“Naples Explosion” returns the Royal Albergo dei Poveri to the city

The event represented an important moment of restitution of the artistic heritage of the Campania capital, with the opening to the public of the large restored rooms on the first level, in the east wing. A decisive step in the rebirth of the eighteenth-century complex, carried out with tenacity by the Municipal Administration.

This historical moment was celebrated by the art of Mario Amura with the exhibition “Napoli Explosion”, curated by Sylvain Bellenger (former director of Capodimonte). Amura’s works, which transform the Gulf fireworks into “pictorial scores of lava and light“, were chosen to dialogue with the architectural power of the place. The installation, curated by Lucio Turchetta, suggests a clear metaphor: the volcanic energy of the city, captured by the artist’s lens, “served to metaphorically rekindle the spaces that had remained on hold for too long”, transforming the monument into a living canvas.

The opening of the new event rooms is the result of impressive institutional and technical teamwork. The recovery action of the eighteenth-century building was led by the Municipal Administration, with the manager Rosa Pascarella and the RUP Nicola Masella. The quality of the space returned to the Neapolitans bears the design signature of Professor Paolo Desideri’s ABDR studio. The management of the construction site required a “rare synergy”, which can be seen in the mastery of the works management, entrusted to the architect Francesca Brancaccio and the engineer Ugo Brancaccio of B5 srl, and in the work of the workers and restorers of the executing company Cobar spa.

The vernissage culminated a morning of discussion on the future of the creative industries and the artisan fabric, the primary vocation of the nascent House of Emerging Technologies (CTE). Thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, the Albergo dei Poveri has shown itself no longer as a monument to the past, but as a laboratory of “possible futures”, projected on innovation.

After the inauguration, the Real Albergo dei Poveri remains permanently open to the city. The “Naples Explosion” exhibition can be visited for free, after simple registration on the official channels, offering everyone the opportunity to reclaim “a piece of collective identity finally healed and returned to Naples.”