For Vincenzo Agnetti, working together marked the beginning of his artistic journey—what he himself described as “a first step,” or, as he called it, “Spontaneous Intervention with Friends.” By the late 1950s, Agnetti had formed a deep connection with Piero Manzoni and Enrico Castellani—an intellectual and emotional affinity that transcended individual life events and endured over time, nurtured by shared dreams and interests.

In the 1970s, this collaborative drive once again became central to his practice. Agnetti recognized how the sharing of projects and visions could exponentially enhance the very meaning of art. Collaboration, for him, was also a political act—a way of existing and a declaration of belonging to the civic sphere. With this spirit, he began working side by side with artists such as Gianni Colombo, Alighiero Boetti, Paolo Scheggi, Claudio Parmiggiani, Eva Sørensen, and Shūsaku Arakawa. Each collaboration had its own unique dynamic, shaped by distinct but equally profound affinities.

The book a² Vincenzo Agnetti. Working together is a political act, edited by Bruno Corà and the Archivio Vincenzo Agnetti, was born from these reflections and accompanies the exhibition on view at the Archive starting June 25, 2025. The volume gathers unpublished writings alongside already known texts by the artist, creating a heterogeneous mosaic that mirrors the spirit of his many collaborations. Thanks to the collaboration between the Agnetti, Manzoni, and Scheggi Archives and the studio Scena Urbana, two of Agnetti’s never-realized works have been brought to life in a virtual environment, under the scientific direction of Marco Senaldi. These experiences are part of the project Today is not Today, a platform that promotes cultural and educational use of new technologies applied to art.

Bruno Corà is an art critic and curator active since the mid-1960s. He has been a professor and honorary academic at the Academy of Fine Arts in Perugia and has taught at the University of Cassino and the University of Florence. He served as director of Palazzo Fabroni Contemporary Visual Arts in Pistoia, the Luigi Pecci Centre for Contemporary Art in Prato, CAMeC – Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art in La Spezia, and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Lugano. He is currently President of the Burri Foundation. Corà has curated several international art biennials and numerous exhibitions of internationally renowned artists.