Italian prime minister set to open Rome show.
Italy will mark the 50th anniversary of the death of British fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien with a major exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome.
The exhibition, titled J. R. R. Tolkien 1973 – 2023 Man, Professor, Author, will be opened by Italian premier Giorgia Meloni, who is a devoted fan of Tolkien’s most famous novel The Lord of the Rings, reports Corriere della Sera.
Italian culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano, who was strongly in favour of hosting the exhibit, confirmed that the show will open on 15 November, Artribune reports.
The exhibition will comprise more than 150 works including photographs, documents, letters and virtual reconstructions of the first editions of the books from which the blockbuster fantasy trilogy by director Peter Jackson is based.
The exhibition is curated by Oronzo Cilli, member of the British Tolkien Society and president of the Italian Tolkien Association, and produced by Alessandro Nicosia.
“This is the first exhibition in Italy on Tolkien. Many were held in Oxford, in Paris, but there was no such event in Italy”, Nicosia told Artribune.
“Minister Sangiuliano was very keen on this exhibition, especially on the 50th anniversary of the death of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien” – Nicosia said – “In this regard, there was a need for a prestigious venue and the Galleria Nazionale was available and supportive of the project.”
“The exhibition will be composed of a scientific part (with books, letters and documents) and a multimedia part which will showcase Tolkien’s plans in a spectacular way, as well as presenting everything that revolves around the fantasy world created by the British writer” – Nicosia told Artribune – “Finally, it will be possible to immerse yourself in the world of Middle-earth thanks to the reproduction (in loop) of the full version of The Lord of the Rings“.