Micro Museum of Found Objects Opens in Verucchio, Italy

In Verucchio, near Rimini, the Micro. Museo dell’Oggetto Ritrovato (Micro Museum of the Found Object) has opened in the Torrione delle Mura di San Giorgio, a 14th-century tower. It is Italy's first museum dedicated to trash and abandoned objects, displaying items like disheveled dolls, toothless dinosaurs, toy soldiers, and marbles as artworks to critique consumerism and promote environmental awareness. The official inauguration is planned for late autumn. Curator Gabriele Geminiani, also patron of the Green Festival Montefeltro and San Marino, conceived the project to restore an emotional bond with objects, arguing that today's throwaway culture lacks affection for things. The museum catalogs objects in display cases like archaeological artifacts and publishes small books, some printed with movable type. Geminiani collaborated with poets and artists, and the team includes Roberto Vecchiarelli (professor at Accademia di Belle Arti di Urbino), Mario Turci (former director of MET Santarcangelo), Annamaria Bernucci (art critic and historian for Musei Comunali di Rimini), Cecilia Gianpaoli (professor at ISIA Urbino), and Josè Bheeme de la Fundacion del Garabato. Geminiani hopes the museum will serve as a model for small Italian museums.