Recently I visited Bologna for the first time. My other half had watched a Rick Stein show where he had visited and it had stuck with him. Very much a trip about food, I didn’t know much else about the terracotta city.
Mambo
Our air bnb was ten minutes walk from Mambo, the Modern Art Museum in Bologna. The museum’s permanent collection charts the journey of Modern art in Italy from post Second World War and onwards. Displayed chronologically you take this journey through time as you physically walk through the gallery.
My highlight from the gallery, however, was the Mika Rottenberg temporary exhibition. Mika’s video and installation work is surreal and slightly creepy. It reminds me of Freud’s The Uncanny. Human figures acting in an alien way. Inanimate objects become animated and live like humans. Each video well crafted and something hypnotic. Installation pieces included flailing ponytails and film montages viewed through the smoking mouth of a sex doll-like disembodied mouth. This was my first encounter with the Argentinian artist and I wouldn’t hesitate to view her work again.
University quarter
Bologna is home to the oldest university in the western world. Walking through this district of the terracotta city the earth timed walls become speckled with street art. From sticker tags to painted shop fronts there was much to admire on a stroll. The art enhanced the youthful vibe of this northern part of the city centre and carried strong political calls for equality.
The university itself holds many treasures if you know where to look. Several museums which are free to enter and open to the public are housed within its walls. I have always found museums a wealth of inspiration for my art. One thing I always enjoy on a free day is to go to a museum and draw.
Anatomy Museum
We first visited the Anatomia Umana Normale museum of abnormal anatomy. I’d read about it before the trip and felt intrigued. Unfortunately, I hadn’t thought about completely grotesque the museum would be. Featuring waxworks of squirm inducing diseases and birth defects, we also saw mummified remains, skeletal specemins and preserved human foetuses. The macabre always appeals to me, but actual dead babies is a step too far.
Zoology and Anthropology Museums
The next museum we visited was the Zoological museum. Several floors of taxidermy specimens is my ideal sort of drawing space. The quality of these specimens however was awful. Poorly applied unnatural shades of painted slopped upon grey birds, reptile and fish. The gem of the museum were the floors of skeletons. There is an impressive number of specemens from a range of species. Even preserved organs too. I took some photos that I intend to draw now I am back in the U.K., as something about drawing skeletons always appeals to me. If I want in a rush to explore a city I’d have been happy to spend the afternoon there drawing. Above was the small anthropological museum which has interesting exhibits on the evolution of Man.
What I did struggle to find in the city was much work by local artist. There is an arts and crafts market but the selection is not wide and it feels very geared towards tourists. I always like to pick up handcrafted pieces on holiday but I struggled to find anything in Bologna apart from a delightful gift shop called Riceteria.
The real art in Bologna is of course the food. It would have been nice to have a few more galleries to walk the food belly off with though.
