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organized by the Olivetti Cultural Center
January, 10 2024
After the success of the first three seasons, the Olivetti Historical Archive Association presents to the public the podcasts of a new series of events organized by the Olivetti Cultural Center between the ’60s and ’70s.
A new collection of audio conferences that will give us the firsthand voices of some figures who have shaped the history of culture, politics, and customs in Italy during the 20th century. A series of meetings addressing various topics that are still relevant today.
The episodes will be available from time to time on:
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What was the Olivetti Cultural Center?
The first cultural initiative organized by Olivetti was the Factory Library, with over 10,000 volumes available to employees and the local community. Around the Library, many cultural initiatives were born in the post-war period, consolidated under the umbrella of a Cultural Center that Adriano Olivetti himself briefly described in an interview with Emilio Garroni, a Rai journalist
The Center included an internal section for initiatives reserved for employees and their families, and an external one, open to everyone. Between 1950 and 1964, 249 conferences, 71 chamber music concerts, 103 art exhibitions, and 52 other events (debates, book presentations, etc.) were organized.
Beyond the statistics, what stands out in the activity of the Library and the Cultural Center is the quality of the content. Over the years, user demand shifted towards significant works of contemporary literature, classics, and essays on contemporary history. The meetings and conferences organized by the Cultural Center on challenging topics such as the history of the labor movement, racial issues in the USA, the life and works of Tolstoy, and sociological aspects of the industrial revolution were well-attended. Sometimes events took place during the lunch break, which at that time lasted a couple of hours, near the facilities (the “Salone dei 2000”) or the cafeteria, to encourage greater participation. In Ivrea, Olivetti employees could visit exhibitions by Renato Guttuso and Felice Casorati, attend concerts, meet intellectuals like Gaetano Salvemini and Cesare Musatti, and encounter distinguished figures from theater and cinema such as Vittorio Gassman, Eduardo De Filippo, and Dario Fo, as well as writers and artists like Alberto Moravia and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
“The innovative operation of enhancing the documentary heritage preserved in the archive will give the public the voices of many figures who have shaped the history of culture, politics, and customs in Italy in the 20th century,” says Gaetano di Tondo, President of the Olivetti Historical Archive Association – The digital mode, through new channels, will continue to bring the history of our company even closer to the future audience, the youth, continuing the path started through daily storytelling on all our social media channels“
Ottorino Beltrami, in his autobiographical book “On the Command Bridge from the Navy to Olivetti” (Ed. Mursia, 2004), recalls his first visit to Ivrea in 1949 in these terms:“I was a guest of Adriano Olivetti in Ivrea and attended a meeting in the library These were evening meetings attended by prominent personalities, who at that time seemed like true sacred monsters to me. That evening, Gaetano Salvemini was there, and the theme was the reconstruction of the country and democracy. After a brief intervention by the guest, the discussion began and lasted until late. Adriano Olivetti spoke, and the workers spoke; I was surprised by the extreme freedom and democracy with which everyone interacted. Adriano spoke as if he were one of the many: he was even interrupted. I have never seen such an example of democracy, not even in America: they were all equal, something thrilling, giving me shivers. It felt like I had entered the city of utopia. I returned to Rome more convinced than ever that I had made the right choice by accepting the proposal to join Olivetti.”.
