Riccardo Giacconi studied fine arts at IUAV University in Venice and earned a PhD from Leiden University.

His work has been exhibited in various institutions, such as Grazer Kunstverein (Graz), ar/ge kunst (Bolzano), MAC (Belfast), WUK Kunsthalle Exnergasse (Vienna), FRAC Champagne-Ardenne (Reims), tranzitdisplay (Prague), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo (Turin).

He was artist-in-residence at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Lausanne, Switzerland), Centre international d'art et du paysage (Vassivière, France), lugar a dudas (Cali, Colombia), MACRO Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome and Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen (Innsbruck, Austria).

He presented his films at several festivals, including the New York Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Visions du Réel and FID Marseille, where he won the Grand Prix of the International Competition in 2015.

He co-founded the collective listening festival ‘Helicotrema’ and the audio storytelling studio ‘Botafuego’.

From 2024 to 2026, he is a fellow at the Film Study Center at Harvard University.
He is Professor of the Practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, Boston.