THE MEDIEVAL VILLAGE OF DOZZA sits amidst miles of vineyards just outside Bologna. The first houses date back to the ninth century, and the wall surrounding the city to 1086, when Bolognese forces conquered the village. In 1960, Dozza established the Biennale del Muro Dipinto (Biennial of the Painted Wall). It was, and still is, a manifestation of contemporary art where the painters where not working on canvas, but on the walls of the houses. 

Every two years since then, more than 200 artists create an open-air gallery along the streets and squares of the town. Artists come from around the world to join in the event, and the murals take many different forms: landscape and still life, realistic and abstract.