Art Nouveau Week

The ART NOUVEAU WEEK Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the Art Nouveau cultural and artistic movement in all its many forms.

Here is the programme for the city of Bologna:

GUIDED TOURS

Monday 13 July

Bologna ( 5.00 pm) ‘The Art Nouveau heart of historic Bologna’

The Italia Liberty association has organised an outdoor walking tour to explore the Art Nouveau buildings, shop signs and decorative details in the streets of medieval Bologna, amidst the transformations and challenges of architectural renewal between the 19th and 20th centuries. The tour also includes a comprehensive look at the work of architect Sironi, a key figure in Bologna’s Art Nouveau period. The route winds through the city’s most iconic streets and squares, such as Via Rizzoli, Viale Indipendenza, the Quadrilatero and Via Farini, and offers the chance to explore the motivations and choices that led to the irreversible and defining transformation of the historic centre, with the renovation of buildings that began to take on the role of important premises for commercial activities.

Meeting point: Piazza del Nettuno, opposite the Fountain of Neptune

Duration: 1½ hours maximum (city walk, suitable for all)

Cost: €15 (€13 for members of Italia Liberty and the Touring Club Italiano). Free for children under 7

Qualified tour guide: Giacomo Galli

Bookings: giacomogalli@italialiberty.it | (+39) 329 0027969 (WhatsApp or text messages only)

The tour will go ahead if a minimum of 8 participants is reached. Guided tour with limited places (maximum 35 people). Booking is compulsory by no later than Thursday 3 July 2026. For groups of more than 15 people, the use of radio guides will be compulsory (cost: €2 per person)

For a closed, pre-arranged group, the total cost of the tour is €200

Tuesday 14 July
, Bologna ( 5.00 pm ) “Paolo Sironi. Art Nouveau in Emilia”

The Italia Liberty association has organised an outdoor walking tour to explore one of the most iconic Art Nouveau neighbourhoods in Bologna: Via Rodolfo Audinot, a fine example of a neighbourhood surrounded by greenery and luxury. The detached houses that line the street, featuring a rich variety of floral decorations, are largely the work of the architect and entrepreneur Paolo Sironi.

Meeting point: In front of Bar Carlo, on the corner of Via Giuseppe Pacchioni

Duration: 1½ hours maximum (city walk, suitable for all)

Cost: €15 (€13 for members of Italia Liberty and the Touring Club Italiano). Free for children under 7

Qualified tour guide: Giacomo Galli

Bookings: giacomogalli@italialiberty.it | (+39) 329 0027969 (WhatsApp or text messages only)

The tour will go ahead if a minimum of 8 participants is reached. Guided tour with limited places (maximum 35 people). Booking is compulsory by no later than Thursday 3 July 2026. For groups of more than 15 people, the use of radio guides will be compulsory (cost: €2 per person)

For a closed, pre-arranged group, the total cost of the tour is €200

EVENTS

Saturday 11 July (10.00–14.00) and Tuesday 14 July (10.00–14.00)
Francesco Cavazza ETS Institute for the Blind – Bologna, Via Castiglione 71

  “The Other Art Nouveau”
A sensory experience beyond sight

The Francesco Cavazza Institute for the Blind in Bologna is hosting a two-day workshop dedicated to the theme of visual impairment and sensory perception, with a particular focus on the culture of blindness and the expressive possibilities linked to art and the transformation of contemporary languages.
  The initiative was launched with the aim of creating an inclusive space open to people of all backgrounds and origins, involving both sighted and blind participants in a shared experience of learning and experimentation.

The workshops are divided into two sessions, offering an immersive journey centred on tactility, listening and the interpretation of forms.
  Through models inspired by Art Nouveau aesthetics, as part of the Art Nouveau Week festival, participants are invited to explore the relationship between tactile perception and visual understanding.
  The project brings together different tools to foster interdisciplinary interactions in which the language of art becomes an opportunity for dialogue, inclusion and awareness.
  The activity thus aims to offer the public not only a creative experience, but also an opportunity for human and cultural enrichment on the theme of visual impairment and the expressive potential that arises from the encounter between art, perception and shared participation.

