Jan Brokken is a Dutch writer, known for his works Baltic Souls and The Cossack Garden, collected in the volume City souls (first edition published in Italian, 2021),which contains his reflections and insights on the impact that some cities have had on him. We decided to include him because he devotes a long section to Bologna, told through the eyes of the painter Giorgio Morandi.
In an interview following the book’s release, Brokken explains:
"I tried to look at Bologna through Morandi’s eyes and realised that Morandi is Bologna and Bologna is Morandi."
Brokken was perhaps so interested in Morandi because he was such a contrast to him: while the Bolognese painter is non-migrant, the Dutch writer is always travelling. However, Brokken adds that
"when you’re from a city like Bologna, when you eat every day in a small restaurant in an old grocer’s in Bologna, when you walk every day in the shadow of Bologna’s porticoes, there’s really nothing else you need." He concludes: "If I had been born in Bologna, perhaps I would never have travelled, just like Morandi."
Brokken’s writing presents an image of Bologna that, while not entirely free of the clichés that foreigners often associate with Italy, provides an excellent literary resource for those planning to visit, as well as an insight into the potential soundtrack for such a visit: Yoga Zone-Zen Meditation by Philip Glass, an artist who has much in common with Morandi, or better still Johann Sebastian Bach's Adagio BWV 974 on the piano, is even more heart-wrenching. Music made of almost nothing, music of silence."
here is a review of the volume by Alessandro Mezzena Lona
https://www.doppiozero.com/un-viaggiatore-in-cerca-delle-anime-della-citta
here is an interview with Jan Brokken:
