THIRTEEN. Views on the museums of Lombardy

Thirteen state museums of Lombardy interpreted by thirteen young Italian artists, in a public commission by the Direzione regionale Musei Lombardia (Ministry of Culture), realized with the scientific collaboration of the Museum of Contemporary Photography of Milan - Cinisello Balsamo.
 
An extensive project that lasted more than ten months and culminates in an exhibition promoted by the Ministry of Culture (Direzione regionale Musei Lombardia) and Museo di Fotografia Contemporanea (MUFOCO) in collaboration with Municipality of Milan – Culture. The exhibition, which will be open to the public free of charge from March 3 to April 2, 2023, is produced together with Palazzo Reale on the occasion of MuseoCity and displayed in the rooms of the Apartment of the Princes of the Milanese palace.
 
Monuments and masterpieces celebrated all over the world such as Leonardo’s Last Supper and the Certosa di Pavia, archaeological realities of the Roman era among the most important in Europe such as the Grotte di Catullo in Sirmione, significant medieval and Renaissance testimonies (the Scaligero Castle in Sirmione, Palazzo Besta in Teglio), the Valle Camonica heritage, between rock engravings and Romanization: museums, monuments, palaces, parks that, as a whole, constitute the most visited museum in Lombardy.
The artists involved narrate these heterogeneous places in a free and personal way, revealing their still partly undiscovered potential through the most diverse languages and practices, raising questions, uncovering untold stories, giving voice to visitors, custodians, objects and landscapes. Public comments in front of Leonardo's Last Supper go on to compose a poem. The Monza Expiatory Chapel, built where King Umberto I was assassinated, becomes the fictional site of a space mission that shines a light on the contrasts of history. A teenager's voice recounts daily life in Desenzano's Villa Romana. The inhabitants of Teglio give voice and movement to the frescoes of Palazzo Besta.
These are examples, which we are invited to discover along with the gazes and stories of the janitors at Scaliger Castle, the nocturnal fauna that populates the rock carvings of Naquane, and a multitude of other stories.
 
"Between the gaze of a young person and a museum," says Davide Rondoni, president of the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MUFOCO), "a vivid short circuit is created. Time seeks its inexhaustible truth, between the sense of the eternal, duration, the moment of the shot, tradition and the future. The bold work put forth by the wise Lombardy museum network by focusing on good young artists serves not only for those with a passion for art and museums (and new photography) but for anyone who wants to question the meaning of time and the time we are living."
 
The exhibition presents images (color and black-and-white photographs, synthesis images, and videos), audio works, sculptures, and other installation forms, all realized between January and July 2022. Varied, sometimes surprising approaches that make up a single path: looking together at the heritage that constitutes our history and participating, today, in the construction of its multifaceted identity.
 
The artists in the exhibition: Arianna Arcara, Fabio Barile, Claudio Beorchia, Roberto Boccaccino, Alessandro Calabrese, Marina Caneve, Federico Clavarino, Rachele Maistrello, Caterina Morigi, Flavia Rossi, Alessandro Sambini, Delfino Sisto Legnani, Vaste Programme.
 
Exhibition curated by: Matteo Balduzzi, Emanuela Daffra, Gabriella Guerci, Giulia Valcamonica

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