Go! Marko
The blue horse Marco Cavallo traveled through Slovenia as part of the European Capital of Culture GO! 2025 Nova Gorica / Gorizia. Symbolising the breaking down of walls – both institutional and mental – Marco spread the message that it is urgent to close institutions where people with disabilities have been confined for decades and that we need to build a welcoming culture supported by a network of community-based services.
Marco Cavallo, the Blue Horse, was created in the 1970s by patients at the psychiatric hospital in San Giovanni, Trieste. When Italian mental institutions were closed under the leadership of visionary psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, these individuals were given a chance to live in the community.
The blue horse they made as an art project – a paper sculpture embodying their hopes, dreams, and desires – became a symbol of deinstitutionalisation, the dismantling of walls, and the realisation of freedom and independence.
Marco’s journey across Slovenia – visiting institutions in Dutovlje and Hrastovec, decision-makers in Ljubljana, the Museum of Madness in Trate, and finishing in Nova Gorica and Gorizia – is a powerful reminder: Life in institutions is an outdated concept. Slovenia must, after more than half a century, truly become an open, inclusive, and welcoming society that provides community-based care for everyone.
On his journey, Marco was accompanied by a caravan of deinstitutionalisation advocates, delivering a programme that highlights the need for modern, inclusive care for people with long-term disabilities.
The public was invited to participate in the project and help us raise the awareness:
- By creating blue origami horses and taking pictures of them in public spaces, making them “influencers of dezinstitutionalization;
- By printing out and distributing the fliers we designed for each location that Marco visited;
- By joining us in escoring Marco Cavallo through the city centers of Ljubljana and Maribor, Slovenia’s largest cities;
- By handing Marco their notes and wishes to be included in the upcoming exhibition and film following the project in the Museum of Madness.
Further Reading
Email: info@muzejnorosti.eu
Project duration: 2024–2025
Funder: GO! 2025 - European Capital of Culture, Nova Gorica
