Even though I dragged this journaling activity over and over, way beyond its original schedule, I will try to bring together some of the ideas and inspiring thoughts that this whole process gave me. In the first post I uploaded I recalled memories from my childhood that I did not think I would have ever …
Author Archives: thomasmuntzer95
Wall painting in Via del Pratello: the conflict over ideas of beauty and use of public space
Graffiti is by now broadly considered to be a legitimate form of art and it has gained increasing recognition from official art institutions such as museums. Urban wall painting, however, emerged as an illegal practice that is accessible to anyone who can source the necessary materials and tools. The acknowledgement of graffiti as art is …
(Counter)mapping of CCTV and hostile architectures – Via del Pratello
I decided to carry out the countermapping exercise by taking inspiration from a very compelling passage found in one of the introductory contributions to the book “This is not an atlas“ by Kollektiv Orangotango+. In the conclusion of his chapter “Counter-Cartographies: Politics, Art and the Insurrection of Maps” André Mesquita tries to unpack the issue …
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Collage, an attempt of…
During an August week, just before Piazza San Francesco was closed due to Covid related restrictions, I spent several hours sitting and walking around the main public square in the Pratello neighbourhood. During this time I took photos, videos and audio recordings of what happened around me. I did so trying to de-familiarize myself from …
Beauty and security for whom?
The Pratello neighborhood is known for being a place where people can weave social relations in relatively free and spontaneous ways. A place of great diversity and inclusiveness in which ideally anyone can be themselves without being discriminated against, judged or feeling uncomfortable. In fact, according to the several available accounts of its recent history, …
City as Archive. People as archive
Via del Pratello Pratello (in current italian means ‘little lawn’). Peratello. Peradello. Peradel. Pradel (in Bolognese dialect means little pears field). While the current diction of the name does not coincide with its actual root, it is not misleading concerning how this street origin and history. After a period of thriving under the Roman Empire, …
Radio Alice, via del Pratello 41
Alice è il Diavolo [Alice is the Devil] At number 41 of via del Pratello, an anonymous house door, like many others. A young girl rings the bell and asks for her friend Alice. No one has heard of her. No one knows who she is talking about. The young girl does not give up, she …
Taking a cycle ride to the city center
It’s a torrid day in Bologna. From the neighbouring municipality of Casalecchio I followed the cycle-route that leads all the way to the city center. At the end of the renowned Via del Pratello, there is a public square called Piazza San Francesco, taking its name from the cathedral that dominates it. It is August …