They have replaced bunnies, puppies, kittens and pandas as our children's sleep companions. They are the protagonists of blockbuster films, endless television series, musical groups have given themselves their names. If dinosaurs didn't exist, we'd have to invent them.
Which happened in Loch Ness where the memory of the great amphibious reptile was skilfully used to make a hitherto ignored place famous in the world (we are almost sorry that the deception was officially decreed as such). Dinosaurs, because they are, within a few decades have become a universal presence, in the imagination, in language, in the arts.
The exhibition is organized by the Culture Department of the Municipality of Padua in collaboration with Arcadia Arte, with the contribution of the Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo Foundation, at the same time as the great exhibition “Dinosaurs. Giants from Argentina”, open until 26 February 2017 at the Altinate San Gaetano cultural centre.
“The little ones – recalls Fabrizio Modina who is the brilliant curator of the Godzil-Land exhibition – love them for their monstrous aggressiveness, adults for their silent testimony. Dinosaurs have become a cultural constant of our time. Their voluminous presence is one of the longest-running narrative themes of science fiction which, detached from scientific rigor, has made them the protagonists of unforgettable stories, using them more often than not as a warning of man's fragility”.
“Godzil-Land” obviously goes beyond the sphere of paleontology and has no scientific objectives. It limits itself to investigating these bulky, beloved presences in our daily lives. Their powerful charm of icons of the fantastic. Placid and beneficial creatures or bloodthirsty forces of nature committed to putting the hero of the moment or the whole of humanity in difficulty, depending on who tells them or perhaps on the personal moment.
This exhibition will fascinate anyone with a child's heart and adult curiosity. It is hardly surprising that dinosaurs have spontaneously entered the collective imagination of fantasy and the fantastic, populating literature, cinema, television and the figurative arts for decades, as this exhibition intelligently confirms by entertaining.
Eight sections, hundreds of "finds". In the various sections, materials from private collections and museums are collected.
Not fossil bones, casts or reproductions of the great primeval dinosaurs. But creatures that are spoken of in stories, or images and drawings. Widespreadly present in all homes on the planet and above all in the minds of the entire terrestrial globe: a unique phenomenon of universal cultural penetration.
Merit of the cinema, first of all. Already well before King Kong or Jurassic Park, dinosaurs fascinated cinemas: Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay dates back to 1914 and is one of the first examples of animation in history. Anticipate the planetary successes which, always on the subject of dinosaurs, have earned Disney and Pixar huge collections, to name but a few.
One section on display is dedicated to Gojira (or Godzilla in the Western version). The huge lizard that embodies all the fear of the genetic mutations brought about by the use of atomic bombs, also giving the dinosaurs the delicate task of denouncing the misuse of technology. The Japanese creature, revisited in various ways, has been the protagonist of countless productions on both sides of the Pacific for more than half a century.
Since its advent, television has identified dinosaurs as a theme that guaranteed maximum audience. There are dozens and dozens of animated series produced in which they are protagonists or, as in the case of the Flintstones, prominent "shoulders".
In the section reserved for DinoBooks we find dinosaurs in literature and illustration. Characters such as Jules Verne or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have dealt with them, followed by excellent epigones. It takes too long to describe the masterpieces that Dino inspired for more than a century of illustrators.
The DinoComics section is equally crowded. Dinosaurs in comics, with signature strips, especially North American and Japanese. The next section dedicated to Dinosaurs and Music will arouse amazement, but not too much. They are the ones who give their names to musical groups, primarily the T-rex, and they are still the protagonists of many successful songs.
Of course they also became protagonists of videogames. Because, as the last section reveals, dinosaurs are now legendary but there are many who dream of being able to turn the legend into reality. Alongside the crowds of Pokemon trainers chasing their beloved Pikachu there is an army of "dinosaur catchers" who all over the world, from Africa to Australia, dream of coming across a brontosaurus rather than a velociraptor, survived or reborn from a forgotten egg.
