LAB27
LAB27

SONIA LENZI: UNLIKELY MONUMENTS
1.11.2026, 4:30 pm

Talk with
Sonia Lenzi

RSVP
lab27.it@gmail.com

Lab27 is pleased to welcome Sonia Lenzi on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 4:30 pm for a conversation with the Bologna-based artist, held in conjunction with the exhibition "Seeing Words. Between Writing and Image". The conversation will be moderated by curator Steve Bisson.

This will be an opportunity to explore Sonia Lenzi’s artistic and visual research, her editorial work, and, in particular, her project Unlikely Monuments / Monumenti improbabili. Through photography, the project invites us to reflect on the symbolic forms of monuments, on inclusion and exclusion from history, and on how these dynamics manifest themselves in urban space.

History and memory are, in different ways, constructions. Like photography, they do not simply represent or recount what appears before us, but give form to what we wish to preserve, reveal, or reflect upon. Monuments dedicated to women who have played a role in public life — whether well-known, unknown, or forgotten — are often unlikely, as are the spaces in which they are placed.
The project unfolds along several different paths, encouraging reflection on public memory through the figure of the monument: how we are remembered, how we would like to be represented, and the absence or inadequate representation of certain subjectivities. At the same time, it proposes alternative forms and approaches to those traditionally associated with monuments.
The project comprises several interconnected strands. Unlikely Monuments. Excerpt from the Catalogue is an ongoing series dedicated to unlikely monuments in the city of Bologna. Monumenti improbabili / Unlikely Monuments. Public Art Commissions involves the organization of public art commissions aimed at identifying the figures to whom new unlikely monuments might be dedicated and the places where they could be installed. Unlikely Monuments. In Dialogue, meanwhile, establishes a dialogue between the monuments in the series and the places where they are situated, bringing them into relation with other spaces through symbolic comparisons.
The project has given rise to photographic, performative, editorial, and video works.
LAB27

Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Monument to Rosa Parks.

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

Screenshot

Unlikely Monuments. Excerpt form the catalogue. Map. Tosca Press (2026)

LAB27

Unlikely monument / Monumento improbabile a Eleonora Piana / Public Art Commission - Zola Predosa – Bo (2026)

LAB27

Monumenti improbabili. Unlikely Monuments. Public Art Commissions. Tosca Press (2026)

LAB27

Unlikely Monuments. In dialogue. Survivors (2026)

LAB27

Bio
Sonia Lenzi uses photography to investigate, establish, and create social relationships through signs, forms, and gestures. Her practice focuses on cross-disciplinary themes related to belonging, affinities, and the memory of people and places.
She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and holds degrees in Philosophy and Law from the University of Bologna. She has also completed specialist studies in Administrative Sciences and Digital Archives. Her work is held in public and private collections in Italy and abroad.
Her major projects, publications, exhibitions, and installations include It Could Have Been Me / Avrei potuto essere io, presented at Bologna’s High-Speed Railway Station (2015); Lares Familiares, at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (2016) and the Italian Cultural Institute in London (2019); and Last Portrait, published by Tosca Press (2019) and included in the Women’s Art Library (WAL), Special Collections and Archives at Goldsmiths, University of London (2019).
In 2021, she presented Take Me to Live with You. A Social Family Album at Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, in Portland, USA. The project was published the same year by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, with an essay by Roberta Valtorta. In 2022, she published Looking for My Daughters with Artphilein Editions, Lugano, Switzerland.
In 2023, she participated in the group exhibition Civilization: The Way We Live Now at the Saatchi Gallery in London and presented A Place to Live as part of Focus Artphilein in Lugano. In 2024, she presented Unlikely Monuments / Monumenti improbabili, curated by Giovanna Calvenzi, at the Istituto Storico Parri and Lavì City. In 2026, she presented Unlikely Monuments. In Dialogue. Merini / Carducci, curated by Eléonore Grassi, at Casa Carducci in Bologna, andUnlikely Monuments. In Dialogue. Survivors, as part of Milano Centrale Festival, curated by Luca Panaro.
The project Monumenti improbabili / Unlikely Monuments. Public Art Commissions received support from the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e di Ravenna and was presented at MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna in 2026.
Sonia Lenzi lives and works between Bologna and London.

