The book gathers nine dialogues that range across different styles and personalities of Italian picture-making. Starting from the enquiry into landscape by Olivo Barbieri, it arrives at the famous beach series of Massimo Vitali. In between we meet the work of Luca Campigotto, the fruit of journeys all over the world; the series of Mario Cresci, whose output has been shaped by several disciplines including cultural anthropology; the enquiries into contemporary society of Paola Di Bello; the apparently documentary images of Stefano Graziani; the work on territory of Guido Guidi; the new expressive forms of Francesco Jodice, which reach as far as video art; and finally the visionary experiments of Nino Migliori. For some years the author has combined her own practice with teaching, supporting cultural initiatives that bring the public closer to this language, and the idea of setting up an exchange grew out of that.