Pisa, Kobra's mural honoring Galileo Galilei and the city unveiled

One of the largest murals in Italy has been unveiled in Pisa : it bears the signature of Kobra, a world-renowned Brazilian street artist made famous in Tuscany by the David painted at the quarries of Carrara. It is the first and the most impressive urban art intervention destined to redesign the face of Pisa as part of the Festival della Strada, an art event curated by Gian Guido Grassi with the Start Attitude association, promoted by the Pisa Foundation and hosted at Palazzo Blu, with the contribution of the Municipality of Pisa and the Council of the Region of Tuscany, running until Jan. 7, 2024. More than 160 square meters of surface area for a work that speaks of connections, network and routes, playing on the history of Pisa, from Maritime Republic to the center of trade in the Old World, up to the birth of the Internet: Kobra has interpreted the theme through one of the most emblematic characters, Galileo Galilei, caught looking ahead with a telescope in the shape of the Tower of Pisa. The work is a short distance from Tuttomondo, Keith Haring ’s mural that effectively inaugurated street art in Pisa.

The coming weeks will see more urban artworks springing up in the Porta a Mare neighborhood, by some of Italy’s best-known street artists involved in the Festival della Strada. As part of the same event, until Jan. 7, 2024, Palazzo Blu is hosting two exhibitions, in dialogue with the Avant-gardes at the center of the main itinerary. The Library Room is the scene of a contemporary School of Athens, created by Kobra himself with his signature rainbow of colors, while the Noble Mansion opens its doors to applied art with works by 108, Moneyless, Etnik, Zed1, Aris, Gio Pistone, and Massimo Sospetto. Also through Jan. 7, the Church of the Thorn hosts the striking installation “Non Plus Ultra,” created by young Spanish artist Gonzalo Borondo. A perspective of silkscreened glass plates that induces visitors to reflect on the limits of human nature.

“Pisa lights up with the colors of Kobra,” says Tuscany Region Council President Antonio Mazzeo. “Those who pass in front of this work will be reached by a powerful message, Pisa is a city that was great when it opened to the world and this work by Kobra reminds us of that once again. I would like to thank Gianguido Grassi and the Start association for bringing to this city internationally renowned artists who, thanks to the Festival della Strada, make Pisa the Italian Capital of Street art. As the Regional Council, in addition to contributing to and supporting the Festival della Strada, we have also dedicated a special line of intervention to finance these works in many municipalities of Tuscany. Street art has the unique characteristic of bringing art into people’s daily lives, you don’t need to go to a museum to admire it, it succeeds in making our neighborhoods more beautiful. This is a gift to all the citizens of Pisa, because it regenerates a neighborhood and its proximity to the Sixth Gate makes it a beautiful calling card for the city.”

“Kobra’s work,” comments Councillor for Culture of the Municipality of Pisa Filippo Bedini, “is the most visible of those that make up the open-air museum of Porta a Mare, and for this reason it can be considered a magnet for the others as well, including those that will be created with this project. I particularly appreciated Kobra’s iconographic choice to depict Galileo with the Tower of Pisa used as an astronomical telescope, as well as the artist’s willingness to understand the history and traditions of the place where he goes to make his artworks. That is why I presented him with our publication on Pisan identity and traditions, a description of the Gioco del Ponte and the Luminara, which is our most important tradition and at which I would be pleased to have him as a guest, our patron saint, St. Rainier, who is the protector of our city, and a pin with the coat of arms of our city.”

“Thanks to the prominent guests who have come to the city and the beauty of their works, I am confident that Pisa can soon become the capital of street art, and host an event every year that can attract the urban scene from all over the world,” stresses curator Gian Guido Grassi. “This process has already begun, as evidenced by the installations and walls where Kobra, first, started a new wave of color that will enrich the whole city.”

“Just a few days ago,” says Stefano Del Corso, president of the Pisa Foundation, "we inaugurated the Festival della Strada at Palazzo Blu, with the pleasure of having as guests two of the artists who brought their works to Pisa, Eduardo Kobra and Gonzalo Borondo. Now we have the mural painted by Kobra in a few days and dedicated to a father of science like Galileo Galilei. Kobra does not hide in his official biography the origins of his path, common to other later established street artists, of drawing graffiti on walls, and of the consequences suffered for those breaking gestures; and he emphasizes how his works show a concern for environmental causes, as well as a marked sensitivity to social issues and peace. We like to recall some of his considerations, which we make our own in presenting this latest work of his, supported with conviction by the Pisa Foundation, which has long supported the projects of the Start association and gives maximum attention to street art, starting with the exhibition on Keith Haring set up at Palazzo Blu from November 2021 to April 2022, with the desire to enrich as many outdoor spaces in the city as possible. And it is significant, as proof of this, that Kobra’s new mural will rise a few dozen meters away from Haring’s Tuttomondo. These are Kobra’s words, from some interviews a few years ago, which we like to quote : Urban art is democratic and inclusive by vocation, which is why it can make a difference; I see cities as great outdoor art galleries, accessible to everyone. Even to those who perhaps have never entered a museum and have no way of accessing the exclusive environments of contemporary art galleries. Here, simple people have the same right of gaze as critics, the same chance to be involved and questioned by the works. The beauty of painting on the walls of buildings is this: the works then converse with those who walk the streets. This work triggers a process that not only changes the face of the city, but also something in the way of life of those who live there."

Pisa, Kobra's mural honoring Galileo Galilei and the city unveiled

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