I Love Legos
20 December 2022 – 4 June 2023
Loggiato of San Bartolomeo, Palermo
I LOVE LEGO, the exhibition that has already seen over 1 million visitors in its stages around the world, from next December 20 will be hosted in the splendid Loggiato di San Bartolomeo in Palermo.
Among magnificent dioramas – which enchant both children and adults – built with over 1,000,000 bricks that can be assembled, the exhibition tells the incredible evolution of what, from one of the most common and well-known toys, has transformed over the years into real and own work of art.
The exhibition will open to the public on Tuesday 20 December starting at 15.00.
Arrives in the Sicilian capital – from 20 December 2022 to 4 June 2023, at the Loggiato di San Bartolomeo in Palermo – I LOVE LEGO , the record-breaking exhibition that has already seen over 1 million visitors in its stages around the world: an exhibition designed to dream, have fun and rediscover one’s playful and creative side by scrutinizing the details of entire miniature worlds.
Promoted by the Ministry of Tourism, the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the Municipality of Palermo, the Regional Department of Tourism, sport and entertainment, within the “Time together” project, the exhibition is produced and organized by the Sant’Elia and Piuma Foundation in collaboration with Arthemisia for communication.
Dozens of square meters of scenarios made entirely with LEGO® bricks will compose real works of architecture and engineering: from the ideal contemporary city to the legendary adventures of pirates, from medieval landscapes to the splendors of Ancient Rome, reconstructed and meticulously designed with the modules most famous in the world.
Millions of bricks but not only. Among 6 fantastic dioramas built thanks to the collaboration of a group of passionate private collectors, at the Loggiato di San Bartolomeo many installations make the exhibition unique.
In fact, as a frame for the Lego mini-worlds and “invading” the dioramas themselves, the very nice comic cartoons created by “Legolize” (a humorous page that creates installations using LEGOs) will accompany visitors to demonstrate how much simple bricks have entered – even for just one moment – to be part of everyone’s life and are able to “create art at 360°”.
Founded by three guys – Mattia Marangon, Samuele Rovituso and Pietro Alcaro – the Legolize page was born in 2016 and currently has more than half a million fans on Instagram and the same number on Facebook.
Furthermore, along the exhibition route there will also be oils inspired by great masterpieces of art history reinterpreted and transformed into “Lego men” by the contemporary artist Stefano Bolcato: combining his passion for LEGO and his art – through a oil painting technique – creates forms of assembly inspired in particular by the “magnetism” of Renaissance portraits.
The I LOVE LEGO exhibition is an unmissable opportunity for all enthusiasts, for families and for the little ones, who will be able to spend a day as protagonists in a magical and fun atmosphere featuring those “prodigious” bricks that every year they play over 100 million people.
The exhibition is not directly sponsored by LEGO and is made thanks to some of the greatest collectors in the world.
“For Palermo and for the Sant’Elia Foundation it is an opportunity and a privilege to be able to frame the “I Love Lego” exhibition, as demonstrated by the number of visitors to the exhibition in stages around the world. We’re talking about a timeless game that often becomes a work of art that unites several generations of enthusiasts. For this reason, I am convinced of the success that the exhibition will have in terms of visits, especially children with their parents” , declares the mayor of Palermo and President of the Sant’Elia Foundation, Roberto Lagalla.
Antonio Ticali, Superintendent of the Sant’Elia Foundation: “The idea that inspired this exhibition choice was to create moments of fun aimed at families; rediscover the pleasure of being together, children, teenagers and adults, giving up cell phones and video games for a few hours. Training creativity during childhood, by designing and building fantastic worlds, is a powerful tool for the development of the little ones. And for children and teenagers there is a means par excellence to exercise this ability, making it as fun as possible: play. In a riot of colors and perspectives that enchants both children and adults, I LOVE LEGO tells the incredible transformation of what, from one of the most common and well-known toys, has transformed over the years into a true work of art. pedagogical and training tool, recently,
The exhibition links the City of Palermo with Naples and Milan, which in the current year, for the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the creation of the famous colored cubes, have organized many initiatives with the theme of play.”
“ The exhibition will be an indispensable and unique opportunity for many families who will be able to meet up with children and grandchildren and spend carefree moments, at least during the holidays, away from everyday problems. In the coming months it will also be an opportunity for inclusion for children suffering from certain pathologies, for example I am thinking of children suffering from autism who will be able to interact with each other by playing with building blocks.” Angela Fundaró, Vice-President of the Sant’Elia Foundation.
The exhibition will open to the public on Tuesday 20 December starting at 15.00; for the first day, access reserved only to those who have purchased the ticket in advance.
