Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

In the last decades, due to complex societal changes, city centres and suburban areas transformed radically. Artistic heritage can be a tool to strengthen community participation and transformation processes that lead suburbs to play a new role for society. This study discusses the role of contemporary art collections in the urban fabric. ‘Invisible Art’ Research aims at relocating neglected or inaccessible artworks and collections in the suburbs. Recently, Milano became the liveliest and creative metropolitan area in Italy. This resulted in an increased distance between the center and the suburbs within a complex and multi-cultural metropolitan patchwork. Symmetrically, a wide proportion of Contemporary Art Collections are hidden in private and public deposits, proving absent from the urban map and consequentially from the shared enjoyment of the metropolitan community. The research has identified, catalogued and studied Contemporary Art Collections in Milano, in order for their ‘invisible’ works to be re-located in suburban areas, outside the Museums, in places such as elementary schools, shopping malls, and underground stations, where people naturally gather and socialise. Results emphasise the lack of consistency of the cultural, commercial, and social maps of Milano. Finally, the paper focuses upon the expected impact of the Invisible Art project upon the quality of urban life, on its social capital, on the allocation of human resources and on the composition of its audience. The conclusions elaborate guidelines for municipal action to support this process and facilitate a more equilibrated presence of Art Works within the metropolitan framework.