MAMbo Director Lorenzo Balbi on Post-Lockdown Plans and the Nuovo Forno del Pane

Lorenzo Balbi, artistic director of MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, outlines the museum’s 2020 autumn/winter program in an interview. The main exhibition space, Sala delle Ciminiere, has been transformed into the Nuovo Forno del Pane, a production hub for 13 local artists, shifting the museum’s focus from exhibitions to community-based artistic creation. The permanent collections are activated through RE-COLLECTING, a rotating thematic series alternating between MAMbo and Museo Morandi, featuring works from storage and loans from other Bologna Musei institutions (Museo Civico Archeologico, Museo Civico Medievale, Museo della Musica). A public program and radio show Breaking Bread on NEU Radio accompany the initiative. The fourth edition of the ROSE residency program will host artist Helen Dowling. Aldo Giannotti’s exhibition SAFE AND SOUND. THE MUSEUM SCORE, postponed from summer 2020, is rescheduled for January 2021. Visitor numbers reached 60–70% of pre-pandemic levels (600–700 weekly), with a shift from 60% international to 70% local audience. Balbi calls for political support for contemporary art and recommends Mark Fisher’s posthumous collection Il nostro desiderio è senza nome.