Paula Zuccotti

Author, Artist, Ethnographer

Paula Zuccotti is a world-renowned artist, researcher, and trends forecaster whose work bridges anthropology, design, and storytelling. Her acclaimed projects Every Thing We Touch and Future Archeology document every object a person touches in a single day—offering a powerful lens into modern life and material culture.

Her work has been exhibited and published worldwide, and her insights into human behaviour and material culture have informed innovation across industries including fashion, technology, mobility, and finance. As a leading trends forecaster and consumer insights consultant, Paula leads global research initiatives for brands such as Google, Ikea, Loewe, Hyundai, Starbucks, and Nike.

An experienced academic, she lectures on Design, Futures, and Innovation at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London.

Her creative and strategic work invites audiences to see the extraordinary in the everyday—and to consider what our possessions might reveal to future generations.

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Every thing we touch & future archeology

In this talk, Paula Zuccotti delves into her pioneering solo research projects, Every Thing We Touch and Future Archeology. Straddling the fields of anthropology and art, these explorations offer a profound lens into the modern world through the objects we touch every day.

Traveling across the globe, Paula photographed every item a person touches in a single day—from dawn to dusk—capturing vivid and compelling portraits of contemporary life. These seemingly ordinary possessions reveal extraordinary insights into material culture and human behaviour. What do our daily objects say about us today? And what stories will they tell future generations?

Paula’s work is a modern-day investigation into how our possessions reflect our personal identities, social habits, and cultural values. In Every Thing We Touch, she uncovers the intimate relationship between humans and the objects that shape their lives. In Future Archeology, she looks ahead, imagining how these items might be interpreted by future societies—much like the historical artefacts that have shaped our understanding of past civilisations.

This talk invites audiences to reconsider the meaning of the objects they encounter every day and reflect on what their possessions might reveal about who we are and what we value, both now and in the years to come.

Paula is speaking on day one, June 10th.

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