Romacaput mundi, at least for a week at the Social Media Week, from 7 to 11 February 2011 and Mondivirtuali.it / Slnn.it could not miss the event, especially since Marina Bellini (aka Mexi Lane in Second Life) invited me to take part in the second edition of Ars in Ara (the first was held in June 2009) always at the Auditorium of Ara Pacis and always to talk about art and communication at the time of Second Life and virtual worlds, but evidently with more numbers available after a year and a half. In my opinion it was one of the most interesting of the 130 events that have taken place during the week in the capital (and while at the same time hundreds of other events, all dedicated to the Internet as a means of information dissemination as a means of sharing and communication, ideally connecting Rome with eight other global metropolises like New York, San Francisco, Paris, Toronto, Sao Paulo, London, Hong Kong and Istanbul), which was attended by many well known names of the Italian community of artists, professionals and experts (but also dozens of simple fans) firmly present on Second Life and on the main virtual worlds for some years.

A community alive and vital, as evidenced among other interventions that I could watch live and with my virtual alter ego, Lukemary Slade, waiting to speak from the island of MIC (in Second Life) to illustrate some considerations on the past, present and future of art market in SL (if you have not heard live can find and download freely the form of a slide at this address: http://www.slideshare.net/SLnnitaly), such as those of the lawyer Massimo Melica (which pointed out the problems that arise in virtual worlds with regard to the protection of copyright and identification of a subject in so misunderstanding) of Adelchi Battista (who in addition to enriching the copyright considerations then repeated the famous episode of Buzzico also visible here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsPrnj4Cywg, givinga small taste of the possibilities that already offer the machinima video maker) or Giovanni Dalla Bona (who spoke of the Master Mind project which is involving the island of Imparafacile, the Accademia di Brera, the ATM and the Politecnico of Milan and about wich you find more information here: http://www.imparafacile.it/attivita_in_corso/brera-mind.html).

Whilework commitments deprived me of the pleasure of listening to Marco Longo (aka Mind Clarity) and the other speakers also present, I thought that was very interesting the presence (and intervention) of Ariella Risch, director of editorial projects and sponsorships of   Illycaffè (http://www.illysustainart.org) which has demonstrated once again how it is possible for a company (and obviously also makes sense economically, since we are talking about a subject who ordinarily has a profit goal and not a charity or by a public agency) to support an international community of RL artists and at the same time with close interest to digital media platforms to virtual reality-based worlds like Second Life. Virtual worlds, as I recalled, that will surely make headlines less than 18 months ago but still continue to see important artistic expressions, as  well as educational and communicational ones. A sign that despite selection under way related to the economic crisis and some technological limitations that still have to be overcome, the future of virtual worlds, albeit more "niche" than had been thought some years ago, is still very attractive and continues to lead to the creation of new original contents and values by a community of fans much more active than those who usually live in much more striking as other means of web2.0 as for instance Facebook.