In the year of Parma Italian Capital of Culture 2020+21, here’s a list of exhibitions and cultural initiatives not to be missed in the Emilia area, between Parma, Piacenza and Reggio Emilia.
From ancient sculptures to multimedia installations, from modern figurative arts to the great names in art history, here are some good reasons to plan a visit to Emilia this year.
Antelami in Parma
The work of man, the time of the Earth.
From September 12, 2020 | Baptistery of Parma
Face to face with the great maestro Benedetto Antelami thanks to the statues of the Months and Seasons moved from the internal loggia of the Baptistery to the ground, for a closer look than ever.
Works that not only contain a high symbolic and religious value, but also testify a deep anthropological reflection and express a relationship of full balance between man and environment, between nature and culture.
Ligabue and Vitaloni in Parma
Giving voice to nature
From September 17, 2020 to May 30, 2021 | Palazzo Tarasconi, Parma
An immersive journey into the poeticism of Ligabue through a comparison between his painting and the sculptures of Vitaloni, an exhibition that digs deep into both the animal and instinctive essence of a human being.
Vittorio Sgarbi accompanies the visitors through the majestic underground chambers of Palazzo Tarasconi to research the particular empathy towards the animal world which Antonio Ligabue has in common with Michele Vitaloni, both of whom examine the very nature of mankind by narrating their marvels.
Umberto Eco in the Labyrinth of Franco Maria Ricci
Labyrinth. History of a sign
From April 17 to September 26, 2021 | Labyrinth della Masone, Fontanellato (PR)
The Labyrinth of Franco Maria Ricci turns into a Metalabyrinth: as Virgil led Dante, so noble and wise shadows, linked to the history of Ricci – not only Umberto Eco but also Jorge Luis Borges – will accompany the visitors with a multimedia transfer of words and thoughts.
In the first hall, dedicated to Eco, the voice and texts of the great writer, will guide the public in a labyrinth with reflecting walls: a maze of mirrors animated by visions which invite us to read again the history of the labyrinth and its symbolic and psychological meanings.
In the second hall will be the History of labyrinths in the world: several works will appear in a surprising projection 360-degrees.
In the third and last hall, important loans from international Museums and ancient volumes illustrated with labyrinths are on display, to touch with your hand the idea of the labyrinth and how this symbol participated in the History of the World.
Opera! in Parma
Parma and the Opera
From September 19, 2021 to January 13, 2022 | Governor Palace
A journey to understand the identity of social and cultural life in the Italian History through Parma and its relationship with the Opera.
Thanks to photos, correspondences, multimedia documents, historical recordings, newspaper articles, sketches, models and costumes, it’s possible to go beyond the traditional historical approach and – in line with the reflection of the Verdi Festival – strongly bring the thought on the present.
Klimt in Piacenza
“Portrait of a lady”
From November 28, 2020 | Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art, Piacenza
The painting, robbed 22 years ago, was found last year in the garden of Ricci Oddi Gallery and is now exposed in a case in the hall of honour.
The exhibition is part of the “Klimt project”, a cycle of dates and special exhibitions dedicated to the painter. The first of the four dates is “Klimt and the secret masters of Ricci Oddi”, scheduled for March 28, 2021. Other dates follow up to 2022.
Piacenza's Civic Museums
A new Roman Section
Spring 2021 | Piacenza’s Civic Museums
The Civic Museums of Palazzo Farnese inaugurate a space dedicated to over a thousand finds from the Roman era – many of which have never been shown before – which illustrate the millennial history of Piacenza.
This new display is aimed at improving the knowledge of the rich heritage of objects that tell the history of the city from its foundation in 218 BC, telling its original urban layout, the buildings, people’s lifestyle and worships.
The path, enriched by multimedia devices, reconstructions of environments and “talking finds”, ends with the story of the crisis of the Roman Empire, through works dating back to the Longobard culture.
Raffaello in Piacenza
Madonna Sistina virtual tour
Spring 2021 | San Sisto Monastic Complex, Piacenza
Raffaello’s masterpiece Madonna Sistina will be virtually back to San Sisto Monastic Complex, where it was preserved until 1754. The work was originally made for this place and precisely in 1754 was given to the Great Elector August the third from Saxony. Since then, the work has been kept at the Old Masters Gallery in Dresden.
Now visitors can see Raffaello’s painting in its original place thanks to a multimedia exposition, made of video projections, films and virtual reconstructions that will explore the Benedectine monastery and its artistic heritage.
European Photography Festival in Reggio Emilia
On the Moon and on Earth/make way for dreamers!
May 2021 | Many venues in Reggio Emilia
This year’s edition of the international festival dedicated to contemporary photography is dedicated to the theme “On the Moon and on Earth/make way for dreamers!”, by the poetry of the Italian author Gianni Rodari: an invitation to imagine the future in this difficult and uncertain moment and open to new perspectives.
European Photography is an event hosted by Magnani Palace and the municipality of Reggio Emilia; since 2006 has been held at San Pietro cloisters and other city spots with big exhibitions, meetings, conferences, site-specific performances. “Young European Photography”, a project dedicated to emerging talents, is also inside the festival with the collective exposition “Reconstruction” at San Domenico cloisters.
Museums’ Palace in Reggio Emilia
A new Museum’s space
Spring 2021 | Museums’ Palace, Reggio Emilia
One of 2021 flagship events next Spring in Reggio Emilia is the opening of a new section on the first floor of the Museum, previously partly dedicated to the collections Prehistory and Protohistory and partly to Fontanesi Gallery, which now will have a new ground-breaking exhibition for an appealing and contemporary telling of the territory.
An intervention started in 2014 with the restoration of a Museum’s unused space, now hosting expositions. The new exhibition in Museums’ Palace displays the archaeological and artistic collections through a great telling of the territory, of the city and its people.
Reggionarra in Reggio Emilia
The art of storytelling
Spring 2021 | Reggio Emilia
Every year in Spring Reggio Emilia becomes the “city of stories” for a weekend, thanks to professional writers, theatre companies, and parents that become storytellers on that occasion. In the city known for its special attention to children and educational activities, this cultural project dedicated to the art of storytelling returns.
At the beginning of June, the Internazionale Kids festival follows, a face-to-face formula of the magazine of the same name, which every month publishes in Italian the best of the foreign press dedicated to readers aged between seven and thirteen, in order to explain big current issues to young people, through activities, meetings and presentations of children’s books.
Author
Visit Emilia
Emilia Tourist Destination
www.visitemilia.com/en/
You may also like
[Emilia-Romagna Art Cities] Parma in 3 Minutes
by Walter Manni /// February 8, 2018
What to eat in Parma
by Alessandra Pradelli /// February 14, 2018
Interested in our newsletter?
Every first of the month, an email (in Italian) with selected contents and upcoming events.
10 good reasons to come in Emilia Romagna
by Davide Marino /// February 22, 2018