Bologna's Museo Spazio Pubblico Opens in Former Supermarket

Museo Spazio Pubblico, a new museum dedicated to the study of public space, opens in Bologna on May 14, 2021. Founded by scholar and activist Luisa Bravo, the museum is a project of City Space Architecture and Genius Saeculi. It occupies a former supermarket at Via Curiel 13/d in the Porto-Saragozza district, a peripheral area where Bravo believes concrete action is most needed. The museum will host research, residencies, conferences, exhibitions, workshops, multicultural dialogues, and performances, functioning as a transdisciplinary laboratory exploring the intersection of technology, art, and architecture. It also includes a small private library of international publications on public space. The inaugural intervention features artist Flavio Favelli (born 1967 in Florence), who created a site-specific ceiling painting titled "Raffaello 500," reproducing the 500,000 lire banknote featuring Raphael. Favelli's work addresses the ambiguity of money, noting that while financial success is desired, its representation is often censored. The museum aims to redefine public space as a theoretical concept encompassing plurality, cohesion, identity, civil rights, and democracy, as well as power and control.