Carlo Zauli in Japan

The exhibition project explores the deep connection between Carlo Zauli’s artistic research and Japan and is part of a significant series of anniversaries.

In 2025, the centenary of the construction of the Esprit Nouveau Pavilion in Paris, designed by Le Corbusier, was celebrated; on 19 August 2026, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Carlo Zauli was marked, while 2027 will mark fifty years since the construction of the Bologna replica of the Pavilion, designed by architects Giuliano Grisleri and José Oubrerie, the latter a pupil of Le Corbusier.

The exhibition aims to create a new and previously unexplored itinerary examining the connection between Le Corbusier’s presence in Tokyo in 1959, linked to the construction of the National Museum of Western Art, and Zauli’s journeys to Japan, which were fundamental in inspiring new sculptural forms.

The selected works, from the Carlo Zauli Museum in Faenza, were exhibited in Japan in 2008 (Tokyo, Carlo Zauli: A Retrospective) and will be displayed inside the Esprit Nouveau Pavilion, with free admission from 12 November to 11 December 2026.

Presenting an exhibition devoted to Carlo Zauli, one of the most important ceramic artists of the 20th century and an internationally renowned Italian artist, offers an opportunity to connect his aesthetic research with Le Corbusier’s architectural vision.

The exhibition Carlo Zauli in Japan is an idea by ALTO GALLERY and is organised in collaboration with the Carlo Zauli Museum in Faenza, with the support of the Municipality of Bologna (Culture and Creativity Department, as part of Esprit Nouveau Bologna 2025-2027).