shit museum

The Shit Museum (Museo Della Merda) is a museum in the province of Piacenza, in northern Italy, reported to be the world's first museum dedicated to feces. Located in the village of Castelbosco within the municipality of Gragnano Trebbiense, the institution opened on 5 May 2015. It explores the theme of excrement through historical, scientific, and artistic lenses, promoting eco-friendly recycling and the transformation of waste into useful materials and cultural reflections.

The museum was founded by agricultural businessman Gianantonio Locatelli in collaboration with architect Luca Cipelletti and artists Gaspare Luigi Marcone and Massimo Valsecchi. The project originated from Locatelli's dairy farm, which houses roughly 3,500 cows that produce milk for Grana Padano cheese alongside 100,000 kilograms of dung daily. Initially, Locatelli used the manure to generate electricity and fertilizer. Over more than twenty years, this practical recycling evolved into a broader cultural project. Artists David Tremlett and Anne and Patrick Poirier were commissioned to transform the mechanical digesters into allegorical land art, mixing botany with symbols to create what the organization describes as evolutionary land art.

The collection examines the conception and utilization of excrement across history and cultures. It highlights the dung beetle, sacred to Egyptians as a symbol of rebirth, which serves as the museum's emblem. Displays illustrate the use of dung as a building material in various global regions and reference ancient Roman medicinal cures featuring animal excrement. The museum also holds historical artifacts like fossilized dinosaur feces and jars of feces, alongside contemporary art exploring waste and recycling. The institution frames its collection within a philosophy of transformation, aiming to dismantle cultural prejudices about excrement by demonstrating it is a useful and living material.

Artistic highlights include Claudio Parmiggiani's Alphabet, composed of 22 photographs by Luigi Ghirri, Gianfranco Baruchello's 1975 work Il grano, and Claudio Costa's mixed media photograph Capanna a Ksar Esegir (Tangeri) Marocco. The museum also features a collection of dung beetles and ancient Roman medicinal artifacts. Its most famous product holding is Merdacotta, a patented material combining dried cow dung and Tuscan clay. First presented at the Salone del Mobile in 2016, Merdacotta objects like bowls, plates, and tiles won the Milano Design Award that year. When glazed and fired at 1,800 degrees, the material is safe for food and drink.

The museum is housed in a medieval castle, the Castello di Castelbosco, historically associated with the Localli family. The ground floor rooms of the castle were adapted for the museum's inaugural exhibition spaces. The site shares a symbiotic relationship with the adjacent farm and cheesemaking facility, functioning as a byproduct of the massive agricultural operation. Architect Luca Cipelletti designed the exhibition layout, titled Shit Evolution, to reinforce the museum's thematic focus on regeneration and utility.

The Shit Museum is located in Gragnano Trebbiense in the province of Piacenza, Italy. It operates within the Castelbosco complex and maintains an official website. The institution functions not only as an exhibition space but also as an active agent of change, producing tangible goods and researching the practical applications of waste materials in contemporary living.