At the Prologis Urban Art Museum here at the Interporto di Bologna, art transforms logistics spaces into unique visual stories.
We present to you the work of Ale Senso, one of Italy’s most prominent street artists, renowned internationally for her visionary and symbolic approach.
Ale Senso began her artistic career in the early ’90s, immersing herself in urban art while studying conceptual, performative, and visual arts at the Academy. After graduating in 2001, she lived and worked in Milan, Berlin, and now Rome, exploring various urban landscapes. In 2021, she created “Quiete,” a monumental 2287-square-meter artwork on a multi-sport surface, one of the largest of its kind and a finalist at the prestigious Arte Laguna Prize. Her influence is so significant that the President of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, cited her as one of the top five Italian street artists in his March 8, 2024, speech.
The artwork before you, “Container JS-D24HJ-C,” perfectly showcases Ale Senso’s ability to intertwine past, present, and future. Starting with the very surface—the container—she transforms it into a visual time machine. The container becomes a vessel, telling not just the story of our modern era but also invoking an ancient past inspired by classical and Roman traditions. Much like the amphorae of antiquity, used to transport goods across land and sea, Ale Senso takes us on a journey from the roots of commerce to the present day, creating a captivating temporal bridge.
The long sides of the container depict a story of human connections: men and women who, throughout the centuries, have forged relationships between different peoples by trading goods and exchanging cultures. The painted amphora symbolizes this continuity with the past. Through the amphora’s mouth, Ale Senso suggests a passageway into the future, envisioning interplanetary trade made possible by technological advancements.
This artwork is not only a tribute to history and movement but also a reflection on how time and culture are constantly evolving, carried forward by generations of humans through trade and sharing. Ale Senso invites us to consider how we are all part of this flow, where past and future meet, carried by ancient symbols like amphorae and modern ones like heavy industrial containers.
“Container JS-D24HJ-C” is a journey through time and space, reminding us that the world is always in motion and that, ultimately, we are all connected by these invisible networks of exchange and collaboration, stretching through the centuries and looking toward the future.