A new appointment at RUFA Milan with We Talk about Comics, the series of meetings dedicated to comics, illustration and the visual arts: the focus of the event will be SnIF – Studying ’n’ Investigating Fumetti, a research group engaged in the academic study of comics from an international and interdisciplinary perspective.
20 May 2026, 11.00 am – 1.00 pm — RUFA Milan, Piazzale Lugano 19 — Free admission by reservation.
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We Talk about Comics is the series of meetings that brings students, professionals and the public into dialogue through talks and moments of discussion with some of the most interesting voices on the contemporary scene.
Open to the public and with free admission, the events offer the creative community an opportunity to explore languages, creative processes and professional perspectives. The series is curated by Claudio Spuri, Coordinator of the RUFA BA Programme in Graphic Design – Comics and Illustration, active at the RUFA campuses in Rome and Milan.
The guests will be introduced and the event moderated by Martoz, illustrator, comics artist and RUFA lecturer.
«Industry and Practices of Comics»
The event, entitled Industry and Practices of Comics, will focus on the role of academic research in the study of contemporary comics and will offer a critical overview of the current Italian publishing landscape, across genres, formats and publishing practices.
Speakers will include Lisa Maya Quaianni Manuzzato and Andrea Tosti, members of SnIF – Studying ’n’ Investigating Fumetti. During the talk, the audience will be introduced to Comics Studies and to the activities of the research group, before exploring the transformations currently shaping comics in Italy: from production models to narrative forms, from publishing dynamics to the critical perspectives that accompany their evolution.
SnIF – Studying ’n’ Investigating Fumetti was founded with the aim of promoting critical and interdisciplinary discussion around the “ninth art”, bringing together theoretical approaches, research methodologies and perspectives from different European academic contexts.
The group works to consolidate an international network of scholars interested in the comics medium and to contribute to the recognition of comics as an autonomous and cross-disciplinary field of study. Its activities range from collective research to networking, from the organisation of conferences, festivals and study days to the promotion of public opportunities for cultural insight and debate.
Through perspectives that include media analysis, narratology, history, criticism, gender studies and social dynamics, SnIF offers a broad view of comics as a language, a cultural industry and a space for the production of imaginaries.
The founding members of SnIF are Dario Boemia, Giorgio Busi Rizzi, Lorenzo Di Paola, Nicoletta Mandolini, Alessia Mangiavillano, Lisa Maya Quaianni Manuzzato, Carlotta Vacchelli and Eva Van de Wiele. As its activities have developed, Claudia Cerulo, Rodolfo Dal Canto, Manuela Di Franco, Virginia Tonfoni and Andrea Tosti have begun collaborating regularly with SnIF.
The guests
Andrea Tosti holds a PhD from Lancaster University, where he developed a research project on the relationship between comics and data visualisation in higher education. His academic work is complemented by over twenty years of experience in the audiovisual sector, where he has worked as a senior video editor and post-production supervisor.
In the publishing field, he served as Editorial Director of the Neo Comics series for Neo Edizioni from 2019 to 2021. He is the author of the monographs Graphic Novel. Storia e teoria del romanzo a fumetti e del rapporto fra parola e immagine (Tunué, 2016) and Topolino e il fumetto Disney italiano (Tunué, 2011). He has also contributed to, among others, Fumettologica, Linus and Flash Art. His research interests include Comics Studies, transmedia storytelling, visual culture and the relationship between word and image in audiovisual and print media.
Lisa Maya Quaianni Manuzzato graduated in Performing Arts and Multimedia Communication from the University of Milan with a dissertation on the history of animated cinema. She has written on Japanese animation in Animation: A World History (Routledge, 2015) and Animazione: Una storia globale (UTET, 2017), both edited by Giannalberto Bendazzi.
She was a research fellow at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca for the project L’Italia a nuvolette: Indagine sulla filiera del fumetto italiana. She also worked at WOW Spazio Fumetto, where she managed communications and organised events focused on Japanese culture and independent productions, including Bricòla festival.
She has curated comics exhibitions for Italian Cultural Institutes and collaborates with Lo Spazio Bianco. She was also part of the European COST project iCOn-MICs and currently serves on the Management Committee of the COST project Comics and Sciences through Multidisciplinary Investigation and Collaboration (COS-MICs).
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