A seed can become a field, a field can nourish a community, and a community can change how it imagines its own future. It is from this idea of concrete and collective transformation that the FAO recognition arrives for Michelangelo Pistoletto and Cittadellarte, named Food Heroes as part of the upcoming World Food Day on October 16, celebrated every year in over 150 countries. The recognition by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is dedicated worldwide to women, men, boys, and girls who support and strengthen their communities through food-related initiatives, helping to generate positive change even in the face of major global challenges. The nomination of Pistoletto and Cittadellarte brings to the fore a vision of nourishment that goes beyond the simple act of eating: food becomes a meeting ground between people and territories, between nature and technology, between individual responsibility and collective participation. It is a story whose roots are planted in Biella and which, over the years, has intertwined art, agriculture, education, research, and citizenship, building a network of practices and relationships that has progressively expanded from the local to an international dimension.

Cittadellarte and nourishment: the seed, the sap, the bloom
With the 1994 Progetto Arte Manifesto, Michelangelo Pistoletto placed art at the center of a responsible transformation of society, featuring a broad program oriented toward a radical paradigm shift, in which the urgency and necessity emerged for an agency that could accompany society in establishing new paradigms. The response was a research and teaching initiative born at Cittadellarte in 1999: the Università delle Idee (University of Ideas), in Biella, located in the former facilities of a wool mill transformed from an industry for wool fabric into a research center for the cultural fabric of a new society. In this forge, the essential elements are the supply, consumption, and distribution chains of food. Along this axis, the University of Ideas organizes dozens of actions, research projects, and programs in Biella and around the world, going so far as to launch sites for societal transformation through the practices of self-governance of the demos, known as Demopraxy. These transformation sites emerge and develop from Cuba to Seoul, from Rome to Milan, up to Geneva and, last but not least, naturally, the continuous and open site of Biella and its territory named the Città Arcipelago (Archipelago City) of Demopraxy. In particular, the sector-specific program structure—the so-called Uffizi—adopted by Cittadellarte gives great space and prominence to the Ufficio Nutrimento (Nourishment Office) and articulates research and concrete action programs across the Biella area and other regions. Among these, specific practices are developed, such as making abandoned land available to residents who do not own any but need it to cultivate their livelihood, as well as launching agricultural micro-activities with in-depth research protocols ranging from organic to biodynamic agriculture, up to permaculture. The Ufficio Nutrimento also coordinates a Accademia Verde (Green Academy), which serves as a pathway for guidance and dissemination of sustainable and regenerative agricultural techniques and philosophy. The program of Cittadellarte's Ufficio Nutrimento connects the research of the University of Ideas on a global scale as well: from the realities of agricultural production in the countryside around Havana to policy-making activities in Geneva. Specifically in the Swiss city, over 70 organizations gathered in an "Opera of Demopraxy" path that led to the amendment of the Constitution of the Canton of Geneva to include the right to food, as well as the launch of the European Citizens' Initiative ECI Good Food for All, which is still active today. Currently, dozens of research projects by artists-in-residence at the University of Ideas school and subsequently at the Accademia d'Arti Contemporanee Unidee address topics that intersect with the world of food, establishing hundreds of collaborations with institutions such as the United Nations, associations like Slow Food, governments and small local organizations, individual farms, and districts like the rice biodistrict right in the Biella area. The strongly local identity is also evident in the very name of the Ufficio Nutrimento: Let Eat Bi, an acronym where "Eat" refers to the English verb to eat, and "Bi" refers to the abbreviation for Biella. The invitation is clear: to encourage and support a healthy, clean, and fair production and distribution chain capable of producing a high-value, shared socio-economic, cultural, and environmental landscape.

