Bolzanism Museum

Bolzanism invites residents, visitors and tourists to explore the history of Bolzano’s Don Bosco, Europa Novacella and Piani neighbourhoods — their places, everyday architecture and inhabitants — with one simple premise: you won’t look at Bolzano in the same way again.

Throughout the twentieth century, Bolzano and its outskirts became a place in which different visions of urban and social development emerged. Bolzanism grew out of this context as a shared space for exploration, seeking new ways to narrate this history through artistic practice and the active involvement of the city’s inhabitants.

Bolzanism Museum (2020–2024) represents one stage of this broader process. Rather than a museum in the traditional sense, it is an urban concept that highlights the cultural richness of the city’s western neighbourhoods by involving local actors in shaping the identity and visibility of these peripheral areas. It aims to bring attention back to the outskirts and their inhabitants, reversing traditional urban dynamics. Bolzanism Museum offers multiple ways to explore the city: through site-specific theatrical performances in neighbourhoods (Bolzanism Walk), guided cultural visits led by experts in architecture and art history (Bolzanism Discover), artistic interventions and site-specific performances (Bolzanism Pop-up), and dedicated festivals (Bolzanism Days).

The project grew out of the relationship established with residents of the social housing complexes involved in the original Bolzanism project (2017), which focused on five residential complexes in Don Bosco and Europa Novacella. By sharing the history of their homes, the project sought to build connections between individual and collective memory. A first iteration of this work, Welcome to Bolzanism (2018), was developed in one of the housing complexes — Lotto 1 — through the creation, together with long-term residents, of a “welcome kit” for new inhabitants.

Info

2017 - present

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Partners and supporters
Teatro Cristallo
Campomarzio
Centro Giovani Corto Circuito
Ufficio Politiche Giovanili della Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano
Facoltà di Design e Arti della Libera Università di Bolzano
Comune di Bolzano
Confesercenti Alto Adige
Azienda di Soggiorno di Bolzano
IPES - WOBI