Wish you were here: Toiletpaper creates city billboards for Rimini

Poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper
Toiletpaper duo Pierpaolo Ferrari and Maurizio Cattelan were invited by the seaside town of Rimini to create a project that would celebrate its cultural legacy
(Image credit: TBC)

The seaside town of Rimini is the queen of Italy's Adriatic coast. Once a glamorous destination, as portrayed by local legendary film director Federico Fellini, it has developed into a massive holiday enterprise comprising a 15km sandy beach, seafront hotels and a plethora of nightclubs.

For Italians, Rimini also carries a cultural legacy that plies a fine line between nobility and bad taste. With this in mind, the town's mayor has invited Pierpaolo Ferrari and Maurizio Cattelan to drape the area with Toiletpaper irreverence. Curated by Maria Cristina Didero and unveiled across the city on 1 July, the pair present a portrait of the area's traditional holiday vibes, where food meets sensuality and fashion is combined with provocation and insanity.

Cattelan and Ferrari were commissioned by the city council to produce the eight piece series, printed on thousands of billboards in bright Toiletpaper colors, with ‘Saluti da Rimini’ ('Greetings from Rimini') typed across each oversized postcard.

Part advertising campaign, part public art exercise, the set of posters were selected from Toiletpaper’s archive to reflect the area’s contrasting realities, from its Roman history to the bodybuilders populating its beaches. The images include a humorous play on a lobster red sun-tan, lewd displays of virility, interesting applications of toothpaste and a variety of food-related constructions, all conceived in the magazine's inimitable style. 

'This project is an extraordinary occasion to look at the city’s complexity through the eyes of Cattelan and Ferrari,' explains Didero, who worked closely with the pair to develop the project. 'They were able to portray Rimini's icons through their imagination, giving the city a new point of view on reality.'

Car poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper

With the curatorial assistance of Maria Cristina Didero, the pair selected provocative images from their archives

(Image credit: TBC)

Poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper

Over a thousand copies of the eight oversized postcards were affixed on billboards across the city

(Image credit: TBC)

Poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper

The pair present a portrait of the area's traditional holiday vibes, where food meets sensuality and fashion is combined with provocation and insanity

(Image credit: TBC)

Woman with lobster poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper

Part advertising campaign, part public art exercise, the set of posters are inscribed with the postcard-like legend 'Saluti da Rimini' ('Greetings from Rimini')

(Image credit: TBC)

Woman with drink poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper

The images were chosen to reflect the area's contrasting realities, from its Roman history to the bodybuilders populating its beaches

(Image credit: TBC)

Woman laying on fries poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper

Images include a humorous play on a lobster red sun-tan, lewd displays of virility, interesting applications of toothpaste and a variety of food-related constructions, all conceived in the magazine's inimitable style

(Image credit: TBC)

Man covered in spaghetti poster for Rimini by duo ToiletPaper

‘They were able to portray Rimini’s icons through their imagination, giving the city a new point of view on reality,' says Didero

(Image credit: TBC)

Rosa Bertoli was born in Udine, Italy, and now lives in London. Since 2014, she has been the Design Editor of Wallpaper*, where she oversees design content for the print and online editions, as well as special editorial projects. Through her role at Wallpaper*, she has written extensively about all areas of design. Rosa has been speaker and moderator for various design talks and conferences including London Craft Week, Maison & Objet, The Italian Cultural Institute (London), Clippings, Zaha Hadid Design, Kartell and Frieze Art Fair. Rosa has been on judging panels for the Chart Architecture Award, the Dutch Design Awards and the DesignGuild Marks. She has written for numerous English and Italian language publications, and worked as a content and communication consultant for fashion and design brands.