From June 26 at ex Teatro dell’Oriuolo in collaboration with WHY Festival
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The first retrospective dedicated to Stefano Rovai
Date
19 June 2025
IED Firenze in association with WHY Festival, the annual event dedicated to visual communication, graphic design and illustration, presents the first-ever retrospective of Stefano Rovai, a leading figure in contemporary Italian graphic design. Art director, illustrator, and visual designer, Rovai has created over 130 posters throughout his career, many of which address major political, social, and cultural issues.
The exhibition spans several decades of Rovai’s work, highlighting his civic commitment and the powerful, direct language of the poster as a tool for public communication. Some of the pieces on display were even subject to censorship—proof of the visual message’s ability to challenge, provoke, and resonate within the urban and social landscape.
Affixed to streets, city squares, and high-traffic areas, the poster remains a powerful and immediate form of expression, capable of awakening public consciousness and sparking critical reflection. With this retrospective, the WHY Festival pays tribute to a central figure in Italian visual culture and invites the public to reflect on the social and political role of graphic design today.
Born in 1958, Stefano Rovai is co-founder of the studio Graphiti – Progettazioni Visive. In the early stages of his career, his work had a strong social focus, before gradually shifting toward coordinated image design, editorial graphics, exhibition design, and communication campaigns. He later co-founded Rovai Weber Design with Susanna Weber, joined in 2019 by partner Niccolò Mazzoni. The studio’s projects span diverse sectors: from culture (Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, Museo Galileo), to publishing (Giunti Mostre Arte Musei, Alinari 24 Ore), fashion (Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Ermanno Scervino), wine (Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, Principe Corsini, Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi), and public and private institutions (City of Florence, Tuscany Region, Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze).
From June 26 to September 26, 2025
IED Florence, former Teatro dell’Oriuolo
Via dell’Oriuolo 31, Florence
Free admission - Monday to Friday, 9AM–6PM
Closed on Saturdays and Sundays
Closed from August 4 to 17, 2025
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