📸 Ph Pesce Huang Via Unsplash
Design and fashion, architecture and food, economy and sport, technology and shopping. But there’s also art and photography: among the many souls of Milan, culture is certainly one of the most lively and enthralling, rich in event schedules that animate museums throughout the year. We have selected 5 must-see exhibitions for you in Milan and the surrounding area in 2024, from the Fondazione Prada of the Soupra area (“SOUth of PRAda”) to the Galleria Campari of Sesto San Giovanni. Take note!
1) Designer folding screens at Fondazione Prada
It’s called “Paraventi: Folding Screens from the 17th to 21st Centuries” and it’s an interesting and first exhibition – curated by Nicholas Cullinan – on the history and meanings of folding screens from the East and West, artistic hybridizations, customary and unexpected uses. A chance to think, within and outside of the metaphor, of the concept of “liminality”, or rather the threshold between two conditions, cultures, worlds. Until February 22, 2024. Information here.
2) The works of Giuseppe De Nittis at Palazzo Reale
From February 24th to June 30th, 2023, a personal exhibition of 90 works – some never before exhibited – will narrate the life of one of the greatest Italian painters of the 1800s, De Nittis, from his beginnings to contacts with the Florentine Macchiaioli painters and his association with the French Impressionists. It is a chance to enter the colourful and bright world of our great interpreter, “painter of modern life” with a unique sensitivity and a vibrant brush, lost prematurely at just 38 years of age, still somewhat unknown in Italy, but celebrated abroad. Information here.
3) Bar stories at the Galleria Campari
This location, which serves as an ode to the famous 1860 red aperitif, hosts a photographic exhibition – until April 30th, 2024 – dedicated to the intriguing ways of bar: “Bar Stories on Camera”, with 90 photos from the 1930s to the early 2000s that narrate the bar world through the faces and vibes of those who frequent it. Authors of the images are some of the greatest international photographers of the Magnum Photos agency, such as Robert Capa, Elliott Erwitt, Martin Parr and Ferdinando Scianna. Information here.
4) The photos of Juergen Teller in the Triennale
From January 27th to April 1st, 2024, the Milan Triennial brings to light a retrospective, entitled “I need to live”, on the works of Juergen Teller, unanimously considered the most important German fashion photographer. From portraits to self-portraits, spectators are offered a body of more than 400 photos that, accompanied by installations, cover the more than 30 years of the career of one of the most renowned and influential fashion photographers of the time. Information here.
5) Maria Callas at the Museo Teatrale alla Scala
Dedicated to the myth of the greatest soprano who ever lived, new exhibition entitled “Fantasmagoria Callas”, running until Tuesday, April 30th, 2024 at the Museo Teatrale alla Scala (La Scala Theatre Museum), opens with a selection of theatrical costumes from the historic archive of the theatre and reconstructs, in 5 steps, the fascinating artistic pathway of this everlasting icon who was the protagonist of 23 opera performances in the temple of lyric opera. The Museum entrance fee also permits an overlook of the Theatre from the third order stages (as long as there are no rehearsals, shows or public events). Information here.
