The annual Rebirth/Third Paradise Ambassadors Meeting, held in Biella on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 December, was above all a moment of exchange. Two days—already described in a previous article—conceived as an opportunity for listening, comparison and experimentation, in which the trinamical symbol was addressed not merely as a sign, but as an active principle capable of orienting behaviours, decisions and projects across different spheres of contemporary life.

After recounting the morning and afternoon of the first day in two earlier news pieces, this article turns to what emerged in the concluding session. The final morning of the Annual Meeting took shape as a time of sedimentation and relaunch. Following a Saturday dense with reflections on collective responsibility, emerging institutional architectures and demopractic practices, Sunday did not mark a closure, but rather an opening toward what is yet to come.

The red thread running through the morning was the open dialogue between the ambassadors and Michelangelo Pistoletto. In this final phase, the meeting moved into a more reflective dimension, though no less concrete. Questions weighing on the present came to the surface: how can demopraxia be taught to children? How can the Third Paradise symbol become a secular and inclusive reference, capable of coexisting with institutions? How can art be brought into society without renouncing its autonomy? How can preventive peace and an economy of exchange—rather than accumulation—be placed back at the centre?

Paolo Naldini lifts the curtain
Paolo Naldini opened the morning with an introduction that sounded less like a summary and more like an invitation to look ahead. The Statodellarte, he explained, is not an idea to be preserved but a process to be lived—a practice that must become part of everyday life. It is not about constructing a new “paper institution”, but about allowing a way of being in the world to emerge that is simultaneously political, economic and human.
With the same conviction with which he had outlined the structure of the journey the day before, the Director of Cittadellarte stressed that what was unfolding was not a simple moment of reporting back, but a collective verification. The Statodellarte exists only insofar as it is practised, discussed and tested through real questions.
Naldini also underlined how the morning had been conceived as an open space, in which ambassadors were not asked to “confirm” a vision, but to interrogate it, placing it under tension with the historical, political and human present we are living through—through an open dialogue with Michelangelo Pistoletto. It was within this atmosphere that a sequence of intense exchanges took shape, through which the State of the Art gradually emerged as a collective, educational, political and symbolic work all at once.

Francesco Saverio Teruzzi and Rebirth Day
The first question of the collective interview with the master came from the moderator of the two-day meeting, Francesco Saverio Teruzzi, who focused on a significant date and anniversary: from 21 December 2012 to 21 December 2025, thirteen years of Rebirth Ambassadors. Teruzzi recalled how everything began with an intuition—the open call of 21 December 2012, which gave rise to Rebirth Day and triggered a movement in constant transformation. “Where did the intuition behind that open call come from?” he asked.
Pistoletto responded by referring to the Mayan prophecy of the apocalypse: “Everyone said the end of the world was coming, and we said: fine, but it cannot be 21 December 2012.” Rather than surrendering to the idea of an ending, the perspective was reversed: instead of the end, the beginning of a new world. Thus the concept of Rebirth was born, and the response to the open call was immediate: “Hundreds of people, groups and activities around the world understood that we were moving toward a substantial change.”
Teruzzi then shifted to the present: “Recently you gave us two major developments: you canonised a Pope, and you launched the State of the Art.” Pistoletto clarified that the State of the Art is the result of a process unfolding over many years, a natural evolution of Cittadellarte: “A city that becomes civilisation.” Cittadellarte, he explained, is a “kitchen” rooted in its territory yet expanding globally through its embassies—no mere symbolic outposts, but “points of connection with the whole world.”
For Pistoletto, “Cittadellarte is something the world already has within itself; it simply needs to be brought out.” Even those who destroy, he argued, carry within them the seed of construction—the capacity to “build” in both ethical and practical terms. From here arises the connection to preventive peace: not an abstract ideal, but a practice requiring tools and concrete actions.

