Our Story
The Polmone Pulsante, Centre of Research and Promotion of the Arts, is a non-profit organization, was founded in Rome in 1976 in Nomentana 403 on the initiative of Saviero Ungheri and his wife Teresa Nasso, who have always taken charge of the organization and management of its cultural seasons. Saverio and Teresa are no longer with us, but they have left behind a natural awareness of the need to enhance the work done so far and continue to revive an original and unique center of culture as is the Polmone Pulsante.
The Center, which in 2020 reached fourthy-four years of operating, has had its headquarters in Salita del Grillo 21 since 1989. This incredible site was the Roman Subura (sub urbe = under the city), next to the Markets of Trajan and in those that in the XVI century became the cellars of Palazzo Venier. The ancient walls of the rooms, that follow one after the other until they give the sensation of the labyrinth, are medieval and partly Roman too. In a room the signs of an ancient washhouse with its well in which still spring waters flow in the Tiber, there some small remains of a fresco that probably adorned the internal facade of the church and an arch that perhaps overlooked the entrance. Within these fascinating underground vaults is alchemically placed the artistic collection of masterpieces created by Saverio Ungheri in the years ’50 to ’90 of last century and the visit through this unique museum will end in the entirely frescoed room "Energia, Tiempo Y Conciencia" that is the Murales Project by Federico Kampf. The visit of this unique site will lead us in underground rooms to reveal the masterpieces created by Ungheri’s artistic spirit, over more than half a century, its experiments with "plastic machines that exploit some kinetic art solutions" and the breath of the "pulsating lung", phantasmagoric sculptures depicting objects of all kinds, activated in movement, some automatically, which also emit lights and sounds, suggesting a energetic and dynamic vision of reality.
Since 1976, the Center has been meeting with well-known painters, sculptors, writers, poets and musicians. We organize literary awards for poetry, offering young and old artists throughout solo and group exhibitions. Retrospectives and memorials have been held at the center, as well. The center has met with the highest representatives from various social and cultural studies who have spoken of specific contemporary as well as issues of collective interest. They were invited to encourage discussions with the audience and selected representatives of different and sometimes conflicting political perspectives. Even though European and World culture have been exhibited and explored at the Center, “International Art" has always been privileged through the intervention of critical experts in different fields.
In the years between 1991- 2000, and currently the center has had the patronage of the Culture of the Municipality of Rome and since 2013 has the patronage of the Culture of the Municipality I of Rome and since 2019 has the patronage of the Mexican Embassy in Italy.
The grand staircase visible from the gate (day and night), houses pulsating sculptures made of metal and plastic whose mobility is controlled continuously from the outside with an electronic button.
The grand staircase visible from the gate (day and night), houses pulsating sculptures made of metal and plastic whose mobility is controlled continuously from the outside with an electronic button.
(Andrea Nemiz Photography)
