Once again this year, Arbos is proud to support Festivaletteratura Mantova 2026, which celebrates a particularly important milestone from 9 to 13 September: its 30th edition.
Thirty years of books, meetings, authors, readers, ideas and words that have filled the squares and spaces of Mantua, turning the city for a few days into a vibrant place for culture and exchange.
For Arbos, being part of this experience once again means continuing a collaboration that truly reflects who we are. We believe that culture and sustainability have a lot in common: they both look to the future and to the responsibility we have for what we leave to others.
A recycled paper notebook for Festivaletteratura
For the 2026 edition, Arbos has once again created the notebooks that will accompany the days of Festivaletteratura.
The notebooks are made from coloured Cartapaglia, one of the recycled papers that has always best represented our story and our approach to sustainability. A paper with a deliberately natural look, where the material is not hidden but becomes part of the product’s identity.
The cover features the image chosen to represent the 30th edition, creating a simple object that is deeply connected to this special moment in the Festival’s history.
But a notebook is more than just something to write on.
During a festival dedicated to literature, it naturally becomes a travel companion: a place to write down a sentence heard during an event, the title of a book to look for, a sudden thought, an address, a drawing, or an idea you don’t want to forget.
Blank pages that, day by day, become something personal.
“In Thirty Words”: Thirty Years Told Through Writing
To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Festivaletteratura has once again chosen to put words at the heart of the Festival through the participatory project “In Thirty Words”.
The idea is as simple as it is fascinating: to tell a story using exactly thirty words, one for each year of the Festival. The collected stories will form a large wall anthology, displayed in Mantua during the 30th anniversary edition.
A project open to everyone, bringing writing back to its freest and most immediate form.
And this is exactly where we rediscover the true meaning of a notebook.
In front of a blank page, we are all free to begin. You don’t need to be a writer. You can write down a sentence, sketch an idea, make a drawing, or capture a memory.
A page doesn’t tell us what to say or suggest what we should think.
It simply gives us a space.
The Notebook as a Space for Freedom
In an increasingly digital world, a notebook preserves something precious: it is a physical, personal and free space.
It has no notifications, it doesn’t interrupt us, and it doesn’t turn what we write into content to be shared. It keeps our thoughts safe, whether they remain private or become the beginning of something bigger.
This is why we like to think of the notebook as a small space for free expression.
Its pages can hold ideas, notes, stories, projects, words, sketches and even mistakes. Everything can find a place on paper.
And perhaps it is no coincidence that such a simple object continues to be part of our lives, even in an age dominated by screens. Writing by hand means giving ourselves a different kind of time: slower, more personal and closer to our thoughts.
Culture and Sustainability: A Shared Commitment
Our collaboration with Festivaletteratura allows us to express a principle that Arbos has always believed in: sustainability is not only about the materials we use, but also about the culture we help to build.
Choosing recycled paper means reducing the use of new resources and giving value to a material that can have a new life. But it also means using an everyday object to show that there is a different, more conscious way to produce and consume.
For many years, Arbos has been working to make respect for the environment part of everyday life: in a notebook, a journal, or an object we use every day.
For us, sustainability means care for materials, research, recovery and responsible production. But it also means supporting ideas, creativity, education and access to culture.
Because a more sustainable future is not built simply by using fewer resources. It is also built by people who are able to read, learn, imagine, exchange ideas and think freely.
Recycled Paper, New Words
Finally, there is something we particularly like about the notebooks created for Festivaletteratura Mantova 2026.
Recycled paper comes from something that already has a story. It is recovered, transformed and given a new life, ready to hold something that does not yet exist.
Old paper becomes a space for a new idea.
Perhaps this is the image that best connects Arbos’ work with the spirit of Festivaletteratura.
On one side, a material that is recovered and given a new life; on the other, words that pass from one person to another, change meaning, inspire thoughts and open up new possibilities.
Once again this year, we are happy to see Arbos notebooks there, in the streets and squares of Mantua, in the hands of those taking part in the Festival.
Ready to capture a sentence, an encounter, an idea.
Or perhaps just thirty words to begin a new story.
