Street art between the sea and the hills
There is a fascinating and alternative way to discover the Rimini Riviera. That of observing its murals, an increasingly engaging street art that transforms itself into an artistic journey "en plein air".
This day tour takes you to discover the wall art of the Rimini Riviera in 3 different locations. It starts out in a seaside town, Bellaria, continues south and arrives at the Hamlet of San Giuliano, largely dedicated to the genius of Fellini, and then finishes up in the hills, in Saludecio, fully registered in the Italian Association of Paesi Dipinti (Painted Villages) and visited by photography and street art enthusiasts.
Bellaria began as a fishing hamlet, yet, while showing great respect for its historical places, it has been quite capable of reinventing and adapting them into something new and never seen before.
The first murals in Bellaria were made in 1994, at a time when graffiti was considered only and exclusively an act of vandalism.
However, while walking through the streets and alleys of the Borgata Vecchia today, many emotions are aroused by this street art that tells stories, reinvents places, but above all, gives color to life.
And each year these authors’ works of graffiti find other walls, corners, and old and new buildings that need luster and honor, or that simply make them more fun and colorful, as in the case of the old train station.
In 2020, Gola Hundun, born in Bellaria, created a large painting on the front facade of the Tourism Building. The work speaks of the sea, in full consistency with the origins of the city, and has the title "Effects of Irresponsible Action". It is an invitation to reflect on the value of the sea, on current policies for the exploitation of its most precious resources, such as the coral reefs, and urges a change in lifestyles and respect.
In 2021 with the “Bim Street Art Festival - The walls you don't expect” Bellaria managed to give modern urban artists a context and a place for the creation of murals.
The 5 wall painting works added on the facades of some buildings in the historic center during the "Bim Street Art Festival, can be admired respectively:
- in the port area, where Bellaria and Igea Marina meet, on the walls of the underpass in via Uso you can admire the work created by the artists Ermes Bichi and Andrea Casciu.
- in Via Salemi right in front of the beach, the ENEL tower now boasts a canvas by the artist Luogo Comune.
- at a small cabin in via Ravenna, among buildings, park and cultural center, the daily places of the life of Bellaria Igea Marina, is colored thanks to the writer Lume;
- in the multipurpose room of the Parco del Gelso, another place fully experienced by the town, is instead enriched by MrFiJodor’s work.
The Hamlet of San Giuliano is "the Fellinian village" par excellence and once you arrive here, you can breathe the typical atmosphere of the great master's films.
Today the genius and talent of Federico Fellini is remembered precisely through the numerous murals that color the houses of this hamlet, so loved by the director and celebrated in many of his films.
Strolling along the streets of the hamlet makes for a real discovery: in fact, you can find numerous works that recall Fellini or some of the most iconic characters of his films.
The history of these murals dates back to the 1980s, responding to the need to embellish the houses in the hamlet that were in a state of decay.
Today this hamlet is one of the most famous and beautiful in Rimini, thanks also to the numerous cafés, pubs, restaurants that overlook Tiberius Bridge a few meters away, which have given new life and sociality to this place.
Some of the murals of San Giuliano are the work of famous artists. Among the most recent, the mural created by Agim Sulaj, an entire wall depicting Fellini and his characters, or "Fellini the grandfather" coming out of the fog by Kiril Cholakov.
Saludecio is a medieval hamlet located about thirty kilometers from Rimini, on the hills of Valconca.
The landscape here is made up of rolling hills, scattered houses, farms, vineyards and cultivated fields where as early as 1014 there is evidence of the power struggles between the Malatesta and Montefeltro families.
But alongside this ancient history, today we can also experience a more modern form of art.
The murals of Saludecio were created by ARPERC artists who have sinuously decorated the walls of the houses, transforming them into real works of art and having as their trait d’union the discovery of 19th-century inventions.
Among the drawings depicted in the murals are the birth of the cinema, photography, ecology, the razor blade, toilet paper, comics, suspenders, Pizza Margherita, tutu ... and there is no shortage of the most famous brands such as Coca- Cola, Levi's, Violetta di Parma and Borsalino.
Today Saludecio is registered in the Italian Association of Paesi Dipinti (Painted Villages) and is visited by lovers of photography and street art.
To date, a map of the murals is not available, but this makes the hunt for street art in the village even more stimulating, and each discovery becomes almost a competition to see who can find - and photograph – the greatest number of them!
