Many of us will remember this year for the news that broke at the end of February, calling a hiatus in the grief for the ongoing wars, bringing surprise and excitement to the whole of Italy and beyond. In the world of art and culture an exhilarated international community saw in that piece of news a sign of renewed hope and comfort: the Gorbachev Foundation announced the candidacy of the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto for the Nobel Peace Prize 2025. For the first time a visual artist is nominated, and for the first time art is recognized as a tool for peace.

The concept behind Michelangelo Pistoletto’s artistic practice, that it is itself aimed at reawakening the individual’s responsibility towards society, is well integrated, as demonstrated by the works and installations that he has brought into the public sphere since the 1960s. Yet not everyone has grasped his discourse on peace, explicitly declared and defined as preventive in the exhibition of the same name at Palazzo Reale in Milan in 2023. The announcement of his candidacy has highlighted this aspect and has had a twofold effect. Firstly, that of retracing in this light the actions and initiatives that the Maestro has undertaken, as well as all those in which Cittadellarte accompanied him—meetings, conferences and exhibitions. Secondly, that of making the existence of the Gorbachev Foundation in Piacenza—and incidentally why it is so titled—known, alongside its mission to identify and propose Italian candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. A Prize, not everyone knows, that is not awarded in Sweden but in Norway, for ancient historical reasons. We could not help but be happy and proud, all of us who, thanks to our long-standing closeness to the great Maestro at Cittadellarte, have become aware of, and participate in his vision of the world. Nor could we refrain from stepping into action and from rooting for him.

With his sign of the Third Paradise we crossed borders, we flew in sidereal space, we walked on water in Venice. With the opening here at Cittadellarte of new spaces dedicated to spirituality, and to the constitution of the Statodellarte, we are preparing to cross together further bridges both towards the inner world and towards society. Now we hope to be headed for Norway in November: good luck, Maestro.