THE DIORAMAS
Classic Space
Conceived and designed by one of the world’s greatest collectors of sets and original pieces from the 80s Lego® Classic Space series, Massimiliano Valentini, the large “Space” diorama reproduces a lunar mining settlement. In this futuristic scenario, man makes use of the help of spaceships, droids and machinery to search for new resources. Its creation is constantly evolving as from time to time it is enriched with new unique and unrepeatable elements created by the manufacturer who draws inspiration not only from the original series but also from the most important cinematic science fiction sagas.
Great Diorama City and the Port
The Grande Diorama City – work in progress since 2016 – is the maximum expression of the city theme represented by unique and unrepeatable constructions, built entirely with original bricks and using both traditional construction techniques and unconventional techniques: 200,000 pieces.
The builders independently design and create their works using different inspirations and styles, using sketches, technical drawings but also assisted design software dedicated to Lego bricks. The collection of these creations is constantly enriched by new works composed of thousands of bricks and full of details.
The urban layout is defined using more conventional CAD software; thus the neighborhoods of the historic center, railway lines, green areas and recreational areas are outlined.
The installation of the City is completed by a fantastic Port which arises from a project by Andrea Battaglia which reproduces a portion of the port in front of the city; the large palaces stand out on the long pier where the yachts of celebrities and the motorboats of citizens who allow themselves a day of leisure enjoying the sea land.
Among the most beautiful ships, the 3,800-piece “Queen Mary” catamaran, the 3,100-piece “Nemesi” (the one with the green keel) and the colossal 2,900-piece “Prince Marie” (all black) stand out.
Rome and the imperial forums – The forum of Nerva
Antonio Cerretti with a diorama of 80,000 bricks makes the Forum of Nerva or Transitorio, one of the forums defined as imperial, a set of monumental squares that constituted the center of the city of Rome in the imperial era. Started by the emperor Domitian, it was inaugurated by his successor Marco Cocceio Nerva in 97 AD
The plan of the Forum of Nerva was conditioned by the space available between the previous complexes: the square had a narrow and elongated plan. At the center of the forum was the temple of Janus, built as a four-faced arch. At the end of the square was dominated by a temple dedicated to Minerva behind which was positioned the Porticus Absidata, a monumental entrance to the area of the forums from the neighboring district. The short side opposite the temple, close to the Roman Forum, had a curvilinear plan. On this side there must have been an entrance from the Roman Forum, perhaps identifiable with the Arcus Nervae mentioned in some medieval sources.
Pirates
It is inspired by the legendary adventures of the distant Caribbean seas.
The works contained required several attempts and modifications, both stylistic and structural.
The atoll of volcanic origin is considered the perfect place to hide the treasures of a thousand raids while the natives are ready to defend their territory. Knowing this, the gendarmes are stationed to recover the loot and imprison the criminals.
The kraken, a legendary sea monster of abnormal dimensions (5,350 pieces) was designed entirely digitally with subsequent aesthetic/structural modifications.
The myth of this legendary animal – which haunted the nightmares of sailors from all over the world, of abnormal dimensions, generally imagined as a gigantic squid-like cephalopod with tentacles so long as to wrap around a ship – developed above all between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries . The Sea Reaper pirate ship is inspired by the famous ship HMS Victory, a first-class, three-deck, 104-gun Royal Navy vessel built in the 1760s. The side bulkhead opens to reveal the decks and furnished staterooms .
The Snake Wing pirate ship is free-form and features a furnished deck and staterooms. The sails and ropes are made with original pieces taken from the sets of the “Pirates” series.
Eagle’s Nest
Inspired by the saga A Song of Ice and Fire by the American writer George RR Martin and the award-winning TV series Game of Thrones, the impregnable stronghold of the Eagle’s Nest (The Eyrie) is the residence of the Arryn family, protectors of the east.
The spectacular project (about 300,000 by Manuel Montaldo) begins to take shape in the designer’s mind in 2014 and after 2 years of intense work it is exhibited for the first time at Lucca Comics and Games 2016 to the amazement of the public.
The scenery, to which new details continue to be added year after year, occupies an area of almost 3 square meters, while the top of the castle reaches 1.80m in height. Over 300,000 pieces found in over 3 years of research were used for its construction.
Great Castle Diorama
The medieval diorama was born from an idea of Marco Cancellieri and Jonathan Petrongari back in 2011; Marcello Amalfitano also participates in the construction. 250,000 pieces subject to many changes over the years. Of the initial project, only the imposing fortified city that rises in the southern part has remained; everything else was built between 2013 and 2015.
This diorama can reach the record surface of 27 square meters.
Starting from the south we find a small forest inhabited by the Forestmen and a small fort of the Black Falcons (characters from the original Lego® Classic Castle series), the fortified city developed around the Basilica. From this side the path leads to a small village and the entrance to the forest.
Beyond the forest, the village at the gates of Winterfell, home of the Stark family, the last castle in the deep North inspired by the TV series Game of Thrones. In the Castle, the garden with the Heart Tree.
