Today we meet Silvio Salvo, Press Office and Social Media Manager of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation in Turin, a true communication guru who in recent years has revolutionized the use of social media in Italian contemporary art.

Francesco Liggieri: I wanted to make it clear who you are, but I didn’t want to summarize it, I would like you to do it by describing yourself with the title of a work of art.
Silvio Salvo: The title could be “The unpredictable virtues of ignorance”. It’s the subtitle of one of the best films of the last 10 years: Birdman. Former excellent defender and Alpignano captain, I retired from football after being on the bench in the Alpignano-Lascaris derby. Graduated in Communication Sciences, I have been working for the Grinzane Cavour Prize from 2002 to 2 October 2005. Since 3 October 2005 I have been working at the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation. My duties: press office and socialmediamanagersuigeneris (all attached). From the title of the work of art it is clear that I am a “possessed” by cinema.

A well-known trade magazine has elected the 100 most important and powerful figures in the world of Italian art. You are one of them, how do you feel with so much power?
First reaction: shock. Second reaction: Let’s put a smile on that face, Silvio! I wouldn’t call it “power”. I would say more recognition for someone who has worked at least 8 hours a day for 16 years for an institution that has allowed him to grow. Without Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, without the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation, I would never have entered that ranking. It is not easy to accept “chaos” in a social communication strategy. But the chaos is fair. We address everyone. And the media, the community, the art system (not all, but a good 97%) have understood this.

What does the professional Silvio Salvo think of the communication of Italian museums?
Well done all. Really. I know how much work there is behind a post, from the more “institutional” to the more “informal” one. (In my case, the work for one post is 3 minutes). The only suggestion to those who run a museum: trust those who manage social media. If the idea seems “crazy” and not very “institutional”, it will most likely work. The shit storm is always around the corner. I know something about it, but you also grow up with shit storms. Sometimes to be less “push-back” you need to look less at Tarkovsky and more at Boris. But this is my point of view. Not all, not even some of my colleagues would agree. I just remember that Boris is perhaps the smartest series in recent years. Sometimes I associate some director and curator with Jorge da Burgos in Il Nome della Rosa: Satan hides behind the smile. The smile, on the other hand, brings communities together. If you want to “intercept” all potential audiences and not just the professionals or your “circle”, you have to move away from the “comfort zone”. Otherwise we keep singing it and playing it among ourselves. Then, as always, the tone of voice is important: each channel has one. Social media lend themselves more to “short circuits”.

What are your favorite artists?
Adrian Villar Rojas, Mark Manders, Thom Yorke, Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Stanley Kubrick, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day Lewis, Margot Robbie, Kate Winslet (in Revolutionary Road).

How has the pandemic affected your work?
It confirmed the importance of working with a formidable team. Especially the education department was crucial. Without them it would have been impossible to have content to share during the lockdown. The media were also very attentive to their excellent social programming. Other “feedback”: during the first lockdown I thought I was taking a “step back” with irony. I didn’t and it went very well. The community needed, more than ever, “lightness”.

Everyone knows you for the posts by master Yoda in the social communication of the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo foundation, can you tell us how you got the idea?
Short answer: I didn’t want the community to know I was behind it (it didn’t work). The long answer is really too long and I risk exceeding 5000 characters. I can only add that a social media manager must be authoritative and ironic. Who better than a nearly 900-year-old Jedi Master?

A curiosity that many ask themselves: what does Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo think of the various social gags you make?
She is enthusiastic about it.

One of the most popular questions in recent years is: Facebook or Instagram to do visual communication?
I’ll ask you a question: if you were forced to use only one social network to promote your institution, would you use Facebook or Instagram?

If you could choose a historical or fictional character to include it in your communication program as a model, who would you choose?
The armadillo by Zerocalcare.

As you are a dad, do you consider it essential for the growth of a child to visit cultural sites, and why?
Educating in culture and “complexity” can make the child grow well. And then it’s only fair that they sometimes break away from the hateful Bing. However, I break a lance in favor of Rai Yo Yo and Rai Gulp: they are true public service. And if my daughter has been able to use subjunctives since she is 2 years and 8 months old, it is also thanks to Peppa Pig.

Are you a big fan of Toro, if you had to use a historical claim of the grenade for the communication of the FSRR, which would you use?
Forza Vecchio Cuore Granata VS Forza Vecchio Cuore Sandretto

Info:

Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo,
Via Modane 16 – Torino.

Palazzo Re Rebaudengo
Piazza Roma, 1
12050 Guarene (CN)

fsrr.org
parcoarte.fsrr.org