A home for creativity and curiosity.
NOA is a non-profit social promotion association, founded in Bologna to create a meeting place: somewhere to cultivate your artistic passions together with others, without disciplinary, generational or cultural boundaries.
A story that continues
Before it was NOA, this space was called Leggere Strutture. It began in 2008 in Bologna, inside a former industrial building converted into a production centre for dance. Over the years it has hosted artistic residencies, a contemporary dance festival and international training programmes for dancers and performers, taking root in the Bolognina district, today part of the Navile neighbourhood, which in the meantime became one of the most multicultural and lively in the city. From 2026 this story continues in a new form: NOA exists to carry this space forward, open it to new disciplines and turn it into a true association, made every day by the people who live in it.
A home for every form of art
NOA's artistic vision knows no disciplinary boundaries: it embraces theatre, dance, music, singing, visual arts, photography, film and audiovisual, literature and publishing, artistic crafts. NOA is a truly multi-art association, where every member can make or enjoy art in any of its forms, without one discipline prevailing over the others.
A place designed for performers
Beneath the oak parquet of the Training Hall lies a layer of technical material designed for the performing arts: a floating floor that cushions weight and absorbs the impact of movement, reducing strain on joints and muscles. It is the same kind of construction used in the world's most prestigious theatres and dance academies, such as the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, a detail designed for those who spend hours on their feet or in motion: actors, dancers, performers. A plus that very few halls truly offer.
Three founding principles
Inter-activity
Cross-pollination between different art forms, with multidisciplinary programmes and a network of collaborations with other cultural venues in the area.
Inter-culture
A space open to all cultures, above any single group, that respects the individual and collective rights of the people who live in it and visit it.
Inter-generation
Particular attention to younger generations and to the dialogue between different ages and experiences.
Members make the choices
Everything that happens at Leggere Strutture comes from the needs of the people who live in it: members, residents, artists, anyone who wants to send us an idea. Artistic and cultural proposals take shape through continuous dialogue, with regular moments of listening among citizens, members, artists and cultural professionals: surveys, meetings, permanent and dedicated working groups. Art and culture express the needs of people in their own time, and they change continuously: NOA's mission is to pick up on them, understand them and, when possible, anticipate them.
The founders
Clarinettist, saxophonist and composer, active on the Italian jazz scene since the early nineties, with international collaborations (Lester Bowie, Steve Lacy, Paolo Fresu, Enrico Rava). Founder of the Voodoo Sound Club and of the Laboratorio Sociale Afrobeat, he brings to NOA more than thirty years of experience in building community around music.
An engineer with more than twenty years of experience as a manager in multinational companies, where he led business units with international teams and growth projects. Lean Six Sigma certified, he brings to NOA the same attention to numbers and to people built over twenty years of business management: the ability to turn an idea into a solid project that lasts over time. A music lover and audiophile, he is an amateur multi-instrumentalist.
A sculptor and visual artist from Bologna, trained in Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna. He works across sculpture, installation and video, exploring the relationship between human beings and the environment. He has exhibited at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, the Kunsthalle Winterthur, the MAR in Ravenna and the Reggia di Venaria, among others, with a residency at Mana Contemporary in New York. At NOA he looks after the artistic definition of the spaces at Leggere Strutture: fit-outs, interior design and the visual identity of the rooms.
Networks and collaborations
NOA looks beyond its own borders: it is open to collaborations with organisations that share a similar mission, in Bologna and beyond, with particular attention to international networking, especially European, and to the inter-cultural dimension that is part of its identity. Collaborations take shape through co-organised events and reciprocal benefits for those who take part in partners' initiatives.
The same spirit of openness extends to businesses: NOA works with companies that want to include participation in its initiatives in a welfare package for their employees, bringing culture and wellbeing into the workplace too. Discover the programme for companies →
Elena Cartotto's editorial and educational project on astrology, between symbolism and literature: now also an Astrology course with NOA at Leggere Strutture.
Find out more →The leading burlesque school in Italy, founded by Grace Hall: with NOA it brings the Feminine Spirit Alchemy programme to Leggere Strutture.
Find out more →A Bologna centre for dance and cultural production, founded in 2025 from an urban regeneration project in collaboration with the City of Bologna, with national and international projects.
bachartcentre.com →Statute and RUNTS registration
NOA was established by public deed and notarial statute, filed and certified, and is registered in the Italian National Register of Third Sector Entities (RUNTS) as a Social Promotion Association (APS), register no. 181457 of 7 October 2026.
Read the statute (PDF, Italian) →ARCI affiliation
NOA is an ARCI-affiliated club, under the ARCI Bologna territorial committee. The affiliation recognises and strengthens the values of participation, mutualism and widespread culture that have guided the association since its birth.
Discover ARCI Bologna →Become a NOA member.
Anyone who shares these principles can join the association: write to us to find out how to become a member and take part in the life of NOA.