From 28 April to 31 May, the Italian Cultural Institute of Montréal presents the exhibition ‘Vicoli e Ruelles. Rappresentazioni dello spazio urbano nel fumetto tra Italia e Québec’ (Vicoli and Ruelles: Representations of urban space in comics in Italy and Quebec) .
Initially set up in Genoa and then in Montreal, the exhibition displays comic strips created by 24 Italian and Quebec authors on the theme of the representation of urban space. ‘Vicoli e Ruelles’ was born out of a previous collaboration between the Italian curators and Festival BD and from the desire to compare the ways in which two spaces are represented that, despite their profound differences, have points of contact: the vicoli of Genoa and the ruelles of Montreal, that is, restricted, intimate, protected urban spaces that can easily become a metaphor for our interiority and our relationships. For Genoa, the vicoli are the essence of the medieval historical centre, the core of the city.
All the Genoese know that the ancient urban layout is divided into two areas: that of the vicoli or caruggi, the lower town, close to the port, which is bustling with a diverse crowd, one that is sometimes in turmoil but always pulsating, and that of the crêuze, the narrow brick streets that climb the steep hills, which are still dotted with gardens and vegetable plots. The ruelles of Montréal are narrow streets running along the backs of three-storey houses, overlooked by gardens, which often occupied by children playing hockey and dogs being escorted by their owners. They are “irregular“ streets as they do not have a numbering system, but they welcome forms of communal life, posters and meetings.
More information at iicmontreal.esteri.it