Villa Grock, a jewel of “revisited” liberty style, is the result of the project and designs of the multifaceted clown-artist Grock, the stage name of Charles Adrien Wettach. It is to him and to the art of clowning that Imperia has dedicated the return to its old splendours of his home, today destined to be a museum. On the three floors of the buildings, 14 rooms follow one another entirely designed in a multi-medial and interactive set up, thanks to the structures, panels and monitors which show various aspects of the clowning art, guaranteeing a unique and in-depth involvement to the visitor. We then have in succession the Cinema hall, a proper room with various projections, the Marvel hall, the Make-up one, the Symbol Theatre, the Magic Carousel. Colours, lights, more or less secret symbols which fill up the entire villa are picked up and mixed to create wonder and a riveting magic, irresistible not just for the little ones.
In Villa Grock’s Museum various histories and arts are intertwined: cinema, which Wettach used to love and here is displayed by showing extracts from Chaplin’s films, the circus, here put on stage under a real marquee and glorified in all its theatricality and symbolism. And then there is music, an essential element for Grock; one may listen to his works in the Music Hall, but it is also the background music of all the other rooms of the villa which therefore become different sound environments for masterpieces.
Remember to visit its park, a perfect mirror of Grock’ personality with its peculiar liberty architecture, the extravagant geometries and the continuous repetition of the clown’s face as if he were overseeing everything.
Alessandra Chiappori
