The relationship between Bologna and street art is well established. 1984 was the year that sealed the union with the exhibition 'Arte di frontiera. New York Graffiti', held at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (now part of MAMbo), a union confirmed in the following years with the appearance of the first murals on the city's streets.
One of the earliest examples of Bolognese street art were the stylised geese created by street artist Cuoghi Corsello in the 1990s at Bologna station, called pea brains.
Over the years, a real Bolognese school of street art was born, and a heated debate on the rights and limits of this art form arose at the same time. The case of Blu was exemplary in this sense: the artist cancelled all his murals in the city as a protest against an exhibition about street art held at the Museum of the History of Bologna in 2016.
Therefore, we can say that street art has been at home in Bologna for a long time, thanks to the many street artists who have enriched it with their works such as Ericailcane, Eron, Honet, Bastardilla, Alicé, Dado and many others.
In this article we have collected our recommendations for a possible street art tour in Bologna, which touches on both the suburbs and the centre. To follow it, however, we suggest you get on your bike (or rent one), because the distances between the murals can also be quite large.
Examples of street art in Bologna are everywhere, even in the heart of the city.
However, there are mainly two areas where murals can be spotted in the centre: the university area, crossed by Via Zamboni, and the area between Via Marconi and Via Riva Reno, not far from the station.
Luís Gutiérrez in Via Zamboni
Let us first venture into the university area to admire a historical mural of the city, located under the arcades of Via Zamboni. Just before the Faculty of Law, we can find the work painted by Luís Gutiérrez in 1988, on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna.
Characterised by strong, bright colours, the work is entitled "500 years since the conquest of Latin America" and is dedicated to the history of South America. If we look at the characters depicted in the crowd, we can see Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Salvador Allende, among others.
Levalet in Piazza Azzarita
Let us move to the other side of the centre to see Levalet's mural in Piazza Azzarita. The work is located near the entrance to the car park, and was executed by the artist in 2015, on the occasion of the CHEAP Festival. In this case, it is not a painting on the wall, but a collage entitled 'The hunt', depicting a clumsy hunt for a rhinoceros by some ninjas.
While it is true that within the walls we find numerous cases of street art, the greatest concentration of works is outside the city centre, and in particular in the San Donato, Bolognina and Porto districts.
The murals of the Porto district
Starting from the Porto district, the first work we observe is Andreco's "Philosophical Tree", which makes us reflect on the current problem of air pollution. In Via Pier de' Crescenzi, a few steps away, we then find the mural by the street artist Hitnes depicting an array of rats and mandrills. In the same street, we can also admire a work by the duo Cuoghi Corsello, which we mentioned earlier.
If we move towards the station in the direction of Via Fioravanti 10, we come across another recent work. Just behind the Alta Velocità (high-speed train) exit is Daim's colourful mural, a set of geometric and stylised shapes created in 2012 on the wall of a car park.
The San Donato murals
We conclude our tour of the street art in Bologna in the district of San Donato. On Via del Lavoro there’s a work by French street artist Honet depicting an elephant suspended in the air, supported only by a few balloons. On the same street we can admire Dado's mural, an explosion of red reminiscent of the colour of many of Bologna's buildings, on which ribbons of various colours are woven.
One of the earliest examples of Bolognese street art were the stylised geese created by street artist Cuoghi Corsello in the 1990s at Bologna station, called pea brains.
Over the years, a real Bolognese school of street art was born, and a heated debate on the rights and limits of this art form arose at the same time. The case of Blu was exemplary in this sense: the artist cancelled all his murals in the city as a protest against an exhibition about street art held at the Museum of the History of Bologna in 2016.
Therefore, we can say that street art has been at home in Bologna for a long time, thanks to the many street artists who have enriched it with their works such as Ericailcane, Eron, Honet, Bastardilla, Alicé, Dado and many others.
In this article we have collected our recommendations for a possible street art tour in Bologna, which touches on both the suburbs and the centre. To follow it, however, we suggest you get on your bike (or rent one), because the distances between the murals can also be quite large.
The murals in the centre
Examples of street art in Bologna are everywhere, even in the heart of the city.However, there are mainly two areas where murals can be spotted in the centre: the university area, crossed by Via Zamboni, and the area between Via Marconi and Via Riva Reno, not far from the station.
Luís Gutiérrez in Via Zamboni
Let us first venture into the university area to admire a historical mural of the city, located under the arcades of Via Zamboni. Just before the Faculty of Law, we can find the work painted by Luís Gutiérrez in 1988, on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna.
Characterised by strong, bright colours, the work is entitled "500 years since the conquest of Latin America" and is dedicated to the history of South America. If we look at the characters depicted in the crowd, we can see Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Salvador Allende, among others.
Levalet in Piazza Azzarita
Let us move to the other side of the centre to see Levalet's mural in Piazza Azzarita. The work is located near the entrance to the car park, and was executed by the artist in 2015, on the occasion of the CHEAP Festival. In this case, it is not a painting on the wall, but a collage entitled 'The hunt', depicting a clumsy hunt for a rhinoceros by some ninjas.
Street art on the outskirts of Bologna
While it is true that within the walls we find numerous cases of street art, the greatest concentration of works is outside the city centre, and in particular in the San Donato, Bolognina and Porto districts.The murals of the Porto district
Starting from the Porto district, the first work we observe is Andreco's "Philosophical Tree", which makes us reflect on the current problem of air pollution. In Via Pier de' Crescenzi, a few steps away, we then find the mural by the street artist Hitnes depicting an array of rats and mandrills. In the same street, we can also admire a work by the duo Cuoghi Corsello, which we mentioned earlier.
If we move towards the station in the direction of Via Fioravanti 10, we come across another recent work. Just behind the Alta Velocità (high-speed train) exit is Daim's colourful mural, a set of geometric and stylised shapes created in 2012 on the wall of a car park.
The San Donato murals
We conclude our tour of the street art in Bologna in the district of San Donato. On Via del Lavoro there’s a work by French street artist Honet depicting an elephant suspended in the air, supported only by a few balloons. On the same street we can admire Dado's mural, an explosion of red reminiscent of the colour of many of Bologna's buildings, on which ribbons of various colours are woven.