Aug. 26 – Pinocchio, born from Carlo Collodi’s imagination, conquered the world and space (in 1999, an asteroid was given the name “12927 Pinocchio”). The novel, whose first original edition was published in 1883, continues to inspire all sorts of cultural events. And from today until September 21, the AA Bakhrushin State Museum of Theatre in Moscow will host an exhibition to compare the Italian novel and its Russian version by Alexei Tolstoy: “Pinocchio meets Buratino.” The exhibition, curated by Larissa Anisimova and Lidia Omelchenk, was staged by Girolamo Barugi and Vassilina Ovchennikova; it was organized in collaboration with the International Foundation Academia Arco, and sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute in Moscow. The idea to compare the two novels was first developed in 2011, when “The Adventures of Pinocchio” with illustrations by artist Franco Staino, published by Gangemi, was first released. Other than the two novels, the exhibition also features audiovisual materials about the transpositions to theater and film of both “Pinocchio” and “Buratino,” and cartoons edited by Graziano Staino. Unique pieces from the museum’s collection, including the puppets, theater programs and images that over the years consolidated the puppet’s story in popular imagination.