Patrimonio culturale dell'Emilia-Romagna

Built in 1247 to house Camaldolese nuns, the Santa Christina complex subsequently became a Carabinieri barracks. After painstaking restoration efforts under Roberto Scannavini, which have brought to light the wall decorations of the Bolognese culture from the late 15th and the 17th centuries, it now houses the Visual Arts Department of the University of Bologna, the Federico Zeri Foundation, and the National Women’s Library. It is also an exhibition centre which has recently hosted a monographic, fairy-tale-inspired exhibition by the figurative painter Antonio Saliola, and another exhibition by the portraitist Pietro Annigoni.

2005 saw a collective exhibition featuring Elvira Vannini Annalisa Cattani, Paolo Chiasera, Cuoghi Corsello, “desert”, “dev_null”, Flavio Favelli, Luca Gemma, William Kentridge, Deborah Ligorio, Eva Marisaldi, Sandrine Nicoletta, Maria Vittoria Perrelli, Sara Rossi and Sissi; while the exhibition “Nanni Menetti Geloni. Progetti frustrati d’eternità” was held in 2006.
Every year, as part of the Be’-Bologna Estate festival, the former Camaldolese monastery hosts the "Videoart Yearbook" summer festival, focusing on Italian videoart, with an organizing committee composed of Renato Barilli, Alessandra Borgogelli, Fabriano Fabbri, Paolo Granata, Silvia Grandi, Fabiola Naldi, and Paola Sega. The 6th edition took place in 2011 and was inaugurated by Mario Gorni, the man behind the DOCVA experimental art centre in Milan. The many artists who participated included Sergia Avveduti, Nicola Ballarini, Chiara Balsamo, Basmati, Riccardo Benassi, Bruno Benuzzi, Nicola Bettale, Alessandra Caccia, Diego Caglioni, Anita Calà, Silvia Camporesi, Rita Casdia, Luca Coclite, Carlo Dell'Acqua, Daniela Di Maro, Andrea Dojmi, Kensuke Koike, Marco Lamanna, Dario Lazzaretto, Lithos 19, Marcantonio Lunardi, Davide Mancini Zanchi, Christian Niccoli, Laurina Paperina, Caterina Pecchioli, Maria Pecchioli, Gabriele Pesci, Petri Paselli, Christian Rainer, Claudio Rivetti, Mauro Romito, Carol Sabbadini, Natalia Saurin, Teatrino Elettrico, Mona Lisa Tina, Toba Toba, Eugenia Vanni, Devis Venturelli, Debora Vrizzi and Fani Zguro. The event included a tribute to Devis Venturelli.
The Church of Santa Cristina, which from the time of the Napoleonic suppressions until the present was used for numerous different purposes, was re-opened to the public in 2008 after the completion of restoration efforts as an auditorium for classical music performances and Gregorian chants. Santa Caterina is included in “Genus Bononiae – Museums in the City”, an artistic, cultural, and museum route comprising several buildings in Bologna’s historic city centre. These buildings, which are characterized by a specific cultural and artistic identity, have been restored and brought back to public use. The idea behind the project, which was spearheaded by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna, is to better describe and understand the Bolognese people, by integrating with the existing institutional structure through links with other museums, art galleries, and the city’s cultural, economic, and social institutions.