The Earth Foundation has opened in Bologna Fantozzi!!! A Crazy Exhibition, an exhibition dedicated to the famous literary and film character Ugo Fantozzi. The exhibition, curated by Luca Bochicchio, professor of contemporary art history at the University of Verona, and Guido Andrea Pautasso, a scholar of the artistic and cultural avant-garde of the 20th century, will be open to the public free of charge from Oct. 16, 2025 to March 29, 2026 in the exhibition spaces of Grand Tour Italia. The press preview will take place on Thursday, October 16 at 11 a.m., while the public opening is scheduled for 6 p.m. the same day, followed by a meeting with the curators at 7 p.m. The initiative represents the first exhibition project dedicated exclusively to Fantozzi, considered the last mask of Italian comedy after Totò, and aims to offer an in-depth look at the figure of the social-pop anti-hero created by Paolo Villaggio.
Reasoner Fantozzi debuted in the 1971 book of the same name and, four years later, came to life on the big screen, spawning a series of eleven films that have become part of Italian cinema history. The exhibition aims to reconstruct the character’s origins through documents, original images, books and film materials, allowing visitors to understand the genesis and evolution of one of the best-known protagonists of Italian popular culture. The exhibition includes more than one hundred vintage movie posters and posters, photobusts, magazines, comic books, records, audiocassettes, brochures and photographs. These materials come largely from Guido Andrea Pautasso’s personal collection and constitute a unique archive for the study and understanding of the Fantozzi phenomenon. Highlights include a screening of the film The Battleship Potëmkin by Russian director Sergei M. Ėjzenštejn (1925), from which the Accountant borrowed one of the most famous and quoted lines in his story.
The exhibition includes a program of side events designed to explore the cultural and social impact of the character. Evening meetings with personalities from the world of culture, presentations of essays dedicated to Fantozzi and educational activities aimed at schools of all levels are planned. The first meeting will be held on the opening night of Oct. 16, at 7 p.m., with the participation of curators Bochicchio and Pautasso.
Completing the initiative is the publication of the volume Fantozzi!!! An Italian Myth, published by Edizioni E.ART.H. The book collects thematic essays by the curators and other scholars, including Alessio Lasta, Marco Senaldi, Irene Stucchi and Sara Tongiani, and constitutes a critical and documentary support to the exhibition itinerary. The publication addresses the figure of Fantozzi as a mask of Italian comedy and analyzes his role in popular and film culture of the 20th century.
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| Fantozzi on display in Bologna: books, films and memorabilia of the Italian anti-hero |
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