Boltanski's Largest Italian Retrospective Opens Across Bologna

Christian Boltanski's monumental exhibition 'Anime. Di luogo in luogo' opens June 26, 2017, across multiple venues in Bologna, including MAMbo, the University, the Academy of Fine Arts, and peripheral sites. Curated by Danilo Eccher, the show features 20 large-scale installations spanning the artist's last thirty years, from iconic works like 'Monuments' and 'Ombre' to recent pieces such as 'Animitas' (2016), filmed in the Chilean desert and later in Canada, with the Canadian version on view for the first time in Italy. The exhibition begins with 'Coeur', a sound installation reproducing the artist's heartbeat. It also extends to off-site projects: 'Réserve' at the ex-powder magazine in Giardino Lunetta Gamberini, 'Ultima' at Teatro Arena del Sole, 'Take Me (I'm Yours)' at the former Giuriolo parking lot, and 'Billboards' on advertising panels in peripheral areas. The show coincides with the 20th anniversary of Boltanski's first retrospective in Bologna (1997) and the 10th anniversary of his permanent installation 'A proposito di Ustica' at the Museo per la Memoria di Ustica, dedicated to the 81 victims of the 1980 Ustica massacre. That installation features 81 black mirrors, speakers, and lights that pulse with a breath-like rhythm. Eccher describes the exhibition as a complex curatorial design that transcends the museum walls, reflecting Boltanski's deep and long-standing connection to Bologna.