Discovering the city of Bergamo through the art of Cattelan

From 27 June to 27 September, GAMeC - Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo and Brightstar are promoting six special events to discover some of the city of Bergamo's historic and iconic places along the exhibition route of Maurizio Cattelan's 'Seasons'. The visit itinerary will wind through the four locations of the project - GAMeC, the Ex Oratorio di San Lupo, the Palazzo della Ragione and the Rotonda dei Mille -, extending to some of the city's most famous neighborhoods, from Borgo Pignolo to Città Alta, up to the modern historic center of Città Bassa. A route that intertwines contemporary art, urban context and social reflection, and that offers the opportunity to look at the city with new eyes, to slow down and to read, through art, the transformations that are crossing it.
There are two proposed visits, one for adults and one designed for families with children aged 6 and over, during which participants, accompanied by the museum educators of the GAMeC, tourist guides of the city, will be able to live a shared experience in the spirit of the project Il Biennale delle Orobie - Pensare come una montagna, which connects art, territories and communities. The route begins in the historic headquarters of the GAMeC, a space that before becoming a museum of modern and contemporary art underwent numerous transformations over the centuries, from a monastery to a military barracks. The historical complexity of the building enters into direct dialogue with the works Empire (2025) and No (2021) by Maurizio Cattelan, which invite us to reflect on the cyclical nature of history, on the rise and fall of values, and on the processes of transformation of the individual and society.
The work Bones depicts an eagle lying on the ground with its wings spread, an icon of defeat, an emblem of power, sovereignty and authority.A few steps from the GAMeC is the Ex Oratorio di San Lupo, for which the artist conceived Bones (2025), an imposing sculpture depicting an eagle lying on the ground with its wings spread, an icon of defeat, an emblem of power, sovereignty and authority, which evokes the crisis of imperial values and the breaking of a bond with the rhythms of nature. The choice of the exhibition site is not accidental. Once a cemetery, the Oratorio di San Lupo has in fact been a space between life and death, between public and secret, between devotion and oblivion for centuries. Outside the Oratory, the urban context is rich in historical and artistic testimonies, a sign of the centrality of the villages in the life of the city. In a short stretch of Via Pignolo, in fact, there are noble palaces, the Fontana del Delfino and the church of Sant'Alessandro della Croce, with works by the major artists active in Bergamo between the 16th and 18th centuries.
The Palazzo della Ragione, built in the 12th century as the seat of municipal power, stands in the heart of Bergamo Alta. Here, in the solemn Sala delle Capriate, Maurizio Cattelan presents November (2024), a sculpture that stimulates reflection on vulnerability, marginality, and the dignity of the most fragile. Themes that resonate deeply in the history of Bergamo, a city that has been able to preserve – even in difficult times, such as during the recent pandemic – a strong community identity. The story will continue between Piazza Vecchia and Piazza Duomo, respectively the civil and religious center of Città Alta. Here the historical stratifications tell of places of power since Roman times, through the archaeological remains of the Roman Forum near the Torre Civica, but also of faith and characters whose military value has transformed into an artistic masterpiece.
The visit ends at the Rotonda dei Mille, dedicated to the volunteers from Bergamo who took part in Giuseppe Garibaldi's enterprise.The tour ends at the Rotonda dei Mille, dedicated to the volunteers from Bergamo who took part in the 1860 enterprise led by Giuseppe Garibaldi and a symbolic place of a courageous and patriotic Bergamo, for this reason nicknamed 'City of the Thousand'. In One (2025) Maurizio Cattelan places a child on Garibaldi's shoulders who, with the fingers of his right hand, mimes a gun. An ambiguous gesture that oscillates between a child's game and a hint of affirmation, resistance or potential rebellion, but which can also be read as an attempt to question the responsibilities of the new generations in the face of the memory and contradictions of history. The short journey to the Rotonda will be an opportunity to observe some of the 'architectures of power' present in that portion of the historic center built in the fascist era to redesign the modern face of the city.
Adnkronos International (AKI)