In Catania the exhibition ‘Tolkien. Man, professor, author ‘at the Palazzo della Cultura

This is the first exhibition of these dimensions never set up in Italy that places the writer at the center of everything and in which it will be possible to discover the various facets of his life: the man, father and friend, academic, author of essays and publications still fundamental today in the study of literature in ancient and medium English, the narrator and sub-creator of the middle land; There will also be space to tell the relationship that linked him to our country and the Italian editorial history of his works as well as what he inspired in the art, music and world of comics.

The knowledge of his life and the immersion in the universe he created are achieved through an articulated exhibition path between autograph manuscripts, letters, memorabilia, photographs and works of art born from the literary visions of a single and multifaceted author. Man of his time, linguist and philologist, the professor of Oxford is told in his artistic and human complexity.

Particular relevance is given to his relationship with Italy: “I am in love with the Italian, and I feel somewhat remote without the possibility of trying to speak it”, we read in one of his letter, and in the review there is no shortage of the testimonies of the trip to Venice and Assisi in 1955; As well as the many contacts, direct and indirect, with scholars and intellectuals of our country.

Space also to old and new cinematographic adaptations, from the animated film by Ralph Bakshi, to the trilogy of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ of the director Peter Jackson, capable of representing on the big screen one of the most ambitious and popular sagas of world literature conquering 17 Oscar prizes. Within the exhibition, an exhibition in the exhibition celebrates the extraordinary visual influence of the Tolkienian universe through eighty original works, for the most part published, created by thirty -nine among the most famous artists in the Tolkienian world and the fantasy tout court art. Among these, illustrious names such as The Brothers Hildbrandt, Chris Achilleos, Ted Nasmith, Alan Lee, Linda and Roger Garland and David T. Wenzel stand out, just to name a few.

The exhibition itinerary, edited by Davide Martini, follows a chronological thread from the first illustrations of Lo Hobbit until the end of the twentieth century, retracing the so -called “Golden Age” of the art inspired by the imagination of Tolkien and presenting some of the most iconic works of the main illustrators of this fascinating artistic genre.

Promoted by the Ministry of Culture with the collaboration of the University of Oxford, it is created by Cor Create to organize with the Cultural Association to build culture, with the curatorship of Oronzo Cilli and the co-curarela and the organization of Alessandro Nicosia, ‘Tolkien. Man, professor, author ‘is the most important retrospective of his kind in Italy for spectacularity, dimensions, unpublished materials exposed and authority of the international institutions involved: the University of Reading, the Oratory of San Filippo Neri of Birmingham, the Venerable English College of Rome, the Tolkien Society, the Biblioteca Benedetto Croce Foundation, the Astrolabio-Odaldi and Bompian publishing houses, Museum of Jenins and Warner Bros Discovery.

The catalog that accompanies the exhibition, published by Skira, makes use of the contributions of Adriano Monti Buzzetti Colella, Giuseppe Pezzini, Emma Giammattei, Francesco Nepitello, Chiara Bertoglio, Gianluca Comastri, Father Guglielmo Spirito, Fabio Celoni, Davide Martini, Roberta Tosi, Salvatore Santangelo, Stefano Giuliano, Claudio Mattia Serafin, Gianfranco De Turris, Paolo Paron and Paolo Paron. Domenico Dimichino.

Rome was the first stage of a path that, after Naples and Turin, arrives at the Palazzo della Cultura di Catania, to finish the itinerance in Trieste in autumn 2025. Thanks to the Mic, which promoted and supported its design with the aim of encouraging everyone’s participation in cultural life. “A hobbit lived in a hole in the ground.” With these words, the author began the beautiful adventure of Bilbo Baggins and lit a fervent spark in generations of readers, revealing the middle ground and its inhabitants: hobbit and elves, dwarves and men. The same who never stopped accompanying us in that story that became legend and then turned into myth.