The official announcement: the Food Hero nomination on the FAO website
On the official website of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in the World Food Day section, a feature page has been published announcing the inclusion of Michelangelo Pistoletto and Cittadellarte as Food Heroes. The following is the text from that page: "Cittadellarte is a factory of humanity: a hub that gathers—in a collective artistic project—an expanded community of artists, entrepreneurs, teachers, activists, public officials, and innovators. Inspired by Michelangelo Pistoletto's Progetto Arte Manifesto (1994), it places art in direct interaction with all areas of society. Unlike traditional academies and museums, it proposes an artistic practice committed to the active and responsible transformation of society. Cittadellarte’s artistic practice spans a wide range of sectors—from architecture, politics, and education to fashion, production, design, and communication—and food plays a particularly important role. The foundation considers food systems a nexus where environmental balance, social justice, and economic responsibility converge: a world where artistic creation can offset the imbalances produced by modernity. Cittadellarte's vision is rooted in a fundamental principle: human civilization is defined by the dynamic balance between technology and nature. In this constantly evolving space, art serves as an enzyme for creation, transformation, and regeneration, connecting opposing phenomena through trinamics and generating a new balance: it is the environment where human devices meet natural and cultural autonomy in a constant process of rebalancing. Applied to food systems, this principle connects producers, communities, institutions, and citizens through shared practices of regeneration and sustainability, aiming for a dynamic harmony capable of evolving in sync with ecosystems. The foundation’s mission is to stimulate a responsible transformation of society, restoring balance wherever there is imbalance, placing art at the center of every sphere of human activity. This process is grounded in the concept that society is not composed of isolated and conflicting individuals, but of communities of practice capable of collaborating through systems of collective intelligence and distributed governance. This model is known as demopractice: it equates governance with practice itself and applies to any type of organization, from the family to the United Nations. The driving force of demopraxy is the formula of creation, which arises from the encounter between opposing phenomena: the tension between duality becomes an opportunity, both to create and to care for what we create. Its symbol is the Third Paradise: two circles unite to form a third, twice as large (1 + 1 = 3). Cittadellarte operates through its offices and handles research, education, and dissemination, while sharing its activities with civil society and the international community, starting from the textile district of Biella, a UNESCO Creative City." In addition to the online announcement, on October 16 in Rome, at the FAO MuNe, the FAO recognition of Pistoletto and Cittadellarte will be officialized and formalized within the context of an event organized on the occasion of World Food Day. The occasion, which will involve around 150 countries, is one of the most celebrated days on the UN calendar, featuring hundreds of events and activities involving governments, municipalities, businesses, civil society organizations, media, the general public, and youth to raise awareness about global hunger and promote action for the future of food, people, and the planet. The event will hold additional significance, as October 16 marks the first anniversary of the FAO MuNe: the nomination of Pistoletto and Cittadellarte, coming right on the heels of this first milestone, is thus rendered even more profound and meaningful. Inside the Museum, visitors can also view a screen highlighting the experiences of the Food Heroes; among the video segments, ample space is dedicated to Pistoletto and his Foundation.

The bond between FAO and Cittadellarte: the Third Paradise at FAO MuNe
On the occasion of the opening of FAO MuNe—the Food and Agriculture Museum and Network, inaugurated on October 16 of last year in Rome for the 80th anniversary of the FAO and World Food Day 2025—the work Cultivating the Third Paradise was presented, inspired by the vision of Michelangelo Pistoletto and designed and produced by Cittadellarte with the design and technical collaboration of Guardini Ciuffreda Studio. The installation is an integral part of the Traditions and Innovations room, the conceptual heart of the new museum, inviting reflection on the harmony between nature and technology across the diverse cultures and societies of the planet—principles that guide the FAO's mission in building a sustainable food future. The fruit of Michelangelo Pistoletto's vision and the civic art laboratory and school Cittadellarte, Cultivating the Third Paradise was conceived as a place for gathering and collective reflection, a workspace where art, traditional knowledge, science, and active citizen participation blend into a shared experience. The structure, inspired by terraced rural landscapes, is composed of wooden layers that rise and intertwine like cultivated hills, evoking the cyclical rhythm of nature. These levels become functional surfaces (shelves, display cases, exhibit planes, and containers) housing seeds, natural materials, agricultural samples, and visual narratives. At the same time, they transform into tiers on which to sit, observe, dialogue, and share, creating a space for listening and co-creation open to all. Making the work even more dynamic, lines of light cross through it like roots of illumination, symbolizing the vital sap that feeds the earth and the shared knowledge that the FAO spreads across the world. Light thus becomes a metaphor for the interconnection among living beings, nature, and technology. Integrated within the installation are 17 sculptures dedicated to the Sustainable Development Goals, each accompanied by a QR code linking to detailed content on the respective objectives. In this way, the artwork weaves the symbolic dimension of art with the educational and informative role of the museum. Numerous institutional representatives and distinguished guests attended the inauguration of the FAO MuNe. The ceremony was led by FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella; Pope Leo XIV also spoke during the World Food Day celebrations. On the sidelines of the inauguration, Mattarella met with Michelangelo Pistoletto and Cittadellarte director Paolo Naldini: it was a brief but meaningful opportunity for dialogue and discussion focusing specifically on the Cultivating the Third Paradise installation displayed at the FAO.

Commentary from the Director of Cittadellarte
“This designation of a plural institution like Cittadellarte with the title of 'Food Hero',” stated Paolo Naldini, “constitutes a recognition that a multiple, co-creative subjectivity—intertwining private, public, and common interests into a composite, articulated symphony of activities and actions—is seen as an advancement in civil society's capacity to establish secondary governance and offer state institutions of primary governments, across all States and Countries in which we operate, alliances of circularity in thinking and doing. Art,” concluded the director of the Fondazione Pistoletto, “is not mere contemplation: it is a means to transform society. Acknowledging the right to proper and sustainable nutrition as a fundamental human right means placing harmony between human beings and nature at the center of democracy and our shared future.”