Eco Eco Eco

On 19th February, 2026, ten years will have passed since Umberto Eco’s death. The Fondazione Umberto Eco, together with the Fondazione Bottega Finzioni, intends to honor this anniversary with a "planetary conversation" aimed at keeping alive the memory of the intellectual, the professor, and the friend in a lively and non-rhetorical manner.

An initiative also welcomed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and promoted through the network of Italian Cultural Institutes. In collaboration with Maison de l’Italie, CIUP, Paris Transcultura, Musée du Louvre, Comune di Bologna A project curated by Michele Cogo Riccardo Fedriga Maria Chiara Galbiati Roberto Grandi Francesca Tancini. With the collaboration of Nicoletta Lupia Margherita Mattioni Bianca De Peppo Cocco Chiara Di Rocco Arsela Isakai Vanja Baltic. With the valuable supervision of Carlotta Eco and Stefano Eco.

The event will be broadcast live via streaming on the YouTube channels of the Umberto Eco Foundation and the Bottega Finzioni ETS Foundation, beginning at 12:00 PM (CET) on 18th February. At that exact moment, as midnight strikes, 19th February will first dawn on the planet in the Kiribati archipelago and the Fiji Islands. The live broadcast will symbolically begin from the island of Taveuni (Fiji), which is crossed by the 180th meridian. It was here that Umberto Eco traveled to work on his famous novel, The Island of the Day Before, where the International Date Line allows one to "time travel" between yesterday and today. The Marathon will conclude at 12:00 PM (CET) on 19th February, 2026. A 24-Hour Journey Around the World The marathon is designed to embrace the entire globe, moving symbolically from East to West. Crossing all time zones, the broadcast will give a voice to every country touched by Umberto Eco’s influence: from Asian universities to European ones, and across the Americas, covering the full scope of a thought that spoke every language.