You know when you know a place inside out, you know what it is, where it is, but actually you have never been? For the Ettore Guatelli Museum, in Ozzato Taro (PR), this is normal.
One day, while we were surfing the museums website of Parma, we remembered that even if we knew the story of Ettore Guatelli, we had never visited his “Museum of the Every day”. So we decided that it was time to put this right and visit a place universally considered unique in the world.
Guatelli Museum: love at first sight!
His biography tells us that the life of Ettore Guatelli, born at Collecchio (PR) on 18/04/1921, was fundamentally affected by his poor health, which prevented him from working the fields (he came from a family of bonded-farmers) or attending school with any regularity.
An elementary schoolteacher, over time he started to collect objects of everyday life. A visionary, he brought together acounts and objects (he wrote a great deal) and was helped by Attilio Bertolucci, who later helped him to get his post-graduate licence.
This man of poor health went around northern Italy collecting tools and objects of everyday life and use. He would go into the warehouses in the Appennines, first just to have a look, but later to salvage furniture, objects and tools from farmer and peasant houses that were due to be destroyed, or from the workshops of artisans..
And so Guatelli, collected more than 60,000 objects.
This is why the Museum does not include art work, but objects of every type and form that formed part of the everyday life of the people, and that were used and re-used until they almost vanished completely.
The objects, that fill the shelves and ceilings of entire rooms, were not put together randomly, but each serves a precise purpose and a specific historical explanation. They are hung up or stacked following simple geometric forms that give the rooms a beautiful scenic effect.
Work tools or simple household objects and children’s toys were all gathered with almost maniacal dedication. There is absolutely nothing new or well-preserved, on the contrary, all these objects have been used over and over again.
There are no words to describe the uniqueness of this man: Ettore Guatelli.
Information for visitors:
The collection is divided between the museum and the house, and in fact the display is housed in what was and remained until the end of his days, Ettore’s own home.
We stayed there for hours and hours, lost in childhood memories of life in the countryside. The other people whom we have taken on various occasions to see the Museum were also left speechless at the world and work of Ettore Guatelli.
Campers can be parked in the Museum carpark. There is no overnight rest-area, since around the museum there are large pieces of work equipment on display, such as industrial scythes, and so it is not safe to stay overnight.
For more information on the Museum, please visit its website or consult the following information sheet
Address: Via Nazionale 130 Ozzano Taro (PR)
Phone: (0039) 0521.333601
