Achille Bonita Oliva curated the exhibition which featured Michelangelo Pistoletto's Third Paradise and other works of the collective art group Cittadellarte led by Pistoletto since 1998. Rocco Buttiglione, Italian Culture Minister, and Gilberto Gil, Minister for Culture of Brazil, were present at the opening on June 8, 2005.
In conjunction with the exhibition, which was part of the 51st Biennale, TeDIS researchers developed a series of workshops with Pistoletto and young international artists from Cittadellarte_Love Difference. They investigated the relationship between creativity, society, sustainabilty and economy.
Cittadellarte’s presence at VIU gave a flush of enthusiasm and stimuli to the institution. This project was the first step towards new training methods, where theory is combined with practical creativity and the semantics of art, providing opportunities to engage and unify, through the discovery of new visions and ideas.
"In the ground at San Servolo I trace the new symbol for infinity that replaces the traditional symbol [...] The new symbol crosses itself twice, defining not just two, but three circles [...] The Third Paradise is the new myth that leads each of us to take on a personal reponsibility in this epoch-making passage".
Michelangelo Pistoletto, 2005