Press Release

Cogne Acciai Speciali and the Municipality of Aosta Present “Steel Roots,” the Photographic Exhibition on the Origins of Cogne Acciai Speciali.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Thursday, October 24 at 5:45 PM at the Bocciofila of the Cogne District, Via Giorgio Elter 29. The event will begin at 5:30 PM with a musical introduction performed by three promising young musicians from the Aosta Valley: violinist Annalisa Foretier, trombonist Leonardo Dall’Anese, and pianist Madeleine Montrosset, who will perform prior to the official opening of the exhibition.

Steel Roots is a curated exhibition dedicated to the origins of Cogne Acciai Speciali and its deep connection with the local territory. The show aims to retrace, through 17 panels featuring historical photographs, the story of the factory that has shaped the economic and social fabric of the city of Aosta. The photographs span from the construction of the first workshops in the 1910s through to the late 1950s, authentically depicting the working reality of those years.

Some of the photographs come from the private collection of Luigi Busatto, Master of Labor and passionate historian of Cogne, who generously contributed part of his personal archive to enrich the exhibition.

The faces, machines, furnaces, and workplaces captured in these images testify to an era of great industrial development. These shots not only reveal the essence of hard work and the steelmaking process but also convey the profound bond between Cogne Acciai Speciali and the Aosta community. A shared history of labor, commitment, integration, and transformation of which we are all proud.

Visitors will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the origins of our company, discovering the evolution of a business that has skillfully combined industrial innovation with respect for local traditions.

The exhibition will be open to the public until November 23 during the Bocciofila’s opening hours. After the exhibition, the photographs will be placed behind the bar counters at both the Bocciofila and the “Baretto” in Via Vuillerminaz 3, also located in the Cogne district.

Following the inauguration, attendees will be invited to a convivial aperitif and buffet offered by the Bocciofila of the Cogne District, to share a moment of social gathering in the spirit of cohesion and collaboration the exhibition intends to celebrate.

Monica Pirovano, General Director of Cogne Acciai Speciali, comments:“This exhibition represents a journey into the roots of our company and, at the same time, a tribute to all those who contributed to shaping the history of Cogne Acciai Speciali and the city of Aosta. Through these historic images, we recount a crucial period, from the construction of the first workshops in the 1910s to the late 1950s, showing the true essence of work, dedication, and sacrifice in those years.

Steel Roots is not just a display of historical images but a tribute to the strength and commitment of a community that has grown alongside our company. Each photo tells a part of our story — a story of work, dedication, and shared sacrifices — and represents the evolution of Cogne Acciai Speciali and its inseparable link with the city of Aosta. The photographs are more than visual testimonies; they are fragments of life of men and women who helped build not only the company but also the economic and social fabric of the Aosta Valley. Cogne has been not only an economic engine but also a social pillar that gave rise to initiatives and projects enriching the territory and shaping entire generations. This exhibition celebrates this special relationship, which continues to this day. We are also proud to present this exhibition in the heart of the Cogne District, a place that symbolizes the historic connection between our company and our workers, and that today becomes once again a focal point for the Aosta community. Steel Roots is an opportunity to reflect on who we were and to look toward the future with awareness and pride.”

Gianni Nuti, Mayor of Aosta, states:“The exhibition project developed by CAS honors the history of Aosta and the industrial roots that have shaped its development since the 1920s for at least 50 years. The Cogne district has been a successful example of a ‘city within a city,’ built on multiple pillars: urban planning, building works, and social cohesion — pillars that unraveled during a period of major social and economic changes between the late 1980s and early 2000s, also due to political choices that at the time seemed right but later proved counterproductive for the neighborhood’s identity. Starting with funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), and in collaboration with Arer, we wanted to rethink the Cogne district and restore it to the central role it deserves through an unprecedented economic, design, and construction effort that will give the community a significantly revitalized part of the urban territory.”

Clotilde Forcellati, Councillor for Social Policies, Housing, and Equal Opportunities, adds:“The upcoming exhibition is a very important event connecting Cogne Acciai Speciali with the city. It highlights the company’s maintenance of an ideal link with the real estate heritage that marked Aosta’s history for decades and still represents a key urban segment today. I also want to emphasize the venue hosting the exhibition, the Bocciofila of the district — a regenerated space that serves as a true ‘community hub’ and a social glue between the Cogne district and the city center.”

Luigi Busatto, Master of Labor and admirer of Cogne’s history, remarks:“I have always felt a deep gratitude to Cogne, having benefited from its recreational and professional facilities such as the Cavi colony, athletics, choir, seaside stays, evening technical maturity courses, and decades of work in its structures. As a weekly magazine once wrote in an interview: everything I have learned, I owe to Cogne. Therefore, the proposal for collaboration on the centenary of the plant sparked in me a deep research into its latent memories, leading to the book Lives Marked by the Sound of a Siren and the photographic exhibition The Historical and Social Journey of Our Cogne — which, for two years, has closed the path of the Cogne Mining Museum. Today, I am pleased to have contributed to realizing the exhibition to be inaugurated on 24/10 at the bocciofila in its district.”