SONIA LENZI: UNLIKELY MONUMENTS
1.11.2026, 4:30 pm

Talk with
Sonia Lenzi

RSVP
lab27.it@gmail.com

Lab27 is pleased to welcome Sonia Lenzi on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 4:30 pm for a conversation with the Bologna-based artist, held in conjunction with the exhibition "Seeing Words. Between Writing and Image". The conversation will be moderated by curator Steve Bisson.

This will be an opportunity to explore Sonia Lenzi’s artistic and visual research, her editorial work, and, in particular, her project Unlikely Monuments / Monumenti improbabili. Through photography, the project invites us to reflect on the symbolic forms of monuments, on inclusion and exclusion from history, and on how these dynamics manifest themselves in urban space.

History and memory are, in different ways, constructions. Like photography, they do not simply represent or recount what appears before us, but give form to what we wish to preserve, reveal, or reflect upon. Monuments dedicated to women who have played a role in public life — whether well-known, unknown, or forgotten — are often unlikely, as are the spaces in which they are placed.
The project unfolds along several different paths, encouraging reflection on public memory through the figure of the monument: how we are remembered, how we would like to be represented, and the absence or inadequate representation of certain subjectivities. At the same time, it proposes alternative forms and approaches to those traditionally associated with monuments.
The project comprises several interconnected strands. Unlikely Monuments. Excerpt from the Catalogue is an ongoing series dedicated to unlikely monuments in the city of Bologna. Monumenti improbabili / Unlikely Monuments. Public Art Commissions involves the organization of public art commissions aimed at identifying the figures to whom new unlikely monuments might be dedicated and the places where they could be installed. Unlikely Monuments. In Dialogue, meanwhile, establishes a dialogue between the monuments in the series and the places where they are situated, bringing them into relation with other spaces through symbolic comparisons.
The project has given rise to photographic, performative, editorial, and video works.
LAB27

Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Monument to Rosa Parks.

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

LAB27

A,B,C Unlikely Monument. Excerpt from the catalogue. Tosca Press (2024)

Screenshot

Unlikely Monuments. Excerpt form the catalogue. Map. Tosca Press (2026)

LAB27

Unlikely monument / Monumento improbabile a Eleonora Piana / Public Art Commission - Zola Predosa – Bo (2026)

LAB27

Monumenti improbabili. Unlikely Monuments. Public Art Commissions. Tosca Press (2026)

LAB27

Unlikely Monuments. In dialogue. Survivors (2026)

LAB27

Bio
Sonia Lenzi uses photography to investigate, establish, and create social relationships through signs, forms, and gestures. Her practice focuses on cross-disciplinary themes related to belonging, affinities, and the memory of people and places.
She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna and holds degrees in Philosophy and Law from the University of Bologna. She has also completed specialist studies in Administrative Sciences and Digital Archives. Her work is held in public and private collections in Italy and abroad.
Her major projects, publications, exhibitions, and installations include It Could Have Been Me / Avrei potuto essere io, presented at Bologna’s High-Speed Railway Station (2015); Lares Familiares, at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (2016) and the Italian Cultural Institute in London (2019); and Last Portrait, published by Tosca Press (2019) and included in the Women’s Art Library (WAL), Special Collections and Archives at Goldsmiths, University of London (2019).
In 2021, she presented Take Me to Live with You. A Social Family Album at Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, in Portland, USA. The project was published the same year by Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, with an essay by Roberta Valtorta. In 2022, she published Looking for My Daughters with Artphilein Editions, Lugano, Switzerland.
In 2023, she participated in the group exhibition Civilization: The Way We Live Now at the Saatchi Gallery in London and presented A Place to Live as part of Focus Artphilein in Lugano. In 2024, she presented Unlikely Monuments / Monumenti improbabili, curated by Giovanna Calvenzi, at the Istituto Storico Parri and Lavì City. In 2026, she presented Unlikely Monuments. In Dialogue. Merini / Carducci, curated by Eléonore Grassi, at Casa Carducci in Bologna, andUnlikely Monuments. In Dialogue. Survivors, as part of Milano Centrale Festival, curated by Luca Panaro.
The project Monumenti improbabili / Unlikely Monuments. Public Art Commissions received support from the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e di Ravenna and was presented at MAMbo – Museum of Modern Art of Bologna in 2026.
Sonia Lenzi lives and works between Bologna and London.

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