MUSEO DEL CARNEVALE E MUSEO ARTE CONTEMPORANEA CARNEVALOTTO

The citadel of the Carnival of Viareggio houses within it two museums.

The Museo del Carnevale relates — through documents, sketches, posters and little models — the history of the carnival in Viareggio. Introduced by Burlamacco, a character invented by Umberto Bonettin in 1930, the itinerary presents small models of the allegorical floats, next to the works of artists who have worked for the carnival (Enrico Prampolini, Lucio Venna, Moses Levy, Umberto Bonetti) and reproductions of the advertising posters from 1925 up to the present. The Museo Arte Contemporanea Carnevalotto [Carnevalotto Museum of Contemporary Art], instead, focuses on the Premio Carnevalotto, a prize set up in 1987 by the Carnival Foundation and Studio Saudino to award the best float and designer with works on a theme specially created by Italian and foreign artists, including Sebastian Matta, Pietro Cascella, Piero Dorazio and Joe Tilson.
The two institutions also offer a busy educational programme and a study centre aimed at keeping the records of the event.