The Olivetti mantra and the writer in the factory enliven the days of Parma
The factory for man and not man for the factory. Olivetti's mantra has never waned and it is certainly no coincidence that the second edition of the Industrial Storytelling Festival in Parma from 24 to 29 November is dedicated to him. Industrial humanism at the centre, without any nostalgia, because Adriano continues to live and fight with us, among thousands of Italian entrepreneurs who every day work to nurture and grow these extraordinary productive and creative communities called companies. We know it well, as Emanuele Orsini reminded us in his last speech to the Confindustria Technical Group on Culture, the taxes of Italian companies with more than ten employees and their workers contribute 83.2% of the revenue, in short, they are the engine of Italy, including public affairs. Therefore, telling the story of the company, in this case in its industrial declination, using literary narration, is a responsibility and a bet for the future of the country.
The tradition of industrial literature is a long one, and in this edition too there will be many themed book presentations. Saverio Mazzoni, with Carlo Varotti, will read Primo Levi's The Star Key at the Theatre. Beppe Severgnini will speak on 'Literature and American Industry', Giuseppe Lupo will present his Storia d'amore e macchine da scrivere.
Then again, the Biella Prize, which will be present at the festival this year, as well as university workshops on Business Storytelling and an exhibition on the Olivetti Cultural System. But more is to be done. Alongside historical works, exhibitions and meetings there is the ambition to produce new works. Hence the idea of realising this year, within the festival, an artistic residency in a factory, hopefully the first of a long series, involving our company Laterlite SPA, a producer of expanded clay and building solutions since 1964, oriented towards product and process sustainability, eight factories all over Italy, but the heart remains in Parma since 1964, a long industrial and technological adventure, always centred on man and the family in its primary declination, the living nucleus.
Invited by the festival to work for a week alongside the production workers of the Rubbiano di Solignano factory, at the confluence of the Taro river and the Ceno stream, in the heart of the Food Valley and the Motor Valley, the brilliant playwright Emanuele Aldrovandi, author of Il nostro grande niente (Our Great Nothing) for Einaudi, son of an entrepreneur and since this year artistic director of the season at the Teatro del Fiume di Boretto, told the story of the factory in his own way.
When Emanuele asked me if there were any wishes or areas of focus, the only possible answer was, 'write whatever you want, in whatever format you want, from haiku to Comedy, as long as the technical terms are correct'. So Emanuele experienced the factory for a week, side by side with technicians and workers, observing details, moving materials, people. He discovered what he had already imagined, that the factory is not only a place of great humanity but also a microcosm of creativity. How else should we describe a place where every day each of us is driven by a constant aspiration to improve the quality of products to meet the demands of customers and communities? Research, development and passion, ingredients that have made the history of our country and give hope for tomorrow.
