The Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna presents Opentour 2025, a city-wide exhibition programme hosted across galleries and private spaces. Galleria Studio Cenacchi takes part by hosting two exhibitions featuring works by students from the MA Photography programme. On the lower floor, the collective project Un caro amico, curated by Tommaso Bonaventura, is dedicated to the Bologna bombing of 2 August 1980.

The exhibition originates from the collective project Un caro amico, centred on bus number 37, which on 2 August 1980 was used to transport victims of the Bologna massacre. The work takes the form of a black-and-white print of the vehicle, produced at a 1:1 scale using a large-format camera. Measuring 10 metres in length and 3 metres in height, the image dominates the space, cutting across the gallery floor.

This imposing presence is accompanied by three elements. The first is sound: a recording of the engine of the same bus, which at 10:25—the exact time of the explosion—gives way to a moment of silence. The second is a typed A4 sheet, bearing words drawn from an interview with the driver, Agide Melloni, who recalls bus number 37 as a “dear friend”. The text is layered to the point of near illegibility, forming an image of the darkness left by that day. The third element is an A4 leporello, in which the full interview with the driver unfolds as a continuous stream of words.

The following students contributed to the project: Simone Acquaroli, Giovanni Andreotti, Gaia Battistelli, Federica Benati, Paula Di Vittorio, Jingrui Li, Shuo Li, Zezhou Li, Pietro Maoloni, Fausto Mattia Marino, Sonia Mazzavillani, Franco Melasecca, Yuliya Melekh, Pier Rocco Musillo, Alessandro Para, Roberto Righini, Simone Santacroce, Simona Sellitto, Mattia Simonetta, Yining Song, Francesca Toscano, Runqiong Xu.

collettivo
Un caro amico
Curated by Tommaso Bonaventura
26 June> 17 July 2025

GALLERIA STUDIO CENACCHI
Via Santo Stefano 63
40125 Bologna

OPENING HOURS
26 June: 3–11 pm
27 and 28 June: 10 am–1 pm and 3–7 pm

July
Tuesday–Friday: 4.30–7.30 pm
Monday: by appointment
Saturday and Sunday: closed