On Saturday 11 July 2026, from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm, Dr Loretta Secchi, curator and scientific director of the Anteros Tactile Museum, will be speaking. On Tuesday 14 July 2026, again from 10.00 to 14.00, Architect Fabio Fornasari, scientific director and artistic director of the Tolomeo.

Bookings required; free admission:
11 July workshop: loretta.secchi@cavazza.it | (+39) 051 332090
Workshop 14 July: fabio.fornasari@cavazza.it | (+39) 051 332090

Further information is available on the website www.cavazza.it

Wednesday 8 July, Bologna at 3.00 pm and Thursday 9 July, Bologna at 10.00 am

The Italia Liberty association has organised an event with the Bologna Urban Sketchers group, featuring a group meet-up and an outdoor sketching session, during which participants can observe and interpret some of the city’s most significant Art Nouveau buildings in real time.
  Meeting point: the corner of Piazza Re Enzo and Via Rizzoli
Estimated duration: 2 hours
Locations for sketching from life:
Cinema Modernissimo, Piazza Re Enzo
, Palazzo Ronzani, Via Rizzoli 1

Thursday 9 July Bologna 8.30 pm

The Italia Liberty association has organised a group plein air sketching session focusing on some of the city’s most significant Art Nouveau buildings. Participants will have the opportunity to observe and interpret the architecture in real time from the outside, carrying out the activity in the public spaces in front of the buildings.
  Meeting point: Via Farini 19
Estimated duration: 2 hours
Locations for sketching from life:
Casa, Via Francesco Roncati 3
Casa, Alberani, Via Farini 19
Casa dei Girasoli, Viale Giosuè Carducci 13/2
Casa Legnani, Via Urbana 6
Monument to Giosuè Carducci, Piazza Giosuè Carducci 5

Saturday 11 July, Bologna, 6.00 pm 

The Italia Liberty association has organised a group outdoor sketching session dedicated to some of the city’s most significant Art Nouveau buildings. Participants will have the opportunity to observe and interpret the architecture in person from the outside, carrying out the activity in the public spaces in front of the buildings.
  Meeting point: Via Irnerio 35
Estimated duration: 2 hours
Locations for sketching from life:
Art Nouveau signs at the Albergo Diurno Cobianchi, Piazza Re Enzo
Casa Barilli, Via Rizzoli 16
Casa Sanguinetti, Via Irnerio 35–37
Art Nouveau sculptures at the Monumental Cemetery, Via della Certosa 18
Cinema Teatro Modernissimo, Piazza Re Enzo 3
Former Tobacco Factory, Via Riva di Reno 72
Former Goselli Perfumery, Via Rizzoli 1-2AB
Apartment block, Via Dante 16
Palazzo Arancione, Via Galliera 83

Sunday 12 July, Bologna, 6.00 pm

  The Italia Liberty has organised a group outdoor sketching session dedicated to some of the city’s most significant Art Nouveau buildings. Participants will have the opportunity to observe and interpret the architecture first-hand from the outside, carrying out the activity in the public spaces in front of the buildings.
  Meeting point: Via Rodolfo Audinot 27
Estimated duration: 2 hours
Locations for sketching from life:
Art Nouveau sculpture at Porta Galliera, Piazza XX Settembre
Villa, Via Rodolfo Audinot 27
Villa, Via Rodolfo Audinot 29
Villa, Viale Giosuè Carducci 1
Villa Elena, Via Luigi Breventani 43
Villini, Viale Giosuè Carducci 3-5-7
Villino, Via Rodolfo Audinot 17
, small villa, Via Rodolfo Audinot 5
, Wolner villa, Via Rodolfo Audinot 2
, Sironi villa, Via Rodolfo Audinot 4