Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Sunday 23 October a whole day of music, theater and thematic walks to discover one of Milan's artistic treasures

Milan, October 20 2022 – "Open-air Museum" returns again this year, the exhibition promoted by the Municipality of Milan and created by the Monumental Cemetery in collaboration with the Fondazione Milano Scuole civiche to bring more and more Milanese men and women closer to a great treasure of the city.

Sunday 23 October, from 10am to 18pm, a whole day of free events with theatre, music, thematic walks, proposals also dedicated to girls, boys and little ones, in the art treasure chest designed by architect Carlo Maciachini.

"Immersing yourself in this fascinating treasure of art and being able to retrace the immense heritage preserved in one of the most visited places in our city – states the councilor for Civic and General Services Gaia Romani – is a truly unique opportunity, which I invite the citizens and citizens to try. Open Air Museum is an artistic exhibition that has been going on for years and of which we are very fond of for its value. Through music, theater and thematic walks you will have the opportunity to have an exceptional and undoubtedly unforgettable. I will follow the "Women of the Resistance" itinerary in the footsteps of journalists, artists and trade unionists who, despite their differences in experience and professionalism, found a common thread in the cause of resistance to the fascist regime, in the fight against "oppression for the ideals of justice, freedom and female emancipation. Knowing is the first step towards remembering and days like these give us the opportunity to celebrate stories and people who give prestige to our Milan".

"Fondazione Milano Scuole civiche – declares Stefano Mirti, President of Fondazione Milano – returns to the Monumental Cemetery to bring to life the stories it preserves through the language of music and theatre, with site-specific performances and through thematic itineraries that highlight different aspects of the history of the city".

The day will start from the external square, from which different types of guided tours will depart to satisfy the curiosity of visitors who are approaching the Monumental Cemetery for the first time or who want to discover more of its artistic beauties and heritage of historical memories.

With the thematic walks in the company of protagonists of today's Milan, the public will be accompanied by contemporary characters to discover the past: at 10 Stefano Losurdo, operator of the film industry, will lead the walk "Cinema people - Cinema in Milan through the story of the protagonists"; at 30 the economist and popularizer Luciano Canova will lead the public to discover the science of happiness through the stories buried in the Cemetery; at 11 councilor Gaia Romani will pay homage to some historic female figures in the "Women of the Resistance" route; at 10 Danka Giacon, curator of the Museo del Novecento, will accompany the public to discover the art of the last century that the Monumentale contains; at 11 the Councilor for Culture of the Municipality of Milan Tommaso Sacchi will lead the itinerary "Poetry. Music and Theater at the Monumental"; at 30pm the journalist Barbara Sorrentini will take the public to discover "The women of cinema and entertainment" who rest at the Monumentale; at 11pm Paola Redemagni, head of the Historical Archives of the National Museum of Science and Technology 'Leonardo da Vinci', will lead visitors to discover the funerary sculpture of the artist Arrigo Minerbi; at 50pm the curator of the Gallery of Modern Art (GAM) Omar Cucciniello will lead the tour "Scherzi di luce. Medardo Rosso's sculpture between Scapigliatura and symbol".

Also from the external square will be the start of the themed guided tours organized by the Brera Academy, the volunteers of the Civil Service and the staff of the Monumental Cemetery: at 10am and 14pm the students of the "Camillo Boito" Restoration School of the Brera Academy will accompany visitors on a brief reconnaissance of the stone and mosaic restoration sites of the Monumental. The precious collaboration between the two bodies, in fact, which has been renewed for many years with educational and training objectives, is aimed at safeguarding the cultural heritage and aimed at restoring the use of the heritage kept in the Cemetery. At 30am and 10pm Irene Zanotti Fragonara will lead a walk to discover the artist Giannino Castiglioni; at 50pm, 15pm and 10pm we will go "Discovering the Monumental Cemetery" with Boriana Valcinova.

All walks and guided tours are free and can be booked at the gazebo starting from 9.30 am until the maximum number per group is reached.

The theater program presents two theatrical shorts, written and performed ad hoc by graduates of the Paolo Grassi Civic Theater School. The protagonists of the short plays are the famous buried people of the cemetery who meet contemporary citizens, creating, through the ritual of the theatre, a small short circuit with the afterlife.

At 12pm and 15pm, in the lower eastern gallery, the theatrical short "Biki. Where beauty does not set" will be staged, by Luca Rodella with Sara Zanobbio and music by Roberto Dibitonto: an elegant elderly lady in the throes of nostalgic memories awaits an important phone call during tea time. A phone call that will decide the fate of the biggest fashion show that will take place at the Hotel Excelsior. The elderly lady is called Elvira Leonardi Bouyeure, aka Biki, and the hotel in question is none other than the cemetery that now hosts her.

At 10am and 15pm, in the upper eastern gallery, a short show will enliven Monumentale16kids, for children and teenagers (30-4 years): "I dare say: Providential!" by Luca Rodella with Giuseppe Palasciano, Sara Zanobbio music by Roberto Dibitonto. Two seventeenth-century actors burst onto the scene with the sound of verses: he sanguine and overbearing, she cautious and in love with him. The impossible task is to create an immortal work, which narrates the Italy of the humble and oppressed, with its landscapes full of hope and fear of God, and then also the crises, the plagues, the popular obtuseness, some virtues... too much stuff for two charlatans! Perhaps Providence, with the help of the theatre, will leave the two with the illusion of an unexpected marriage, but it will certainly pass on the great subject to a more competent, literate and immortal future author!

The musical program curated by students, male and female graduates of the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado will present at 12 pm, in the Church of the Santissimo Crocefisso, the classical music concert "In imitation of the organ: Sonar songs, Fantasies , Contrappunti" with the recorder quartet José Manuel Fernández Bravo, Chiara Busi, Ninon Dusollier, Ariadna Quappe.

The day will close at 17 pm, in the external square, with the concert organized by the Civic jazz courses of the Claudio Abbado Civic School of Music "The sacred in jazz" with the choir and soloists of the Civic courses directed by Giorgio Ubaldi.

The music of the students of the Claudio Abbado Civic Music School of the Milan Foundation will return to the Monumental Cemetery on November 2 during the official registration ceremony of the Meritorious at the Famedio.