Museo del Somaro: A Museum Dedicated to the Donkey in Gualdo Tadino

In Gualdo Tadino, Umbria, the Museo del Somaro has opened at the medieval palazzetto in via Calai 37. Founded by architect and artist Nello Teodori, the museum is a conceptual artwork and contemporary art center that rehabilitates the donkey, an animal historically associated with stubbornness and ignorance but also with sacred and positive meanings in antiquity, Africa, and the East. First inaugurated in 1999 in Teodori's Perugia studio, the project gathered contributions from artists, intellectuals, and ordinary people. Early supporters included actor Ninetto Davoli and architect Paolo Portoghesi. The museum features works and reflections by numerous artists such as Luca Maria Patella, Ugo La Pietra, Cesare Pietroiusti, Pino Modica, Pablo Echaurren, Karin Andersen, Pasquale Cassandro, Vincenzo Rusciano, Giovanni Fontana, and Lamberto Pignotti. It also includes contributions from political figures like Antonio Di Pietro, whose party used a donkey as its logo, and critic Goffredo Fofi. The museum offers self-portrait tools including a chair with hairy growths, various mirrors, and Pinocchio-like ceramic headpieces with holes for ears. Coordinated by Maria Grazia Fiorucci, with scientific direction by art historian Francesco Galluzzi, the museum is described as a "democratic museum" where anyone can contribute. It will be open from March 2019 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 am to 1 pm and 3 pm to 6 pm, by appointment.