Michelangelo Pistoletto Feels ‘Sense of Hope’ at Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

Michelangelo Pistoletto b. 1933, Italy Follow +

Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

The 91-year-old artist was selected by the Gorbachev Foundation Association at an event at the Alberoni Gallery in Piacenza in recognition for his commitment to ‘using art as a fundamental tool for achieving preventive and lasting peace’.

Pistoletto said he felt a ‘sense of hope’ in receiving the nomination, which he hoped would create ‘an opening for listening’.

‘It’s already a result, because it opens up the possibility of accelerating proposed changes. It will be easier to spread the formula of creation so that it can be shared and lead to what it aims for, namely peace.’

The foundation said the nomination is backed by Nobel Italia and has been accepted by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.

In a Q&A with the artist post-nomination, Pistoletto said art ought to take a ‘propulsive role for radical change’. He added that he was uncertain whether peace could be reached, but working toward it made him ‘feel better’.

Born in the Italian town of Biella in 1933, Pistoletto came to international attention in the 1960s with his ‘Mirror Paintings’, which sought to include viewers within the artwork.

As a leading figure of the postwar Arte Povera movement, he rejected commercialism and materialism by working with discarded and natural materials and through performance and encouraging public participation—notably staging a 2014 peace march in Cuba.

Nominees for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize so far include Palestinian scientist Mazin Qumsiyeh, tech billionaire Elon Musk for his commitment to ‘freedom of expression’, and U.S. President Donald Trump for ‘his attempts to stop Russian aggression’ and ‘leadership’.

The winner will be announced this October and awarded in December. —[O]

Main image: Michelangelo Pistoletto. Photo: Stephan Röhl via Wikimedia Commons.