‘Custodi dei beni’ (Keepers of the goods), a new mural to highlight the value of dialogue between art and sustainability

In December 2024, the new mural ‘Custodi dei beni’ (Keepers of the goods) was inaugurated at the Department of Economics and Business Sciences ‘Marco Fanno’ of the University of Padua. It was realised in cooperation with the Liceo Artistico Amedeo Modigliani with the contribution of the Third Mission Project of the University of Padua (Call for Proposals 2023) within the ‘Art and Sustainability’ action.

The work bears witness to the value of dialogue between art and sustainability and involved around sixty students from both the high school and the DSEA department, in a work that started in September last year from a concept by authors Lucia Lambertucci and Leonardo Puricelli.

This project not only made it possible to reflect on the theme of the functioning of a sustainable economy that wants to move towards the wellbeing of the planet and those who live on it, but ‘also created the conditions for an opportunity for exchange between two different but close realities, fostering the development of transversal skills thanks to the common objectives and timelines pursued by the working group,’ as explained by the Liceo Modigliani teachers.

During the opening ceremony, Monica Salvadori, pro-rector in charge of the artistic, historical and cultural heritage of the University of Padua, emphasised the important role played by the University of Padua in promoting culture and opportunities for exchange with reference to relations between different generations and realities united by art, seen as a powerful tool for conveying messages that can reach everyone.

The mural, as reported by Paola Valbonesi, head of the department, will enrich the environments frequented daily by students to give them a message of colour and beauty, but also to remind them, in a concrete measure, of the importance of putting people before profit in a light of hope and commitment to the future.

The inauguration was also attended by a representation of students and teachers from the Liceo Artistico Modigliani, including Dario Mario Marin, the partnership’s contact person, and Alberto Schiavinato, Daria Mauri and Simone Cardella, coordinators of the executive project.