workshops and events for adults and children.
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Massimo Sirelli
Born in Catanzaro, he approached the visual arts as a teenager, influenced by the world of graffiti art. His work has been published in some of the most important international graphic and design volumes, released by publishers such as Taschen, Gestalten, PepinPress and other leading names in the field. Since 2008 he has taught Presentation Techniques and Portfolio at the IED in Turin and works as a freelancer in crossmedia advertising communication. Thanks to his personal and versatile language, he is now considered one of the most significant Italian artists on the pop and urban art scene. His clients and collaborations include: Airc, American Express, Amarelli, Banca Ifis, Birra Cala, Bordoni, Bosch, Brand Dubai, Callipo, Cirio, Dolly Noire, Dremel, Fondazione Prada, Giro d'Italia, Insuperabili, Lavazza, Montblanc, Pastiglie Leone, Patatine San Carlo, SuperaBike Racing SBK, Tissot, Wired. He lives and works between Turin and Catanzaro.
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Martina Lorusso
Momusso, the artist name of Martina Lorusso, is an illustrator known for her simple, colourful style focused on emotions. She works in Milan and her main passions are food, music and plants. Since 2012 she has collaborated with international brands such as Campari, Martini, Iliad and Levi's, broadening her artistic vision. In her online shop she offers unique objects called "momugi" that reflect her imaginative world. One of her most distinctive activities is the "sentimental drawing sessions", during which she creates drawings on mirrors starting from participants' emotional responses. Her art combines words and images in a language that lets the audience explore their own emotions, making her a prominent figure in the field of illustration.
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Who ran the workshops
Fosca Vianello
Fosca Vianello is a Venetian illustrator who makes research and visual storytelling the heart of her work. Raised among water, alleyways and craft tradition, she trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, where she deepened her knowledge of printing techniques, from the most traditional to the experimental, developing a particular sensitivity for materials and the handmade gesture. She then continued her studies at the ISIA in Urbino, with a master's degree in Illustration and Design for Publishing. In the meantime she has collaborated with newspapers, brands, start-ups and associations, engaging with ever-changing languages and contexts. Her work is born from the meeting of roots and experimentation: she explores the communicative power of illustration to build a personal language, capable of turning ideas and stories into images, between material, mark and contemporary research.
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Beatrice Bandiera
Beatrice Bandiera lives and works in Bologna, where she graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Illustration for Publishing. Among her references is Lorenzo Mattotti, whom she assisted. Her style, which she calls "honest", stems from the desire to give shape to her inner world; she favours acrylic for its versatility and material quality. In 2021 she published her first book, Il fiume scorre (Edizioni Squadro), which won her the Toppi Prize. In 2022 E invece di volare via was released, with text by Silvia Vecchini (Edizioni Corsare). In 2024 she published C'era questa donna with Orecchio Acerbo, with text by Daniele Mencarelli.
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Theme
We live in a very fast time.
We produce, respond, publish, put ourselves to the test.
We're always on it, always ready, always "on time".
Then, looking more closely, we notice something simple.
Ideas have their own time.
Projects need to mature.
Relationships ask for care.
Bodies follow human rhythms.
And then something strange happens: we slow down.
Not out of laziness or inability.
We slow down because we choose to.
Because some things don't work when rushed.
Because not everything has to be optimized, measured, turned into content.
Because not everything has to grow fast.
Slowness is not a flaw.
It is not a delay.
It is not a nostalgic escape.
It is a practice.
It is attention.
It is time given rather than time taken away.
It is the courage to stop when it would be easier to move on.
Being slow today means refusing superficiality.
Giving yourself the time to understand, listen, get it wrong, go back.
Accepting that not everything is immediate, efficient, high-performing.
In relationships, slowness is presence:
staying, truly responding, not treating the other person like a notification.
In work it is depth:
doing things well rather than quickly, choosing meaning over outcome,
process over output.
In everyday life it is quiet resistance:
taking time back from constant urgency and giving it to what matters.
In a world that runs,
we are interested in those who decide to slow down.
Those who observe.
Those who change pace.
Those who take the wrong path and decide to explore it anyway.
Radici Festival 2026 is an invitation to tell all of this.
With a single illustration.
The theme is SLOWNESS.
Not as a cliché.
Not as nostalgia.
But as a contemporary choice.
As a rebellious gesture.
As a form of gentle resistance.
Take your time.
Send us a single illustration.
Let it grow the way a living thing grows.
References:
[1] Elogio della lentezza (In Praise of Slowness)
[2] In praise of slowness - Carl Honoré - TED
[3] Sergio Mattarella - Festival del Pensare Contemporaneo
[4] How the need for speed threatens creativity - The Guardian
Get in touch!
If you have doubts or questions, or simply want to insult us, write to us using the information in the dedicated section.
With the patronage of
In collaboration with
Cultural Partners
