Concerto in Piazza, the artist’s cloth created by Mimmo Paladino that will cover the facade of Palazzo Baldeschi al Corso, Perugia, during extraordinary maintenance work on the building, has been unveiled.
The project, directed by architect Carlo Salucci, includes the remaking of the waterproofing sheathing and the related roof covering, the arrangement of the terrace overlooking Piazza della Repubblica, the restoration of the facade on Corso Vannucci and Piazza della Repubblica, and the restoration of the facade’s wooden door and stone portal. The intervention is therefore aimed not only at securing the building, but also at enhancing its value, respecting its historical and architectural identity, then taking advantage of the scaffolding set up to act on several elements.
The artist’s canvas was designed specifically for the city of Perugia. Titled Concert in the Square, it will be installed on the facade of the building for the duration of the construction site (about 8-9 months of work is planned).
Mimmo Paladino’s work will cover the construction site on Palazzo Baldeschi, thanks to an initiative in which the Perugia Foundation, the City of Perugia and the National Museums of Umbria are working together. With its more than 600 square meters of surface area, the monumental canvas is part of a program of projects that will see the artist involved in the creation of other public interventions in the city and a major anthological exhibition at the National Gallery of Umbria and at the Rocca Albornoziana in Spoleto in autumn 2025.
For this canvas, Mimmo Paladino worked on icons that evoke the landscape and identity of the territory, distributed over a festive surface meant to allude to the many events that animate Umbrian communities throughout the year. Surrounded by multicolored festoons that evoke the insignia placed to decorate historic squares and palaces during public ceremonies, one can recognize the profile of the griffin, portions of ancient villages in which parish churches and medieval houses alternate, crosses and faces that frame a triforium of Palazzo dei Priori and the image of the Fontana Maggiore, chosen as symbols of Corso Vannucci, which the work faces.
The title Concert in the Square is intended as a tribute to the community of Perugia, which even today, after centuries, celebrates the most important moments in its history by animating public space with music and events capable of involving everyone. Always interested in reworking archetypal Italian cultures, Paladino wanted to interpret the deepest soul of the city, which expresses its positive and welcoming spirit in collective events, from Umbria Jazz to the religious festivities for the patron saint St. Constanzo.
“The extraordinary maintenance work on Palazzo Baldeschi,” said Alcide Casini, president of the Perugia Foundation, “is a valuable opportunity to enhance our heritage in an innovative way. We also wanted this moment to be an opportunity for beauty and participation. Paladino’s artist canvas is not just a functional cover, but a strong cultural gesture, a signal of openness to the contemporary and an invitation to experience art in the everyday. Heartfelt thanks to the artist for being able to interpret so deeply the spirit of Perugia.”
“What we presented today,” said the Mayor of Perugia, Vittoria Ferdinandi, “clearly represents the vision of our city: a Perugia that looks ahead, that believes in culture as a strategic lever for urban, social and economic development. Culture is not only a heritage to be guarded, but a living resource, capable of generating innovation, beauty and cohesion. All this is possible thanks to a solid and virtuous network of relationships between the municipal administration and local institutions, such as the Perugia Foundation and the National Gallery of Umbria. It is through constant dialogue and authentic collaboration that we can build innovative projects, capable of connecting Perugia to the best international experiences and making it the protagonist of a new city model, in which culture and participation are at the center of political and administrative vision. Mimmo Paladino’s intervention, with the evocative power of his art, offers a renewed look at Perugia’s roots and deep identity, a work capable of interweaving memory and contemporaneity, bringing art back to the center of urban space. On this occasion, we are pleased to anticipate also an important news: among the initiatives promoted by the administration to make the historic center more and more alive and attractive, we announce in collaboration with the National Gallery of Umbria, that Mimmo Paladino will sign the project of the artist’s illuminations, which will light up the upcoming Christmas holidays. An unprecedented intervention for the city, which will be integrated with the other activities that will be selected by the city administration through the call for proposals for Christmas in the historic center, soon to be published.”
“I would like to thank the Perugia Foundation and the Municipality of Perugia,” added Costantino D’Orazio, director of the National Museums of Umbria, “for accepting the proposal of maestro Mimmo Paladino. The fact that the protagonist of an exhibition at the National Gallery of Umbria has the opportunity to work in the city, characterizing the public space with his works is a sign of great cohesion among Perugia’s cultural institutions and responds perfectly to the mission of national museums, which are increasingly open to city communities and to collaborations that bring art outside the places of culture, contaminating people’s daily lives.”
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| Perugia, unveiled Mimmo Paladino's artist canvas that will cover during construction of Palazzo Baldeschi al Corso |
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