Must-attend autumn exhibitions
Updated on 23 September 2026 From Davide Sarti
With the arrival of autumn, Bologna welcomes a new season of exhibitions featuring great masters of art, photography, cinema, comics and immersive experiences. From Gaudí and Picasso to Leonardo da Vinci, via Tutankhamun, Elliott Erwitt, Agnès Varda and Magnus, the city’s museums and historic palaces host exhibitions spanning different eras and artistic languages.
Which exhibitions to see in Bologna in autumn 2026?
L’ARDUO CIMENTO and Edith Tudor Hart at Palazzo Pepoli
Two exhibitions follow one another this autumn in the spaces of Palazzo Pepoli – Museum of the History of Bologna.
From 2 to 19 October, The Arduous Challenge – Living in the Mountains, Living in the Desert by Guido Moretti presents one hundred works, including acrylic paintings and drawings, as well as three videos featuring images from his Travel Notebooks. The Trentino Alps, the deserts of the Sahara and the Middle East, and Upper Mustang become the starting point for a reflection on inhabiting a place and humankind’s adaptation to the most extreme environments.
Where: Palazzo Pepoli – Museum of the History of Bologna
When: 2–19 October 2026
The Arduous Challenge, via palazzopepoli.it
From 24 October 2026 to 28 February 2027, Edith Tudor Hart: Between photography and espionage brings to Italy for the first time a major retrospective dedicated to Anglo-Austrian photographer Edith Tudor-Hart, who documented poverty, inequality, working-class life, childhood, women’s rights and political transformations between the 1930s and 1950s. At the same time, she led a second, clandestine life linked to Soviet intelligence and the Cambridge Five, one of the most famous spy networks of the 20th century. The exhibition brings together more than one hundred photographs, alongside magazines, personal documents and material from the British intelligence services.
Where: Palazzo Pepoli – Museum of the History of Bologna
When: 24 October 2026 – 28 February 2027
Edith Tudor Hart: Between photography and espionage, via palazzopepoli.it
Heaven on Earth. Saint Francis and Bologna between the 16th and 17th Centuries
To mark the 800th anniversary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, the National Gallery of Bologna presents an exhibition exploring the evolution of the saint’s iconography between the 16th and 17th centuries. Heaven on Earth. Saint Francis and Bologna between the 16th and 17th Centuries brings together works from the collections of the Museums of Bologna and masterpieces by some of the leading artists of the Bolognese school: from Francesco Francia and the Carracci to Guido Reni, Francesco Albani and Guercino.
Where: National Gallery of Bologna
When: 2 October 2026 – 10 January 2027
Heaven on Earth. Saint Francis and Bologna between the 16th and 17th Centuries, via pinacotecabologna.cultura.gov.it
Elliott Erwitt. The art of observation
Around one hundred photographs reveal the distinctive vision of Elliott Erwitt, one of the most important photographers of the 20th century, combining iconic images with works from the artist’s private collection, many of which have never been exhibited to the public. Elliott Erwitt. The art of observation explores the photographer’s most intimate side, connecting personal experience, collective memory and photography: a journey to discover the man behind the lens and his unmistakable way of observing reality.
Where: Civic Archaeological Museum
When: 1 October 2026 – 28 February 2027
Elliott Erwitt. The art of observation, via civita.art
Agnès Varda and The Women of Bologna at the Modernissimo
Cinema, photography and the memory of the city come together in the two exhibitions hosted at the Galleria Modernissimo. Viva Varda! Cinema is a woman dedicates 1,200 square metres to Agnès Varda, the first female director to receive an Academy Honorary Award and a winner at Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Locarno. Films, photographs, installations, memorabilia and costumes recount a creative and multifaceted body of work, exploring Varda’s relationship with images, cinematic writing and her female characters, the social dimension of her films and her connection with Italy.
Where: Galleria Modernissimo
When: until 10 January 2027
Viva Varda! Cinema is a woman, via cinetecadibologna.it
The Women of Bologna: Well-known and previously unpublished photographs from the archives of Antonio Masotti turns its gaze to Bologna between the late 1950s and early 1960s through the women who lived in the city. The exhibition presents a selection of images drawn from a collection of over 5,500 photographs dedicated to Bologna and its women: well-known photographs and archival material offer a poetic and direct glimpse of the city, its porticoes and everyday life at the time.
