To illuminate Christmas and the festive winter season, we have prepared a selection of exhibitions to see in Milano. From Picasso, Munch and Dubuffet to the contemporary art of Saodat Ismailova at the Pirelli HangarBicocca along with the fantastical world of Tim Burton at the Fabbrica del Vapore, comprising the exhibitions at the Triennale.
Here you can find all the info on what not to miss this winter, in anticipation of the Christmas exhibitions.
It was already one of the must-see exhibitions in the autumn, but even in the winter period it remains one of the must-visit exhibitions.
Picasso the Foreigner, from September 20th, 2024 to February 2nd 2025 at Palazzo Reale, investigates a yet unstudied aspect of the artist's life and production: the unease of being a foreigner and not being accepted in France, his adopted land.
Born in Malaga, Spain in 1881, Picasso settled in Paris in 1904, becoming one of the most important artists of the century. He never obtained French citizenship and, as a foreigner, he experienced endless difficulties, such as being monitored by the police because he was registered as an anarchist, and being obliged to present himself to the authorities every two years to provide his fingerprints.
Over 80 works are on display, together with documents, letters, photographs and videos that make us reflect on the themes of welcome, immigration and relationships with others. Being ‘the foreigner’ shaped Picasso's identity, and forces us to reflect on the realities of today's world.
Palazzo Reale
From €13 to €17
How to get there: M1 red underground line and M3 yellow line, Duomo stop
For many he is one of the founding fathers of modern painting, widely admired as the author of one of the most famous works in the world that is so well-known as to be reproduced in Lego: The Scream. He is Munch, the Norwegian painter who managed to represent human unease with his art.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of his demise, Palazzo Reale dedicates the Munch. The Inner Cry exhibition to the artist, from September 14th, 2024 to January 26th, 2025. Over 100 masterpieces from the Munch Museum in Oslo lead us on a journey through his art which conveys sensations and feelings, also the result of the knowledge of the psychological studies that were gaining traction at the time.
The anxiety, inner loneliness and mal de vivre become almost palpable in his gazeless figures, in the fragile and symbolic landscapes, in the sound waves of the scream that become brushstrokes of colour around a deformed face. The exhibition invites us to discover the artist’s personal life and the various phases of his career, to get to know one of the fathers of Expressionism more profoundly.
Palazzo Reale
From € 13 to € 17
How to get there: underground red line M1 and yellow line M3, Duomo stop
What kind of art can be called ‘art brut’, i.e. "ugly art"? Defined by French artist Jean Dubuffet, it was a genre that was to become a post-war movement and vison that that has inspired many contemporary artists and which continues to be vital today.
Dubuffet's art is not ‘ugly’ only in the sense that it wants to break the canons of traditional art, but because it wants to be raw, pure and unfiltered. The artist met hundreds of patients hospitalized in mental institutions to learn about the artistic expression that emerged from their painful life experiences, but which expressed an imaginary world: an art that breaks ties with reality.
Even children's artworks became the basis for Dubuffet's art. Art Brut represented a chaotic, hypnotic language, with vibrant colours and unexpected expressions, characterized by a simple and primitive style.
The exhibition at MUDEC from October 12th, 2024 to February 16th, 2025 presents the full power of this artistic expression, with works and documents that place the invention of the Art Brut concept in a historical perspective, relative to Dubuffet’s oeuvres.
A set of works from five continents is related to the themes of the body and beliefs, both recurring themes in Art Brut. Due to their subjects and origins, these works and these authors resonate closely with Mudec's collections, which are testimony to different global cultures.
The numerous artworks on display narrate this journey of Art Brut, which has inspired artists such as Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat.
Mudec – Museum of Cultures
From € 8 to € 16
How to get there: Green subway line M2, stop: S. Agostino; tram 14, stop: Piazza del Rosario; bus 68, 90/91
‘I like angry art. Art that always wants to question the world’. The exhibition at the PAC Contemporary Art Pavilion, from November 27th, 2024 to February 9th, 2025, retraces the entire oeuvre of Marcello Maloberti, the contemporary artist who has long presented his works in the most prestigious global galleries.
The exhibition is a dedication to Milano, Maloberti’s declaration of love to the city and its inhabitants, a place full of history that has accompanied him in building his career.
The works narrate his entire production, emphasising the theme of sacredness and the spiritual element, in constant reference to everyday life, and to the elevation of the written word in the form of poetry. The installations have been specifically designed to dialogue with the PAC internal and external spaces, creating an itinerary to discover the power of words and encounters.
Because, as Maloberti himself says, “I believe strongly in encounters with others. THE ARTIST IS THE SPACE OF ENCOUNTER”. So, let’s be prepared for this encounter with the artist, but also with ourselves.
PAC Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea
From € 4 to € 8
How to get there: Red subway line M1, stop: Palestro and yellow line M3, stop: Turati; Bus 61, 94; tram 1
What would it be like to enter the amazing mind of Tim Burton, film director famous for his bizarre stories and iconic visual aesthetics? Tim Burton himself shows us with his Labyrinth exhibition, at Fabbrica del Vapore from December 13th 2024 to March 9th, 2025.
