The Experience Journal is a new venture from King Kong Studio. In the finest tradition of journals, it records the thoughts, opinions, and points of view of key individuals, comprising artists, curators, designers, and writers. Each issue looks at a different country, each country is looked at through the eyes of creatives. The creative eye. The Experience Journal contains images, profiles, and articles created by those creatives who know their country well. Their knowledge of the current art scene will help you understand the challenges countries face in the third decade of the 21st century, and how artists are using their creativity to process and portray these challenges. It’s a publication which aims to let the reader experience the art of the present in a world undergoing great societal and political change. The Experience Journal puts on record the thoughts and opinions of both established and newer creatives. Some interviews focus on the individual, others involve groups. Some articles look at one strand, others bring together people from multiple fields. The key is effective communication between disciplines and practitioners, and ultimately with viewers and readers. We recognize the relationship between art and life can be close or distant in any country. Art can be experienced intensively in a museum, or momentarily glanced at like a mural at a metro station. So, there are many either/or situations as well as both/and possibilities. The role art has in society can involve the power of corporate money and influence of government, but art can also be campaigning for social justice, acceptance, and equality. The Experience Journal contains a powerful mix of articles written by creatives who have something to say. Something important enough to carry on working despite all the difficulties present in the art world and creative industries. The same questions still get asked. Who pays for art? Who is art for? Do people need it? What good does it do? We have chosen Italy as the first country to be featured in The Experience Journal. It’s a country with a global reputation for its art and design, and for its way of life. From high art to cliché, people have a range of mental images and personal experiences that can exist as fleeting snapshots or deep emotions. There is the magic triangle of Florence, Venice, and Rome for art, the creative hub of Milan, and of course Naples acting as a reminder that the south of the country should never be ignored. Italy’s relationship to its modern artists is complex, and it has become even more challenging in the light of recent political changes. So, in this first issue, we intend to give you multiple experiences based on the experience of those experts who can extend your knowledge. And they can do this in the most effective way possible: through their own eyes and through their own art and creativity. We want The Experience Journal to serve as a document which monitors a country at a specific point in its history. We want to capture the present moment, a moment which of course references what has gone before, but a moment which can also indicate to us all what lies ahead.