When: until 25 October 2026
The Women of Bologna: Well-known and previously unpublished photographs from the archives of Antonio Masotti, via cinetecadibologna.it
From Gaudí to Picasso. Masterpieces from the Carmen Thyssen Collection
For the first time, the Carmen Thyssen Collection comes to Bologna with over 100 works exploring one of the most vibrant periods in the history of European art. From Gaudí to Picasso. Masterpieces from the Carmen Thyssen Collection traces the period from the late 19th century to the 1930s through works by Antoni Gaudí, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Joan Miró, alongside major figures from the Catalan and international art scenes. From Modernism to Symbolism, from Cubism to Surrealism, the exhibition is a journey through the creative energy that helped transform 20th-century art.
Where: Palazzo Albergati
When: 9 October 2026 – 29 March 2027
From Gaudí to Picasso. Masterpieces from the Carmen Thyssen Collection, palazzoalbergati.com
Tutankhamun: the tomb, the treasure, the curse
The story of the most famous pharaoh of Ancient Egypt comes to Bologna with an immersive exhibition dedicated to Tutankhamun and the discovery of his tomb, made in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter. Tutankhamun: the tomb, the treasure, the curse features over 100 official replicas, spectacular displays, thematic sections and virtual reality, guiding visitors through the story of the “Boy Pharaoh” and one of the most famous archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Where: Palazzo Belloni
When: 3 October 2026 – 2 May 2027
Tutankhamun: the tomb, the treasure, the curse, mostratutankhamon.com
Leonardo da Vinci's Machines and A Masterpiece of a Day at Palazzo Pallavicini
In autumn 2026, Palazzo Pallavicini hosts two exhibitions dedicated to very different periods and worlds.
Leonardo da Vinci's Machines: Genius and Innovation takes visitors into the heart of the Renaissance through around thirty machines faithfully reconstructed in wood and other materials based on Leonardo da Vinci's original drawings. An immersive journey exploring the ideas and inventions of the Italian genius.
Where: Palazzo Pallavicini
When: 24 September 2026 – 17 January 2027
Leonardo da Vinci's Machines: Genius and Innovation, via palazzopallavicini.com
A Masterpiece of a Day (Un capolavoro di giornata) explores the twenty-four hours of a day in the 19th century through major works of European Realism. Divided into twelve thematic sections, the exhibition follows the rhythm of everyday life, from waking up and working to leisure time and the quiet of the evening, with paintings accompanied by light, sound and olfactory elements.
Where: Palazzo Pallavicini
When: 3 October 2026 – 17 January 2027
A Masterpiece of a Day (Un capolavoro di giornata), via iltempodipinto.it
Banksy Archive 01 and Magnus: two exhibitions at Palazzo Fava
Two exhibitions, taking place at different times during the season, bring street art and comics to Palazzo Fava.
Banksy Archive 01 - The School of Bristol 1983-2005 traces the origins and development of Banksy's imagery, placing it within the cultural and artistic scene of Bristol in which it took shape. Divided into thirty-two sections, the exhibition brings together over three hundred works, original documents and archival materials.
Where: Palazzo Fava
When: until 18 October 2026
Banksy Archive 01 - The School of Bristol 1983-2005, via genusbononiae.it
Magnus. Heroes e Non-heroes pays tribute to Roberto Raviola, known as Magnus, thirty years after his death. The exhibition traces the work of the Bolognese master through the characters, heroes and anti-heroes that have left their mark on the history of Italian comics, from Alan Ford to I Briganti and Lo Sconosciuto. The exhibition culminates with the 224 pages of the celebrated Texone, on which Magnus worked until just a few days before his death.
Where: Palazzo Fava
When: 7 November 2026 – 10 January 2027
Magnus. Heroes e Non-heroes, via genusbononiae.it
Lover of storytelling and of walks along trails that fade into the horizon. I've been writing for bolognawelcome.com since 2021.
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