Unsurprisingly, the exhibition is structured as a labyrinth: just choose which door to open and experience the adventure that awaits you! You never know what you might find: will it be the characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas, the magical forests of Corpse Bride, the weird machines of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the incredible worlds of Alice in Wonderland or the sets of Beetlejuice?
Take a close-up look at original works of art, and immerse yourself in the distinctive lights, sounds and sets of his films.
It's up to you to choose which doors to open. Are you ready?
Fabbrica del Vapore
From € 16 to € 18. Premium ticket € 28
How to get there: Lilac subway line M5, stops: Monumentale or Cenisio; tram 10, 12, 14.
Saodat Ismailova (1981 Tashkent, Uzbekistan) is a filmmaker from the first post-Soviet generation of Central Asian artists. She lives between Paris and Tashkent and, in her films and installations, she explores the collective memory, rituals and spiritual traditions of her homeland, addressing issues such as cultural heritage, the role of women and the human impact on the environment.
Her work is distinguished by the use of dilated time and images that evoke slow cinema, often combining archive footage installed within textile sculptural elements. Her works create hypnotic narratives that layer cinema, sound and visual art.
Inspired by her family’s spiritual and intellectual roots, she weaves together myths and personal stories to address social issues such as women’s emancipation and identity.
SAODAT ISMAILOVA. A Seed Under Our Tongue at Pirelli HangarBicocca until January 12th, 2025 is the first major exhibition of her work in Italy, featuring over a decade of her career in a new environment created specifically for her art. She offers visitors a dreamlike experience, exploring the complex and layered histories of Central Asia, at the border between Western and Eastern cultures.
The title A Seed Under Our Tongue refers to the new works on display, including the newly-edited film Arslanbob (2023-24) and the associated sculptures, the golden seed of Amanat (2024) and the resin cast of a cave in The Mountain Our Bodies Emptied (2024). Inspired by a local myth – about a date seed hidden under the tongue that is passed down through different eras and people until it itself is transformed – the exhibition brings together twelve works, six films and seven sculptures, which explore the concept of transmission and the idea, in the artist’s words, ‘that we are responsible for the seven generations that came before us and the seven that will come after us.’
Pirelli HangarBicocca
Free entry
How to get there: Lilac subway line M5; stop fermata Ponale then bus 51 (Direction Cimiano M2) to Via Chiese – HangarBicocca
Tucked between the skyscrapers and the old Isola district, one of the most famous piazzas in Milano in the heart of the Porta Nuova district is dedicated to Gaetana Emilia Aulenti, aka Gae Aulenti. One of the most important figures in the world of design and architecture in the late 20th century and early 2000s.
As the artist herself said, she was not a specialist in any discipline but shifted effortlessly from one to another, always integrating and achieving excellent results: design, architecture, theatre, interior design, graphics are just some of her creative spheres.
We are indebted to her for Piazzale Cadorna in Milano with its red columns in front of the railway station and the distinctive Ago, filo e nodo (Needle, Thread and Knot) sculpture commissioned for the occasion. Also, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, for which she transformed the old station into one of the most famous museums in the world. She was also commissioned with the new layout of Palazzo Grassi in Venice.
Not forgetting her design objects, such as the Bat Lamp or the Table with Wheels, the theatrical installations for Luca Ronconi and the showrooms for famous brands such as Olivetti.
The exhibition at the Triennale Milano, open until January 12th, 2025, narrates the story of her entire career, represented in 1:1 scale reproductions, thanks to the original materials preserved in the architect's Milanese archive, comprising drawings, photographs and models.
Discover her personal way of seeing, imagining and designing the reality that marked the late-twentieth century.
Triennale Milano
From € 7,50 to € 15. A day ticket is available for visiting all the exhibitions at the Triennale Milano (€ 25)
How to get there: Red subway line M1 and green M2, stop: Cadorna-Triennale; trams 1, 10; bus 85
Italian designer Elio Fiorucci transformed shop display windows into stages and shops into concept stores where, in addition to buying clothes, you could listen to music, flick through international magazines, discover and objects from all over the world and admire contemporary art. He revolutionized Italian fashion by placing it on the innovative international scene, anticipating trends that would later become mainstream, such as fitted jeans styled from a blend of stretch Lycra and denim.
Andy Warhol chose the Fiorucci store on 57th Street in New York to launch the Interview magazine, definitively consecrating the venue as ‘the place to be’, almost like a ‘daytime Studio 54’ which was a magnet for intellectuals, performers and artists.
The exhibition dedicated to Elio Fiorucci at Triennale Milano from November 6th, 2024 to March 16th, 2025 interlaces fashion and architecture, design and music, art and entertainment to discover (or rediscover) ‘the Duchamp of Italian fashion’, as defined by the critic Gillo Dorfles.
Triennale Milano
How to get there: Red subway line M1 and Green M2, stop: Cadorna-Triennale; tram 1, 10; bus 85