Stefano Arienti's collaborative project T-Essere for Società Dolce

On February 1, 2019, Stefano Arienti inaugurates T-Essere, a participatory exhibition at Cooperativa Sociale Società Dolce in Bologna. The project follows a workshop phase involving cooperative members, an enterprise with over 3,000 employees and one of the oldest cooperatives in Emilia Romagna, focusing on training, migration, and social issues. The initiative began in 2017 with Saldi d’artista by Giuseppe Stampone, presented at Arte Fiera Bologna. In 2018, Stampone invited Eugenio Tibaldi for Inclusio. For T-Essere, Arienti proposed reworking the cooperative's puzzle-piece logo into a collective collage using digital images chosen by participants from their personal travels, homes, and work. Arienti showed his own photos to inspire selection, and the group discussed and chose images, favoring immediate and simple ones over complex or controversial. He was impressed by the group's speed and skill in learning the technique. The works are co-signed by Arienti and the participants. Arienti, who has no formal art training and comes from a farming background, values the work ethic and responsibility found in labor, contrasting it with the ego often seen in art. He credits the quality of the commission for enabling participation and interaction.