MuSaBa Museum Park of Mammola in Reggio Calabria

Where contemporary art and ancient spirituality merge beneath the Aspromonte mountains

A Visionary Open-Air Museum Between History, Creativity and Sacred Landscapes

Hidden in the heart of the Locride area, at the foot of the majestic Aspromonte mountains, the MuSaBa offers one of the most unique cultural experiences in Southern Italy. More than a traditional museum, MuSaBa is an open-air artistic laboratory where ancient architecture and contemporary creativity coexist in perfect harmony. As a result, visitors experience a place suspended between history, imagination, and experimentation.

The project was founded in the late 1960s by visionary artists Nik Spatari and Hiske Maas. After years spent collaborating with world-famous figures such as Pablo Picasso, Le Corbusier, and Jean Cocteau, Spatari returned to Calabria with the dream of transforming an abandoned monastery into a center for artistic innovation. Consequently, MuSaBa became a meeting point for international artists, students, volunteers, and creative minds from around the world.

Today, the museum park extends across seven hectares of hills, colorful mosaics, and monumental installations. Visitors can explore the ancient Santa Barbara monastery, the vibrant “Rosa dei Venti” museum wing, and the mosaic-covered Foresteria. In addition, the vast cloister walls continue to evolve through collaborative artistic projects and experimental workshops.

At the center of the complex stands the extraordinary “Dream of Jacob,” often called the “Calabrian Sistine Chapel.” This monumental 14-meter tridimensional artwork decorates the vault and apse of the ancient abbey. Moreover, it was created using an innovative suspended relief technique invented by Spatari himself. The result is a dreamlike fusion of biblical symbolism, ancient mythology, and psychedelic artistic expression.