In 1999 Michelangelo Pistoletto founded Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto’s programme of artists’ residencies for art and social transformation. The programme is open to artists and professionals from all over the world and it aims at providing instruments for “artivators”, i.e. subjects working at the boundaries between artistic practices, processes of social change and collaborations with communities external to the art world, weaving together moments of interdisciplinary research, exchange of knowledge and practical activities. The objective of the programme is to provide the participants with the inspiration, motivation and instruments to activate, develop or strengthen artistic initiatives based on the involvement of local ecologies. UNIDEE-University of Ideas started as an international programme of 4-month residencies (1999-2013), to then evolve this model focusing on season long research themes and developing four types of residency of different durations and with different objectives, grouped under the general heading of UNIDEE Residency Programs: UNIDEE Modules, Research Residency, Connective Residency and UNIDEE Projects.

The UNIDEE Modules are one-week intensive residential programmes open to artists, curators, practitioners, professionals, activists, and members of the wider public. Each module hosts up to 12 participants and offers an immersive environment for collective learning, experimentation, and exchange.
The programme is curated by the UNIDEE Visiting Research Curator, a position appointed every two years. Each curatorial cycle introduces a new thematic framework guiding the modules and encouraging participants to explore artistic practices in relation to the challenges of socially responsible transformation. Developed with the support of invited mentors, artists, and guest speakers, the modules follow a horizontal learning approach that encourages dialogue, shared knowledge, and collaborative processes.

The UNIDEE Research Residencies are programmes for international emerging artists developed in collaboration with partner institutions. They support artistic research focused on socially responsible transformation, providing artists with the time, context, and network necessary to deepen their practice. Conceived as spaces for experimentation and dialogue, the residencies offer a supportive environment for artistic and professional development. During their stay at Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte, artists engage in meetings with curators, artists, researchers, and professionals from civil society. The programme also includes studio visits, lectures, debates, and visits to exhibitions, archives, and places connected to the themes explored by the residents.
These residencies typically take place in the autumn and bring together international artists, fostering peer exchange and shared learning. The programme is research-based rather than production-oriented and culminates in the UNIDEE Open Studio, where artists present the outcomes of their research and engage in public dialogue.
Long-standing partners include the A.M. Qattan Foundation (Palestine), Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation (India), Institut Français Italia, Fondazione Brugnatelli (Italy), the Ministry of Culture of Colombia, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Bienalsur (Argentina).

The Connective Residency, active since 2015, is a six-month research and production residency programme open to Italian and international artists or collectives working with socially engaged artistic practices. The tailored programme aims to strengthen the dialogue between artistic research and other sectors of society, encouraging artists to engage with both local and global contexts through meetings with tutors, researchers, and experts, as well as field visits and collaborative exchanges. These encounters support the development of new artworks and projects in response to social, cultural, and environmental dynamics. Artists hosted by the programme include: Laura Pugno (2025–2026), Davide Tagliabue (2025), Despina Charitonidi (2025), Claudia Losi (2020–2023), Joshua G. Stein (2022), Theresa Schubert (2022), Nico Angiuli (2019), Mattia Paco Rizzi (2017), Leone Contini (2016), and Andrea Caretto and Raffaella Spagna (2015). .

Through UNIDEE Projects the programme participates in or establishes partnerships and consortia for the development of international calls for proposals, and from 2018 offers tailor-made residencies for partner institutions that share aspects and methodologies central to Cittadellarte's vision.
Among the partners are: Cegep Limoilou (Québec Campus), Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Villa Romana, Linnaeus University with its programme Design + Change, the University of Milano-Bicocca, the Italian Red Cross, Italia che cambia with the German association Inwole.

Since 1999, the residency programmes have registered the participation of over 3.000 students and professionals from 52 different countries.

UNIDEE and Visible project
Visible project is a wide research project dedicated to contemporary artistic practices addressed to the social sphere, launched by Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Zegna, curated by Matteo Lucchetti and Judith Wielander.

Visible is a wide research project dedicated to contemporary artistic practices addressed to the social sphere, launched by Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Zegna, curated by Matteo Lucchetti and Judith Wielander.

Visible is based on the idea originally proposed by Michelangelo Pistoletto in 1994 through his manifesto Progetto Arte: “Art is the most sensitive and complete expression of human thought, and the time has come for artists to take on the responsibility of establishing ties among all other human activities, from economics to politics, science to religion, education to behaviour; in a word, among the threads that make up the fabric of society”. Visible examines the spatial relationships within which different actors from different cultural backgrounds and with different temperaments generate meaning and establish alliances. The alliance between actors and spectators creates the action space of cultural and social relationships. Visible brings to light and strengthens the artistic actions truly able to produce and experiment with visions that might impact the social and cultural imagination of our contemporary world.

Accademia Unidee 
The Accademia Unidee, funded in 2019, was created to build a sustainable future, a vision of a possible balance between artifice and nature. At Accademia Unidee, students learn how to practice sustainability, how to understand the contemporary world, and how to transform society through art, design, and fashion. Through two three-year courses, Public Art and Sustainable Fashion, it motivates and provides the tools for those who, through the study and discovery of new practices and technologies, want to be part of the change. Please visit www.accademiaunidee.it for further information on our formal courses and master’s degrees.