Contemporary Locus 17

Contemporary Locus 17 
Antonello Ghezzi, Daniel González
The City within the City
curated by Paola Tognon

Monumental Cemetery of Bergamo
October 29 – November 30, 2025
Piazzale del cimitero 21, Bergamo

OPENING
Tuesday, October 28, 6:20 PM
Piazzale del cimitero
 

Contemporary Locus 17, Monumental Cemetery of Bergamo. Ph M. Albergati

The history of cemeteries in Bergamo began in 1810, following the Napoleonic edict of Saint-Cloud issued on June 12, 1804. To comply with the new regulations, the city established four cemeteries in different areas: the Cemetery of Santa Lucia outside Porta Broseta, that of San Giorgio in Malpensata, that of San Maurizio near Borgo Santa Caterina and Borgo Palazzo, and the Valtesse cemetery serving both the Upper Town and the municipality of Valtesse.
Despite the presence of these burial grounds, the demographic growth of Bergamo at the end of the 19th century made it necessary to reopen the debate on the cemetery issue: the available spaces had become insufficient to meet the city’s needs.
After several years of study, the decision was made to build a single large cemetery. For the quality of its land and its position, the chosen area was that of the San Maurizio cemetery, which was incorporated into the new structure and initially designated for children’s burials.
On November 17, 1896, a two-stage competition was announced for the design of the new cemetery. The jury—composed of Elia Fornoni, Gaetano Moretti, Camillo Boito, Giacomo Frizzoni, and Luigi Albani—faced the difficult task of choosing among 47 submissions. In the first round, six projects were shortlisted, and the one by Milanese architect Ernesto Pirovano ranked first and went on to win the second stage of the competition.


 

Cimitero Monumentale di Bergamo.  Foto storica

Construction began in 1900, and the Cemetery was inaugurated on May 25, 1904, although it was not yet completed. Due to various delays, work progressed slowly—particularly on the main façade—and in 1905 construction was halted because of a lack of funding. It resumed only in 1910 and was finally completed in 1913.
In 1916, the Municipality began considering the construction of a Mausoleum to commemorate the fallen soldiers. In 1918, Ernesto Pirovano was contacted to design the new building, but his project underwent several revisions in an effort to reduce costs. The building was eventually completed in 1937.
The church, the Temple of All Saints, was built in 1962, designed by architect Piero Milanesi, with mosaics by Trento Longaretti and sculptures by Piero Brolis. Previously, the church had been housed within the Famedio, located in the central section of the Cemetery’s façade. The interior was originally decorated with frescoes by Ponziano Loverini.
Externally, the Famedio is still adorned with an imposing sculptural decoration by Ernesto Bazzaro, symbolizing the concept of Christian life that finds redemption after death in eternal life. The Famedio is the burial and commemorative place for figures who honored the city of Bergamo through their work, including the conductor and composer Gianandrea Gavazzeni, composers Antonio Cagnoni and Alessandro Nini, and the writer Ciro Caversazzi.
 

The Artists of Contemporary Locus 17
 

Antonello Ghezzi — an artist duo founded in 2009 by Nadia Antonello (Cittadella, 1985) and Paolo Ghezzi (Bologna, 1980). Their research, centered on desire and hope, takes shape through actions and practices that appear with the immediacy of fairy tales: a door that opens only if you smile, soap bubbles capable of breaking down walls, starry skies of the future, ladders, clouds, and blue traffic lights that “invite us to think with imagination.” In 2022, the duo won the Piano per l’Arte Contemporanea of the Italian Ministry of Culture; in 2023, the CAMeC Centro Arte Moderna e Contemporanea in La Spezia dedicated to them the exhibition Terra Cielo Iperuranio. The works and installations of Antonello Ghezzi are part of numerous public and private collections in Italy and abroad, and—together with their performances—have been presented in institutions such as MudaC (Carrara), Museo Plaza Cielo Tierra (Córdoba, Argentina), the Italian Cultural Institutes of Santiago de Chile and Madrid, the Italian Embassy in Athens, WhiteSpaceBlackBox (Neuchâtel), Kunsthall (Bergen), Beit (Beirut), Wayfarers (Brooklyn, New York), and the European Parliament (Brussels).
Among their recent exhibitions: La casa della Via Lattea at the Visual Art Forum of Ramallah, Palestrina.

Daniel González (Buenos Aires, 1963 — lives and works between New York and Verona).
His research focuses on the ritual of celebration, highlighting how the act of celebrating an event generates a complex phenomenon that challenges social order and productive functionality. His practice unfolds in ephemeral architectures made of lightweight materials that, inspired by Baroque stage design, temporarily transform urban spaces into worlds full of energy and freedom—spaces where existing conventions collapse. In 2007, Daniel González created Chili Moon Town Tour, a floating city in Mexico City, and Homeless Rocket with Chandeliers, a 35-meter-high crane dressed in lights in Milan. He continued with Pop-Up Building in Rotterdam (2010) and Pop-Up Museo Disco Club at Museo El Barrio in New York (2011). In Verona (2013), he installed Romeo’s Balcony, mirroring Juliet’s, and in 2016 covered the former Cima Norma chocolate factory in Switzerland with Paper Building. In 2017, he received the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant; in 2018, he created Mi Casa Tu Casa for Manifesta 12 in Palermo and #WhatsUpArgentina MiCasaTuCasa at MAR Museum in Mar del Plata; in 2019, he represented Haiti at the XXII Triennale di Milano.
Daniel González has participated in exhibitions and projects at major institutions and numerous biennials and international events.