Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

“2020 has faced us with tests and challenges that we never imagined. We reacted to the difficulties and the pain and we all did it together. The road to returning to normality is still long, but we are finally on the right track. Now all we have to do is conclude this year, with a New Year that gives us hope and beauty and unites us in one big and possible embrace. This is why we have chosen the symbol of our city, the Duomo, and we will illuminate it with the thoughts of the Milanese people and of all those who want to leave a message. It is the heart of this city that looks forward beyond all adversity and builds its future, as it always has. Because Milan is and still wants to be a great Milan.”
Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan

“When I received the first phone call from councilor Filippo Del Corno, I immediately involved in the project both the religious soul of the Cathedral, i.e. the Chapter with the Archbishop, and the management structure which for 633 years has safeguarded and made the 'Home of all Milanese'. In this year 2020 that is coming to a close, it is important and significant that we all live together the night that marks the end of a time in the West and above all opens us to welcome the gift of a new dawn. We all await this dawn of light! Saint Ambrose, commenting on Psalm 118, said: «Let us prevent the sun from rising, let us go to meet it before it rises, before it says 'Here I am' (Is 58, 9). The Sun of Justice wants to be prevented and waits for those who prevent it. Here is how he desires to be prevented: 'Be zealous and repent. Here I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door to me, I will come to him' (Rev 2,16 and 3,20)". Each of us, more or less consciously, awaits this Sun which rises from the East and brings blessing and peace to all.
The generative graphics used by Felice Limosani on the facade of the Cathedral, the music performed by the artists of the 'Pomeriggi Musicali' under the direction of Maestro Beatrice Venezi, who was also recently designated as ambassador of the initiatives promoted by the Veneranda Fabbrica in support of the restoration work on the Cathedral, with the best wishes that citizens can send to the organizers of the event, they will be the "angels" of this wish for a Happy 2021 for the entire city and for all those who love our Cathedral."
Monsignor Gianantonio Borgonovo, Archpriest of the Cathedral of Milan

“Art, in its universal beauty, is also thought and reflection. With this spirit we conceived the 2020-2021 New Year's Eve in Milan. What guided us was a thought aimed at the victims of Covid, the bereaved families and healthcare personnel. The reflection that arose was enriched by the new needs of this time, from cultural change to collective rebirth, up to the need for enlightened thoughts for ourselves, for others, for everyone.
Next New Year marks the era of before and after Covid for history. An anniversary that over the centuries has marked popular tradition with festive references, culminating in a collective countdown in homes and squares, and which this time will have to be presented with different tones in terms of civility, social respect and institutional politeness, without abandoning the human joy, the premises of the future and the love for the future. Pensieri Illuminati will not be the title of an event, but the tribute to those who, through the apparently immaterial act of thinking, have contributed to human, cultural and environmental progress, leaving positive causes and effects on the lives of future generations. It will be a manifestation of hope for the future, which on the most symbolic night of the year will unite us all in a single collective embrace, full of confidence for tomorrow."
Felice Limosani and Beatrice Venezi

“Being part of the construction of a work of art that has as its birth the need for people's participation – without place, without barriers, without borders – is in itself a unique value. A symbolic connection that finds its purpose in a dynamic installation that transforms thoughts into images capable of igniting hope and generating beauty.
Art may not solve problems but it fills the heart and nourishes the soul of those who observe it. The extraordinary thing about Pensieri Illuminati lies in its versatility, capable of combining music, theater and technology in an unprecedented total work, a bastion of a new innovative art form aimed at the future.
This New Year's Eve is a splendid example of virtuous collaboration between public and private, which has given courageous and visionary operators the opportunity to react and return to work at the very end of a difficult year. For those of us who live on art and culture, the future must start again from today: New Year is the best day for this symbolic new beginning.”
Eric Galiani, executive producer Pensieri Illuminati Milano

“Art, music, dance are more important today than ever. They are a democratic tool, accessible to all. They are part of the values ​​and heritage of our country. For this reason we have, with great pleasure, embraced this initiative, which we feel is very close to us. We want to be witnesses but also spokespersons of a message of positivity and reflection. This event represents a moment to listen, look and enjoy the timeless beauty that art represents... discreetly and enchanted by so much magic..."
Stefano Colombo, Sales & Marketing Manager of Colmar

“LIVENow is proud to support the innovative project promoted by the Municipality of Milan on the occasion of a New Year full of difficulties, but also full of hope and courage.
And hope is precisely the message on which an initiative is based that celebrates the power of sharing through the active involvement of all citizens in an unprecedented historical moment characterized by a recurring word: limits. Creation, humanity and the future are the themes that anyone can draw inspiration from to share their message which during the evening will transform into an enlightened thought.”
Andrea Hofer, MD LIVENow Italy

“We have embraced the Pensieri Illuminati project because it touches delicate chords not only for the company, but also for all of us as individuals. Art saved us when we were forced alone at home, without the possibility of coming into contact with anyone and having the affection of our loved ones around us. Art has saved, guided and consoled us while we watched a film, listened to a song or
we were reading a book. In the same way we want to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new one: through culture. We want to give thanks to the art that has created hope, fraternal union and common vision and which resists today together with all the protagonists who work within it.
For this reason we have decided to support the project, to give back to art what it has given us, hoping that Piazza del Duomo - like all squares in Italy and the world - can soon return to echoing people's voices. Let's start again from Milan, protagonist of the first outbreaks of the pandemic: may this New Year warm us all with his Enlightened Thoughts."
Alex Vinciguerra, General Manager AMG International

New Year 2021 - Enlightened thoughts