Index Creator Summit: The Past & Present Renaissance

Find out how Raphael growth-hacked his graphic style and why Rome was the Renaissance LA in a discussion between Paula Findlen, the Ubaldo Pierotti Professor of Italian History at Stanford University and world renowned Renaissance expert, and Sarah Cannon, partner at Index Ventures.

The conversation opens with an invitation from Sarah to see what lessons can be drawn about the future of digital creativity by examining the Renaissance in greater depth. They consider Paula’s claim that the Renaissance was a ‘historical laboratory’ for grappling with the problems and possibilities for an innovative society, with new investment infrastructure, fresh technologies and techniques, and a fundamental change in attitudes towards artists – shifting their status from ‘makers’ to ‘knowers’. The pair move to the role of individual creators versus the multiplying effect of collectives, and consider whether centres of influence such as Florence and Rome could now be decentralised across the internet from Caracas to Latvia. Next they analyse the role of Renaissance patrons and the perennial problem of artistic funding, and conclude by touching on the power of technology and its limits.