The room dedicated to puppets and tapestries—the heart of Casa d’Arte Futurista Depero—becomes an immersive setting for focused explorations of puppet theatre. In this evocative space, graphic and pictorial works from the Mart collection engage in a dynamic conversation with Depero’s creations.

The inaugural session spotlights two newly acquired masterpieces from the Mart collection, making their debut at Casa Depero.

Futurist Enrico Prampolini crafted ten small wooden figures in 1922 for the ‘hell’ room of the renowned club Il cabaret del diavolo. Depero himself set up the venue, which was celebrated as Rome’s most fantastical and cosmopolitan gathering place, attracting avant-garde artists, cultural icons, and politicians. Allegorical portraits and caricatures inspired by contemporary events, Prampolini’s "puppets" now once again converse with Depero’s tapestry Danza di diavoli (Dance of devils), created for the same venue.

In contrast, the juxtaposition of Depero’s Balli plastici puppets with the work of Gianluca Lerici (1963–2006), known as Prof. Bad trip—a cult figure in 1990s Italian underground illustration and comics—is entirely unprecedented. From Lerici’s dystopian imagination—set in futuristic worlds populated by freaks and techno-humanoids—emerges the Teatrino robotico (Robotic puppet theatre). Designed in 2003 for intimate home performances, it is lavishly decorated with collages and inhabited by punk robots and alien figures.