Fourth appointment with Metamorphosis (here the third) Same theme, transformation, but new city! We indeed went by Zoo to Bologna for meet Rebecca and let us tell you how this space unites the food at illustrative arts, and not only.
First of all, how was Zoo born?
Zoo was born from the idea that my partners Lucia and Enrica and I had, years ago, to create one common area where each of us could play their own professional and creative activities self-managing ... we all come from the world of graphics, design and illustrative arts, and the idea seemed interesting to us. The search for the physical space in which to create it lasted a while, and in that time frame we have better structured the project until it becomes what it is today: a place of free leisure where everyone can feel comfortable between good food, music, books, illustrative and design art. Also regarding the people who work here, I don't know how to explain to you, we are all one big family! Far feel good who enters our space it is not a mission aimed only at our customers, but to anyone who wants to live it, regardless of their role.
When I entered here the first thing I noticed were the numerous hanging paintings, could you tell me more about it?
All the paintings you see on display are by artists who have held exhibitions here. They are not simply pieces of furniture, in fact they are all purchasable. You can come in here, sit down, have a snack, and if you see a work on display you particularly like, buy it. This aspect is very important to us as Zoo does not only mean good food and entertainment, but also being vehicle of culture and literary, figurative and illustrative arts. We have hosted several exhibitions of illustrators such as Olimpia Zagnoli, Camilla Falsini, Beatrice Allemagna, Bomboland and many others. That triptych you see there is really of Olympia and it comes from one of his first exhibitions. But we don't just exhibit paintings, as you can see we have a corner dedicated to literature, one a games for children, and this little house ...
In fact, I was just wondering what its purpose was ...
It's kind of a pop-up store in which periodically we exhibit and sell the works of a particular artist. In this case we do not exhibit only illustrations, but also objects related to the world of design and graphic art, such as t-shirts, notebooks ... let's say that what is for sale it depends a lot on the catalog of the artist in question and on what he produces ... to give you an example, we have exhibited the works of Poll, a girl from Verona who is an illustrator, but also does t-shirts, foulards, pillow covers. The basic idea is to keep the works and objects on display here for a certain period and then change artist, so as to create a small space in continuous transformation. For us it would be the best to have the artists themselves inside the house to talk about their works to visitors; certainly an effective way not only to promote art in general, but also to clear the distance between artist and user.
And in addition to art exhibitions, do you do other types of events?
There was a time when we played concerts frequently, mostly small independent bands. Now we are starting over thanks to the collaboration with Front porch, a collective born from Marta Fantin of the label Factory Flaws And Andrea Guagneli, with the aim of promoting independent music. A good relationship is being established between our realities, they help us to promote culture in various forms, which has always been not only our goal, but also our stylistic code. We try to do this too creating several workshops. For example, at the beginning we also thought a lot to the education and introduction of children to the world of art, a very important aspect that is not given much thought today. Over time, however, initiatives in this area have declined ... we have focused more and more on the aspect of art and food, leaving aside our pedagogical vein. In Italy it is difficult to communicate the formula of this place, which is indeed a restaurant, but also an exhibition space, a shop for works of art ... it is not easy to make people understand that Zoo's functionality is multifaceted, just like us, just like art.
Regarding the future, do you have any plans for the next few months?
Look, as I told you before we are in contact with the guys from Portico, we are trying to create one small concert season. In addition, one has recently arrived in the building next door independent radio, Neu-radio, with which we have already come into contact hoping to be able to create small musical situations here in our space. By "musical situations" I mean creating, perhaps periodically, a small corner of the radio inside the Zoo from where the radio guys can stream music directly to the store. It seems to me a project with interesting potential, carried out by great music fans ranging between many genres, with a special attention for the indie universe. During this time I know they are producing gods podcast, maybe as soon as they finish we can start thinking about this kind of cooperation, would be great!
