Aosta, Pino Pace and Giorgio Sommacal's imaginary creatures roam the Fortress of Bard

Fantastic creatures, chimeras, mermaids, centaurs, unicorns, dragons, yetis: the art of inventing animals has been a human prerogative since the earliest times, starting from the fantastic animals of classical European mythology to medieval Bestiaries, moving from legends resulting from popular imagination to sailors’ tales of sightings of mysterious sea monsters of gigantic size. The exhibition Beasts!... and Other Animals. Fantastic Creatures and Imaginary Zoology proposes, in the rooms of theOpera Mortai of the Fortress of Bard, from February 26 to June 4, 2023, a journey among the monstrous animals that have always populated the human imagination. At the heart of the exhibition are original plates from the trilogy The Incredible Adventures of Sam Colam and Professor Pico Pane created by Pino Pace and Giorgio Sommacal. The two characters - Sam Colam and Pico Pane - lead the way on this fantastic journey: from the exploration of imaginary lands to unlikely planets, and then going back in time to the Spergiurassic.

The exhibition features more than 60 original plates by Giorgio Sommacal with the beautiful and amusing illustrations of chimeras such as the camellula, the rhinoceros, the sgorz, the orcomanno, the gridosaurus, the strabicoraptor, and many others from the three volumes of the trilogy: Beasts!, Univerzoo, Picosauri! The goal is for visitors to discover in a playful and interactive way, the world of animals and how much each of us is connected to them in tradition, symbolism, magic, superstition to the supernatural. One section presents 18 drawings created by Aosta Valley illustrator Fabio Roveyaz, depicting the most traditional fantastic creatures from the Kraken to the Sirens, from the Dragon to Moby Dick. The display of shaped animals and characters, the Cubianimals, with whom the public will be able to interact, will help make the immersion between fantasy and reality even more evocative. And to the delight of the little ones, life-size dinosaurs will also be set up in the outdoor spaces of the Fortress of Bard.

Alongside the exhibition, ample space will be devoted to engaging visitors of all ages through games and workshop activities. Creating animals is an ancient game: the exhibition Beasts!... and other animals. Fantastic Creatures and Imaginary Zoology will invite young and old to invent, name, compose, draw and color, the fantastic creatures that are the fruit of their own imagination.

For all information, you can visit the official website of the Fortress of Bard.

Aosta, Pino Pace and Giorgio Sommacal's imaginary creatures roam the Fortress of Bard

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