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1890-1915: Milan, the driving force of modernisation
Twenty five years spanning between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries changed the face of Italy, starting with Milan where the process of modernisation began which changed everybody’s lives. A time identified by the spread of electricity, lighting (on display are lamps from 1879 and a plug from 1891) and the telephone (with the first Bell model from 1877 and a payphone from 1889), as well as the zip and toilet paper. An exhibition at the Palazzo Reale has been dedicated to these twenty five years in Milan, a chance to rethink the notion of progress through works of art, everyday objects and multimedia installations.
“Il Mondo Nuovo. Milano 1890-1915” has been promoted and organised by the Università Bocconi, which itself was founded at the beginning of the last century by an ex travelling salesman who had made his fortune but at the same time who understood the importance of investment and above all education – Ferdinando Bocconi.
Organised in three sections and in 15 rooms covering 2000 square metres, the exhibition brings together over 700 different pieces which cover economy, work, architecture, art and leisure time. As well as the development of the great scientific discoveries which marked the beginning of the 1800s, the exhibition shows also the many small things which revolutionised daily life: in 1866 the mine, in 1879 the anti dust mask, the Coca Cola bottle in 1866 and man made fibres and the zip from 1893.
At the centre of this transformation is the city of Milan, whose urban fabric changed over the course of just a few years with demolitions and rebuilding. Built in that period were the Borsa and the Carcere di San Vittore, the Centrale Elettrica and the Cimetero Monumentale, years in which Milan became Italy’s driving force, pulling the rest of the country towards modernisation.
until 28.2.2003 Il mondo nuovo. Milano 1890-1915 Palazzo Reale piazza Duomo 12, Milan T +39-02-875672 F +39-02-875728
Mario Stroppa, Macchine volanti, 1914. Pencil on paper, charcoal. Milan, Private Archive
Gaetano Previati, La ferrovia sul Pacifico, oil on canvas, 1915 (Milan, Camera di Commercio). Exhibited at the section: “Il labirinto della modernità”
