Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, 17 December 2019 – Set up in the deconsecrated church of San Sisto, home of the Studio Museo Francesco Messina, which was the atelier of one of the most representative masters of twentieth-century figurative sculpture, a complex, singular and monumental site-specific recreated installation offers visitors some monumental "shoulder machines" of the Italian tradition. Ancient or more recent artefacts, used for popular festivals or religious processions, the "shoulder machines" are real "moving monuments" that have accompanied Italian history for centuries, preserving the memory of the events for which they were born and offering the spectacle of a craftsmanship that transforms into true sculptural art.

“With extraordinary transport” – this is the title of the spectacular exhibition – has thus reconstructed in space, down to the details and lighting, four “shoulder machines”, on display for the first time and for the first time together: the Lilies of Nola, the Varia of Palmi, the Machine of Santa Rosa of Viterbo and the Candelieri of Sassari, which are part of the "Network of Large Italian Shoulder Machines" UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Torre del Giglio di Nola rises from the lower floor of the Studio to the dome; “Spirale di Luce”, set up on the ground floor, reproduces a historic Macchina di Santa Rosa; the gigantic Varia di Palmi, to the top of which a little girl 'flies' on the day of the festival; the Candelieri of Sassari with their colored ribbons and, finally, the Ceri of Gubbio, 'Ceri mezzani' arriving from the glorious "Corsa" of Gubbio, reunited with the other four festivals awaiting the extension of the UNESCO candidacy of the Network, currently definition.

The 'resting' structures, deprived of the hundreds of bodies that support and animate them during the journey, are responded to in the exhibition by the "living machines", captured in movement during the holidays by the lens of the director-composer Francesco De Melis, author of film “A Heritage on our shoulders”, produced by the Network of Large Italian Shoulder Machines: every day, on the vault of the space and under the arches, the epic digital fresco of this “extraordinary transport” created by De Melis.

“With extraordinary transport”, which opens tonight at 18pm and remains open with free entry until 14 February 2020, is promoted and produced by the Municipality of Milan | Culture and is curated by Maria Fratelli, Director of the Museum Houses and Special Projects Service of the Municipality of Milan, Patrizia Nardi, Technical Scientific Manager of UNESCO Machine Network projects, and Patrizia Giancotti, anthropologist.

Francesco Messina Museum Study
Via San Sisto 4/A – Milan

Timetables:
From Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am to 18pm
(Monday closed)

Free admission

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