Tolkien

The exhibition dedicated to the British writer John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, consisting of objects, books and letters, accompanied by images and digital support, is a journey through the discovery of the Middle-earth storyteller.

A man of his time, novelist, linguist and philologist, the Oxford Professor is portrayed in his artistic and human complexity through three sections:

The Man - which narrates, through photographic reproductions, autograph letters, objects and fact sheets, the writer's private life, from his affections to his studies, to his experience of the First World War.

The Professor - in which it is possible to learn about his role as an important academic, among the youngest to obtain a professorship at Oxford University, author of studies and publications that are still fundamental in the study of literature in Old and Middle English.

The Author - a larger section chronicling the narrator and his two most important works: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. There are also some first editions, the original watercolours made by Piero Crida for the première of The Silmarillion and two unused ones for The Untold Tales and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil; about 900 editions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings from 51 different countries; and finally the reconstruction of a corner of Tolkien's private study of his home at 20 Northmoor Road, Oxford, where he wrote The Hobbit and part of The Lord of the Rings.

To conclude the exhibition project, a section recounts the legacy of the writer who was a unique cornerstone of the fantasy literary genre, for all that he inspired in art, music and the world of comics. 
Space is also given to old and new film adaptations, from Ralph Bakshi's animated film to director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Promoted by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Tolkien's death, with the collaboration of Oxford University, it is realised by C.O.R. Creare Organizzare Realizzare with the curatorship of Oronzo Cilli and the co-curatorship and organisation of Alessandro Nicosia.