Luca Mingarelli and the role of the Statodellarte
In dialogue with Luca Mingarelli, the focus shifted to individual responsibility within a collective horizon. The ambassador addressed the difficulty of holding vision and action together, especially in a time when traditional structures of representation seem to have lost credibility. How can an institutional model be built that is not merely a repetition of the classical State?
Pistoletto replied by emphasising that the Statodellarte does not replace the State, but represents a field of practice in which everyone is called upon to recognise their role. “It is not about waiting for someone else to decide,” he said, “but about understanding that every gesture, every relationship, every choice is already political.”
The exchange highlighted how transformation cannot be delegated. The State of the Art takes shape through daily practice. Mingarelli stressed this point: it is an architecture of responsibility, not of power. As such, it can only exist as a continuous practice made of relationships rather than hierarchies.

Esterina Nervino, the Third Paradise and differences
Esterina Nervino brought attention to the social and political dimension of the Third Paradise: how can the symbol avoid remaining merely an aesthetic idea and instead become a language capable of speaking to people? Pistoletto reiterated the concept of the collective artwork: art is not a closed form but an open field. The Third Paradise is not a “logo”, but a structure of thought that can be articulated in countless languages, born from the need to hold opposites together without denying them.
Nervino expressed the hope that the State of the Art might become a practice for everyone, including those who are not artists, since the transformation of the world cannot be delegated to a few. Pistoletto agreed, noting that the Third Paradise was conceived precisely in response to a collective necessity.

Paola Zanini between art, society and education
Paola Zanini asked about the relationship between art and society: how can art avoid remaining a separate sphere and instead become a regenerative practice? Pistoletto revisited the idea of the Viennese Secession, reinterpreting it in contemporary terms. He recalled being told in Vienna: “You represent the secession of our time.”
For Pistoletto, secession is not rebellion for its own sake, but an act of autonomy and responsibility—leaving a system that constrains creativity in order to create a new space. This is also the meaning of Cittadellarte: a place born from the need to put a new idea of art into practice, no longer museal but alive.
Zanini underlined the strong educational value of this approach: art should not be a privilege, but a ground for education in social life.

Francesco Moneta and the economy
The dialogue with Francesco Moneta introduced the theme of economic responsibility and systems of exchange. Moneta raised the question of how the State of the Art can concretely affect economic mechanisms without being absorbed by dominant logics. Pistoletto responded that the economy is not separate from ethics or art: “The economy is a human creation, and as such it can be rethought.”
From this perspective, the State of the Art does not reject the economy, but reconnects it to its original function—as a tool for relationship, not an absolute end. Asked how to make the State of the Art a place of real participation rather than mere symbolism, Pistoletto brought the focus back to demopraxia: the ability to create rules, to discuss, to decide together. “Society is made up of many little pieces of mirror,” he said, expressing the idea that collectivity is built through the multiplicity of individualities.

Stefania Perna and Preventive Peace
Stefania Perna, together with Chatrin Ponticelli, addressed one of the most urgent and painful issues: preventive peace in a world torn by war. “How can we mobilise as ambassadors today, in the face of the horrors of Palestine and Ukraine?”
Pistoletto responded with a long historical and personal reflection, recalling the global demonstrations against the preventive war in Iraq. “Millions of people took to the streets,” he said, yet today that moment seems erased from memory. He proposed a concrete action: a new collective volume dedicated to preventive peace. “A book is a way of putting words down,” he explained—a tool for building a community of ideas and actions. The proposal went beyond symbolism, calling for political and cultural participation.

Linda Schipani and creativity behind the Third Paradise
Linda Schipani brought the discussion back to art as both personal and collective language. Referring to the exhibition Artists for the Third Paradise, she shared a recurring question among creatives: “Am I imitating an artist? Am I losing my originality?”
Pistoletto answered with radical clarity: the Third Paradise is not a closed formula, but a discovery. Art history is open and unpredictable, and the symbol is merely a device that highlights a relationship between intelligence and the world. “Animals act,” he noted, “but they do not see what they are doing.” Humans, by contrast, understand and give meaning.
The Third Paradise is therefore not a rule, but a lens through which to read and regenerate reality. The broken mirror, he added, is not destruction for its own sake, but a metaphor for society. The symbol does not limit originality; it multiplies it, making it part of a shared process.

