Banksy @ Palazzo Fava

Palazzo Fava, now an exhibition center, is a medieval building in the heart of Bologna. The current appearance dates back to 1546 when the Fava family acquired the palazzo. The rooms and halls of the piano nobile (principal floor) are decorated with a fresco cycle that an art historian is known to have described as a “historical novel.”

We first tried to visit Palazzo Fava in the fall of 2025 … during our ‘recon trip’ to Bologna. It was closed, unfortunately, to prepare for an exhibition of the works of Michelangelo. As luck would have it, that exhibition ended a few days before we moved to Bologna in February of this year. Oh well.

The current exhibition at Palazzo Fava is entitled “Banksy Archive 01 - The School of Bristol 1983-2005.” The website describes it as offering “… an in depth reconstruction of the origins and development of Banksy’s visual language within the cultural and artistic environment in which it first emerged.” In addition to some of his work, there were also images of the works of key figures from the Bristol scene who helped to shape the iconic works of the anonymous street artist by sharing formative and project experiences with him(?) in Bristol in the 1990s.

Admittedly, I was more interested in the frescos than what I would consider graffiti art. It was interesting, nonetheless, to note the stark contrast between the medieval fresco cycles encircling the walls and the work Banksy the the othe featured artists.Read more