Gabriele Picco's 'Pasticceria Italia' at Miart Reimagines Bologna Massacre as Pastry

On the 45th anniversary of the 1980 Bologna station bombing, Italian artist Gabriele Picco presented 'Pasticceria Italia' (2025) at the Miart fair in Milan. The installation featured silicone cakes displayed in refrigerated cases, with images of Italian terrorist attacks printed on fake communion wafers. The work referenced the Bologna massacre of August 2, 1980, as well as the Piazza della Loggia bombing, and the assassinations of judges Falcone and Borsellino. Picco's piece aimed to provoke discomfort by juxtaposing the aesthetics of a pastry shop with the horror of these events, using stainless steel to evoke both refrigerators and morgues. The work was inspired by a 2020 editorial by journalist Gianni Leoni, who recounted the story of bus driver Agide Melloni, who transported victims of the Bologna bombing. The bombing, a neo-fascist attack, killed 85 people and injured 200. Picco's installation was noted for its unsettling blend of the mundane and the tragic, challenging viewers to confront Italy's unresolved national trauma.