Cittadellarte confirms its plural and heterogeneous artistic identity also with its new board of directors: after 25 years, the board has opened up to new figures from the worlds of culture and law. Last December, in fact, previous board members Giuliana Setari (president), Maria Pioppi (vice-president), Giorgio Barla, Paolo Naldini and Armona Pistoletto were joined by Andrea Ciurcina (lawyer), Giuseppe La Masa (lawyer), Emanuele Montibeller (founder of Arte Sella), Simone Mainardi (accountant) and Andrea Montanari (professor and lawyer). Here are the considerations of some of the new members, introduced by a few words by Giuliana Setari and Paolo Naldini.

Giuliana Setari
“Representing a wide range of professions and ages,” said the president of Fondazione Pistoletto referring to the new board members, “they are the bearers of new vital sap to the board. Most importantly, the addition promotes a wider spread of knowledge of the Foundation, which the new members can introduce to the various instances of competence. The insight they bring to Cittadellarte’s many issues is new and can be instrumental in advancing its usual practices and activities. Ultimately, new sap means new strength, and Cittadellarte needs it in order to meet the challenges that lie ahead in the new year, and the years after that. A further novelty was the participation of auditors, some key figures from the Pistoletto family and those who have been involved in the creation of Cittadellarte from the outset. I believe it is appropriate for them to become acquainted with the Foundation’s operating methods, its language and its know-how, so that one day they will be prepared to be more directly involved in it. Honours and obligations of the legacy of a great family, the one that Michelangelo and Maria Pistoletto founded with Cittadellarte”.

Paolo Naldini
“The board of directors,” said the director of Cittadellarte, “is opening up to new subjects who will be able to give an impetus to accompany the Foundation’s ambitious programmes, both as a school of the art of social transformation and as an engine of territorial regeneration in the Biella area and in the sites of its embassies around the world. The board of directors will be flanked by the new statutory body established in 2023 by the ‘committee of artivators’, collaborators of the Foundation who over the years have initiated and developed key projects that effectively constitute the body of Cittadellarte”.

Andrea Ciurcina
“I am happy to be able to share the news of my recent joining the board of directors of Fondazione Pistoletto in Biella. Starting as a lawyer, my career path went through a significant phase in the asset management sector in Switzerland between 2011 and 2018. This experience provided a solid base of financial and strategic knowledge that I believe can contribute significantly to the work of Fondazione Pistoletto’s board of directors. Currently, my main focus is on real estate, a field that is constantly evolving and plays a key role in building sustainable communities. I am convinced,” he added, “that the skills I have acquired in this sector will be synergistically integrated with the Foundation’s vision and objectives, enhancing opportunities for development and positive impact. It is a great honour for me to be part of this institution dedicated to promoting art for responsible social transformation and culture. I pledge to dedicate my energy and skills to contribute to the continued success of Cittadellarte, working closely with the other board members to achieve ambitious goals and support the mission of the Foundation”.

Andrea Montanari
“I am an associate professor at the University of the Chambers of Commerce ‘Mercatorum’ in Rome, where I hold the position of president of the degree course in Political Science and International Relations, and teach Private Law and Private Art Law. My professional activity,” he said, introducing himself, “focuses on Civil Law and Art Law, and specifically on contracts and litigation. In addition to teaching at the Mercatorum, I teach Art Law in post-graduate courses at the Universities of Milan, Brescia and Palermo. I have published several monographs (‘Il danno da risoluzione’, Jovene, 2013; ‘Il danno antitrust’, CEDAM – Wolters Kluwer, 2019; ‘La performance artistica: fattispecie, commercializzazione e rimedi’, Giappichelli, 2022) and articles both in Italian and English mainly dealing with civil liability, credit guarantees, private antitrust, private art law and cultural heritage law. I am also a member of the Scientific Committee of the Legal Observatory on the Protection of the Cultural Heritage at the University of Roma Tre and I am one of the founding directors of the magazine ‘Arte e diritto’, published by Giuffré Francis Lefebvre. Being involved with Cittadellarte is an honour,” he added in reference to his new appointment, “and it allows me to put myself at the service of a community, also giving me the opportunity to appreciate in concrete terms a profile of the relationship between art and society that I have analysed in a number of publications: the need to make citizens participate in the cultural life of the community to which they belong. This is one of the aspects that fully testify to the social utility to which the Foundation is legally predestined. Referring back to Pistoletto’s well-known ‘Love Difference’ project, it is necessary to involve people in order to make them aware of their identity, to reflect the Kantian idea of respect, according to which difference is more recognised the more aware we are of our own identity”.

Emanuele Montibeller
“A cultural builder: this is the definition with which I often try to delimit the field of my action, well aware that it is a broad field that is difficult to pin down to simple formulas. Born in Roncegno, Trentino, looking to international horizons: my life has always been characterised by the need to combine a strong identity, rooted in the territory of origin, with a projection towards the world. From a young age, I trained as an artist and joined international cultural circles. In 1986 I played a leading role in the birth of Arte Sella, a world-renown place where art, architecture, music, dance, poetry and other expressions of human creativity come together. I currently work in Italy and abroad as a consultant on cultural and artistic development projects. I am particularly pleased and honoured to have been asked to join the board of this important institution. The Foundation represents a cultural model that stands out for its interdisciplinary methodological approach and its ‘high’ objective, which aims at building visions and projects that have an impact on the contemporary world, with a strong international projection. I will contribute to this project with the experience and knowledge that come from my training and the path of life undertaken so far,” he concluded, “thank you all and especially Michelangelo and Maria for the trust and opportunity you have bestowed on me”.