From September in Verona, in the former refrigeration station of the Mercati Generali, in Via Santa Teresa, a new Eataly store will open. The novelty is that the store, dedicated to food and catering, will also host a museum and exhibitions for emerging artists, the Eataly Art House, E. ART.H. This is the big news regarding Verona, the first city in the Veneto to be part of the chain, which will offer 10,000 products of which 2,000 from the territory, including sweets, wines, oil, cold cuts, cheeses, tortellini di Valeggio, and will also focus precisely on art. Eataly is a chain of medium and large-sized stores of Italian agri-food items, founded by Oscar Farinelli in 2010 in Alba and present in various Italian and foreign cities, to be precise 41 in 15 countries around the world.  The building, which has recently been refurbished, measures 13,000 square meters for an investment of 60 million euros and is equipped with modern technological standards. The upper floor will host a museum area with traveling exhibitions and will culminate in the space of the dome, the project created by the architect Mario Botta.

A path will be dedicated to the “icebox” of the 1930s to make the local history known to the public. After two difficult years due to the pandemic, this is undoubtedly a positive sign of rebirth with the possibility of work for a hundred people. Nicola Farinetti, son of Oscar, takes care of the new opening, who, like his father, strongly believes in the combination of food and art and loves the city of Verona. The Veronese store is innovative as it allows you to monitor energy consumption. The inauguration is scheduled for 22 September 2022 with a solo exhibition by the Ghanaian visual artist Ibrahim Mahama curated by Eva Brioschi and the exhibition by Dutch photographer and director Anton Corbijn curated by Walter Guadagnini. The two exhibitions, which will remain open until January 2023, will be accompanied by conversations, workshops and meetings with artists. The Art Market will be set up on the ground floor with spaces to accommodate Italian and international galleries.

But that is not all. The E. ART. H. award was created to support young emerging artists, edited by Matteo Mottin and Ramona Ponzini. Through an open call each year artists under 35 will be selected, not represented by a gallery, with an exhibition to its credit, following the proposed theme, which for 2022 will be on biodiversity. There is time until October 9 of this year to participate “E.ART.H. aims to stimulate knowledge and culture among the general public by applying the values of Eataly and Green Pea – accessibility, inclusiveness, responsibility, sharing and sustainability – to the use of the visual arts”, explain the organizers.