L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano A step back into the his- tory of technology and how it has changed over the decades, by shaping who we are and how we live. The exhibition "Homage to the Information Tech- nology Revolution," currently opened in Cupertino, California, tells the story of visionaries and en- trepreneurs who, between 1975 and 1985, turned digital breakthroughs into a cultural revolution. For the following thirty years, the group made information accessible to everyone. This homage is the result of a collaboration between Italy and California, with representatives of both worlds coming together for a unique, unforgettable experience. It took months of research to write up the entire history of the brands (acquired by BasicNet) that, in some way, were central in the his- tory of fashion, such as K-Way, Superga, Robe di Kappa, Kappa, Jesus Jeans, right from their begin- nings. Time was dedicated to find, restore, and archive memorabilia showing all the historical turning points, while the final stage focused on creating a physical and super technological digital archive which the group named BasicGallery. It is now home to over twenty thou- sand items, including jerseys which went down in the history of soccer; tracksuits worn by great athletes; classic adverts; books; documents; photos; and much more. Those times of research and ex- SERENA PERFETTO interviews with the major players of the time, including John Scul- ley, Allan Alcorn, Daniel Kottke, Jack Tramiel, Chuck Peddle, Lee Felsestein, Steve Wozniak and many others, talking about all the computers on show. What's your favorite part of the project and why? It's hard to choose one. I'm very fond of the Programma 101 (Italy, Olivetti, 1965), the com- puter considered as the first desk- top in history, a project 100% Made in Italy anticipating personal IT by a full ten years. Obviously I can't overlook the presence of a very rare Apple-1 (Usa, Apple, 1976) and its original kit: the only "survivor" (there are no other known specimens) which includes the original packaging sent from the garage in Los Altos, the home of Steve Jobs' parents, the original invoice featuring Steven (Jobs) as a salesman, a personal letter to the customer from Mr. Jobs and one of the first BASIC tapes not fea- turing the Apple logo. Next to the Apple-1, for the first time ever, we also have the toolbox Wozniak used to assemble it. From an aes- thetic point of view I've always been conquered by the stunning design of the Commodore Pet (1977) and by the BYTE covers we used for the graphics decorat- ing the Museum's windows. "Homage to the Information Technology Revolution" - June 19th/September 19th, 2019 (Wed- Sat 10 am to 4pm) at the Cupertino Historical Society & Museum 10185 N Stelling Rd, Cupertino, CA 95014 (USA). Free Entrance. periments saw Cecilia Botta, an Italian professional, curator at Ba- sicBD.net, working as a producer on the 8bit Generation documen- tary series and the co-authoring the book Bit Pop Revolution, the Hip- pies who Invented the Future, pub- lished by Hoepli. She also focused on the HomeBrew Computer Club, the first movement in California of hippies, activists, pacifists and engineers who between the late 60s and the mid-70s devoted all their energies to free the power of computers making it available to everybody. In 2011, she also curated the Steve Jobs 1955-2011 exhibition, which marked the first collabora- tion between MRSN and BasicNet and achieved a record number of visitors after only three months. Other projects followed between BasicNet Group and other insti- tutes worldwide, and the one in California surely represents a spe- cial moment in the history of these collaborations. Cecilia, can you tell us what's behind the idea for a "Homage to the Information Technology Revolution" Exhibit? Immediately after graduating, I worked as assistant curator at Castello di Rivoli and contributed to the creation of the Museum of Advertising (Museo della Pubblic- ità), a digital archive featuring over 30.000 advertising campaigns starting from Carosello. In 2006, I curated the "La Fabbrica Comu- nica" exhibition, displaying iconic products by the greatest Italian brands, including Superga. Marco Boglione, impressed by the exhi- bition's content, asked the director of the Museum of Advertising to recommend a curator to research and promote the history of Basic- Net and of its brands from 1916 onwards. I was only 23 and, during my first interview with Marco, I realized that working with such a visionary man could be my big break. I accepted and I can say to- day it was the right choice. A few years later, Boglione de- cided it was time to tell the story of what enabled him to build Ba- sicNet, right after Internet proto- cols became widespread: the IT Revolution. IT is the foundation of the BasicNet Group's business model and constitutes the "digital nervous system" of the company founded by Boglione in 1994, now acknowledged as the first Market- place in the clothing industry. He was able to also involve Massimo Temporelli in the project and have him leave his job as curator of Mi- lano's Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica to become the first on at the newly established Basic- Gallery, and to start studying and telling the story of the IT Revolu- tion on behalf of BasicNet. The first task for the group was to set up a small exhibition on the ten computers that forever changed the way we think, communicate, and live. How did the collaboration with the Museo in Cupertino started? A few years ago, I was in San Francisco for the premiere of the first documentary made by my 8bit generation partners on the history of Commodore. My entire life changed as soon as I stepped into the Computer History Museum. I moved to San Francisco for ap- proximately one year and met the great pioneers of the IT revolution as well as CHM's curators. About a year ago, Cupertino's mayor, Darcy Paul, offered to host an ex- hibition on the IT revolution at the Cupertino Historical Society, to be followed by events in Italy's twin town: Copertino, Puglia. They put me in touch with Fabrizio Vitagliano and Jennifer Furlong from the Cupertino Historical So- ciety and, a year later, here we are with this exhibition. The connection between Italy and Silicon Valley has been go- ing on for decades. How does this exhibit find a place in the history of this connection? This exhibit gives the opportu- nity to show our content in the place called the "Computer Liber- ation" by the members of the HomeBrew Computer Club.It is a true honor for me as a curator and for Marco Boglione as an IT en- thusiast and "nerd" entrepreneur to be involved in this exhibition. Bringing the project to Cupertino surely was our greatest ambition and makes us proud of the oppor- tunity. Which kind of experience would you like visitors to have? The show is quite intimate, we tried to highlight all the moments representing major technological, and above all, cultural changes in our society within the space avail- able. Visitors can see the comput- ers displayed per theme, watching and listening to a series of video From far left, Daniel Kottke, Lee Felsestein, Leonard Tramiel, Marco Bogione and Cecilia Botta at the exhibit opening SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY A Homage to the Information Technology revolution now hosted at the Cupertino Historical Society & Museum

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