On Wednesday, 22 April 2026, at 12:00 pm, on the first floor of Palazzo ONMI (Ex Asilo) in Viale Duca degli Abruzzi, the inauguration of the exhibition “Cultural Ecosystem” was held. The event marks the official start of the L’Aquila Demopractic Work, a project promoted by Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte in collaboration with the Municipality of L’Aquila and the Scientific Committee of the Italian Capital of Culture 2026. Inspired by Michelangelo Pistoletto’s principles of Demopraxy, Trinamy, and Preventive Peace, the initiative places culture at the heart of urban development and adopts the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda as its operational basis. The project is not a simple exhibition event but a strategic device that redefines the role of Cultural and Creative Enterprises (CCEs) as drivers of relations among industry, the third sector, social policies, and citizens.

From Pistoletto’s works to the Demopractic Work
Within this space dedicated to creativity, the exhibition takes shape as a collective representation in which several works by Michelangelo Pistoletto will enter into dialogue with objects and books provided by the local entities mapped by the project, recounting their identity. In the main hall, a special installation of the Third Paradise will stand out, composed of chairs lent by local organisations to visually convey a powerful idea of balance, co-responsibility, and collective intelligence. The Demopractic Work focuses on the theme of Cultural and Creative Enterprises, understood not as a standalone sector, but as a nucleus capable of generating connections with associations, the third sector, and the production system. Through a system of concentric circles and a dynamic mapping of the territory, the project aims to overcome traditional separations between culture, economy, and social impact.

The voice of the Director of Cittadellarte
“Today more than ever,” stated Paolo Naldini, Director of Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte, “we are called to rethink our way of being in the world and with the world. In this historical transition, culture can become a concrete compass, capable of guiding visions and actions. The L’Aquila Italian Capital of Culture programme represents a living ground to test this perspective through Demopraxy: a laboratory of participation in which art becomes an instrument of democracy. The experience of Cittadellarte acts as a catalytic force, a leaven for energies already present, contributing to a collective, plural path founded on difference. A commitment we undertake with responsibility and with the joy of sharing it.”

The Mayor’s comment
“With the start of the Demopractic Work and the inauguration of the ‘Cultural Ecosystem’ exhibition,” explained Mayor Pierluigi Biondi, “L’Aquila confirms its vocation as an open-air laboratory for social innovation. The bond with the Pistoletto Foundation is not just a tribute to contemporary art, but a precise choice: to use culture as the glue between institutions, businesses, and citizens. Our Third Paradise, inspired by the 99 castles of our foundation, represents the perfect synthesis between historical memory and that capacity for regeneration that makes us the proud Italian Capital of Culture today.”

The demopractic forum and the public programme
The mapping and the exhibition will translate into concrete alliances during the Demopractic Forum, scheduled for 29 and 30 May at Palazzo Spaventa. The Forum will be a veritable civic laboratory and a space for dialogue to define new forms of cultural governance and imagine the city’s future. This will be supported by a widespread Public Programme that will animate the entire territory throughout the year with workshops, performances, and participatory practices, including fundamental work on measuring the economic, social, and cultural impact generated.

Visual identity: the 99 castles and the Third Paradise
The deep bond with the city is also reflected in the project's graphic concept: the iconic shape of the Third Paradise has been reinterpreted through 99 points, a tribute to the history and legend of the 99 castles that founded L'Aquila in the 13th century. Today, these points become the visual metaphor of an active and participatory contemporary community, while the chosen colours reflect the official ones of L’Aquila, Italian Capital of Culture 2026, uniting historical memory and future vision. The Third Paradise thus represents not an end point, but a visible synthesis of the relationships built and a transition towards new forms of coexistence and sustainable development.

Cover image credit: Gino Di Paolo.