Walter El Nagar: teaching demopraxia to children and Pistoletto’s doll
Walter El Nagar posed a fundamental question: how can demopraxia be taught to children? Pistoletto responded by starting from a seemingly simple yet symbolically rich object: a doll. He revealed the background of a future Third Paradise Doll as an educational and imaginative tool, designed to allow children to engage with the trinamical form through play.
The doll becomes a pedagogical and symbolic device, transmitting values without imposition. Through play, children can recognise the symbol and make it their own. Pistoletto intertwined the project with a personal memory, recalling his childhood desire for a doll despite cultural resistance. The story became a reflection on gender roles, symbolic education and the power of objects in childhood. The Third Paradise Doll thus emerges as a means of teaching demopraxia as a practice of relationship, care and free choice.

Paolo Naldini added another perspective: rather than teaching demopraxia, we should recognise it. Children already practise forms of demopraxia through play, where rules, roles and spaces are collectively negotiated. “As children,” he said, “we already do demopraxia. When we play, we say ‘let’s pretend that…’, and then we decide together.” Play becomes an original political laboratory, a space of self-governance and shared rule-making.

Davide Carnevale: the Third Paradise symbol between secularism and spirituality
Davide Carnevale brought the question into the institutional realm: how can the Third Paradise symbol coexist with official symbols in schools and public offices? Pistoletto urged patience and reminded that the trinamical structure is already present in all major spiritual traditions. “The trinary formula exists everywhere,” he said. “So let’s not impose the symbol, but place it alongside others, working with it together.”
Its strength lies in generating dialogue rather than substitution. Rather than imposing the symbol, Pistoletto proposed practical experimentation, entrusted to the ambassadors’ work in schools and institutions. The symbol thus becomes a generative device, producing meaning through experience.

Paola Salvi and secession from Vienna to Cittadellarte
Paola Salvi shared her experience with students at Brera, each of whom reinterpreted the symbol with originality, prompting reflection on art’s educational role. She recalled Pistoletto’s words at the Vienna Academy: “I don’t want failed artists. Society is waiting for you.” The statement overturned the hierarchy between art and social life.
Pistoletto returned to the idea of secession—not as rejection, but as autonomy. What once was a rupture becomes a strategy for bringing creativity back into education, institutions and society. Art, he argued, must again become “useful” to society—not in a utilitarian sense, but in terms of responsibility. Cittadellarte itself can be seen as a continuation of that secession, a place where art becomes social practice.

Jamila Campagna: art, the future and the urgency of the present
Jamila Campagna raised a powerful question: “Can we bring art back and make it functional in a future that seems hopeless?” She also asked whether the dynamics of sport could be applied to art. Pistoletto replied plainly: “If we don’t manage, we end badly.” His realism underscored that the stakes are humanity’s survival.
“We are already the future today,” he said, urging action in the present. Jamila also touched on the divine and the relationship between nature and artifice. Pistoletto reframed spirituality as the human capacity to imagine and see the universe within oneself. “Imagination,” he explained, “is where art and science coincide.” The divine, in this sense, is a human creation carrying immense responsibility.

Enrico Gatti: money and exchange
Enrico Gatti’s question on money opened a central reflection. Pistoletto traced the origin of currency as a tool of exchange and criticised its transformation into an end in itself. He introduced the Statodellarte currency, not as a monetary system but as a symbol of a new form of exchange connecting the anthropised earth and the virtual sky.
“Money must return to being a means, not an end.” It should function as a connector rather than an object of accumulation. This shifted the Third Paradise from a symbolic to an economic dimension: art is not only beauty, but the capacity to reinvent exchange and cooperation.

The poetic closing by Alberto Guggino: art, peace and resistance
The meeting closed with a poem by Alberto Guggino, born from the pain of contemporary violence yet transformed into an act of gentle resistance. An invitation to continue caring, seeing beauty and choosing peace.
“Do not stop seeing the beauty of others, because it creates your inner beauty.
Do not stop caring for the planet, because it generates life.
Do not stop caring about peace, because war must not come.
Do not stop being an artist of your time, because your time will not return.”
Guggino’s words were not a conclusion but an opening—bringing everything back to the essential: care, beauty and individual responsibility. It is within this fragile and necessary tension that the State of the Art will continue to live and flourish.

Photo credit: Pierluigi Di Pietro.