Who we are
Work, the Protagonist of Change
People often have a simplified idea that “working” means producing objects, perhaps in a place called a factory, at set hours and under the authority of a boss.
This view of work tends to overshadow the person doing the work and reduces it to a purely manufacturing activity.
This exhibition challenges both of these clichés.
First and foremost, it places emphasis on the person who works—that is, the subject, not the object, of the activity.
Through this, we discover that the “worker” is not simply someone trying to climb the career ladder or earn a salary.
He is a man with a family, friends, colleagues; someone with specific knowledge and professional skills; someone who appreciates usefulness but also beauty.
In producing an object or performing a service, he is responding to his own needs and those of the people who will use that object or benefit from that service.
For this reason, voluntary work is also considered work, even if there is no expectation of pay.
So too is the work of a mother caring for her children, or of a parking attendant, a traffic officer, or a public administrator.
Good work carries a deep sense of responsibility: to meet basic needs; to cooperate with others in organizing production more effectively; and to “invent” new products and services that better meet the growing and evolving needs of society.
In this sense, work is the protagonist of change.
Because reality constantly poses questions to those who work—questions that arise from basic human needs: to be clothed, to eat, to live in a home.
Or more advanced needs: access to quality education, healthcare services that meet increasingly complex and fragile health conditions, or transportation and communication systems that connect people and businesses around the world.
There is also the need for innovation, to meet the demand for greater efficiency from businesses facing ever-growing competition.
This exhibition—on work as the “protagonist” of change in an increasingly complex society—develops this theme through several sections highlighting the things and services produced, the places of production, and the people involved in work.
Following a path made up of texts, objects, images, and videos, the exhibition invites visitors to reflect on four key dimensions of work:
To work means to “take” matter and resources, to try to “understand” their meaning and usefulness, and to “undertake” activities together with others to meet needs.
To work means to “make” things; to “act” in response to the challenges of reality; and to “interact,” taking responsibility with others for producing a good or service.
To work means to “produce” an object through various stages of transformation; to “reproduce” the necessary quantities; and to “create” new goods and services by transforming what reality offers into resources.
Finally, to work means to “compete,” contending with others for physical and economic space; to “concur,” striving together toward a common goal; and to “collaborate,” forming increasingly lasting personal relationships built on mutual trust.
The exhibition is also a tribute to the person and work of Marco Martini, who, before passing away, helped conceive and realize it.
His was also a “work” to make all of us more aware protagonists of change and of our society.
