The Home of Italian Identity - The strength of Limits

A Journey through the Exhibition “The Home of the Italian Identity”

By Padiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

The Strenght of Limits, detailPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

A
Journey through the Exhibition “The Home of the Italian Identity”

The Home of Italian Identity was not an exhibition but a sensory and emotional project designed to make young Italians aware andproud of the many wonders of their country. We therefore chose to adopt a contemporary language, devoid of any filters or museum conventions; a language based on a range of different perspectives and straightforward concepts, presented in an amusing and enjoyable way.In order to recreate the Italian identity Marco Balich, Artistic Director of the Italian Pavilion, toured Italy together with sociologists Giuseppe De Rita and Marco Bonomi, to show what Italy is like today.Each region presented a worthwhile tale of expertise, one of beauty, and one concerning the future. The Home expressed this potential through technological and provocative displays, and the vital energy of the nursery – Italy’s driving force.

The Strenght of LimitsPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

The potential identified brought together under four simple headings many of the contributions which Italy has to offer on the theme “Feeding the planet, energy for life”. The “Power of know-how” presented the stories of remarkable men and women capable of making the earth fruitful by loving and respecting it. The “Power of beauty” offered a marvellous journey to experience the “extraordinary panoramas” of Italian landscapes and architectures. The “Power of the future” featured a wonderful Italian garden,with a seed planted by each region – and a story for each seed – so as to turn the Palazzo into the garden of Italian biodiversity. Finally, the “Power of limits” illustrated how obstacles and difficulties can become a driving force for creativity and ingeniousness. In addition to all this, the Home also featured provocative displays such as “The Mediterranean without Italy” and “blind” sensory itineraries, along with artworks and markets: a rich and intriguing exposition that raised many questions and suggested a few answers. The exhibition section marked in pink is the one dedicated to "the Power of Limits".

The World without ItalyPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

The World Without Italy

How many Americans know that the White House, one of the symbols of the United States, would not exist in its present form if an Italian architect (Palladio) had never existed? How many Michelin-starred chefs would have to cancel half of their menu without the remarkable contribution of Italian cuisine? To what extent has Italian beauty conditioned and characterized contemporary aesthetics? A provocative challenge: a narrative “in the absence of…” How to describe the complex and remarkable contribution which Italy has made to the development of world culture in a direct, amusing andmemorable way? By removing Italy from the map.

The World without Italy, From the collection of: Padiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

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The World without Italy, Detail

The World without ItalyPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

#worldwithoutitaly for Ferran AndriàPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

#worldwithoutitaly for Kengo KumaPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

#worldwithoutitaly for Philippe StarckPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

#worldwithoutitaly fot Catherine WangaPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

Balance is the result of choices.

What do we want
Is it for us
Is it for you?

Leather boot
Are you us?

Skin, Mediterranean
Leftovers

Sent over
Cross the sea

Are you me?
Come over

Balance is the result of choices

Empty boot shape
In a full basin

On the Swiss shores
Kids silently playing

Chocolate paper
The heart boot of opulence and hate

Hunger of Chokora paper and waste

1300 is not a distance
Sugar coated leftovers

No Venice, left lovers,
no bells reverb

No marbles in Florence
The basin would echo the cry

Balance is the tone of our voices

Pigeons like seagulls
Following ships to den mittel Europa

Did find the plastic, did find the copper

Finally landed in Salzburg, Geneva

Rust cages, meat loafs
Rottingly even
When lakes become fjords

Ships tend to drift-off
Bottle milk blue

Float not I am
Mold is new vintage

Bottle dry glue
More just percentage

Bud earth
Boot earth

Spring tender will you

Balance is the result of presence

Black water
Your birth cross the sea

Rusted sink
The basin is full

Mediterranean skin
1400 is not a number

You are us
Balance is the result of knowledge.

(Tommaso Bernabei's poetry)

The World without ItalyPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

The Strenght of Limits, detailPadiglione Italia Expo Milano 2015

The Strength of Limits

Limits are a driving force, generating ingeniousness and creativity; similarly, obstacles are what powers creative thinking.Creative thinking generates innovative ideas, solutions locally developed but globally valid in response to the themes of Milan Expo 2015. This is the space that contains the seeds of the Tree of Life, those discreet seeds of inspiration that we wish to share with the rest of the planet: inventions, projects, and enterprises that sprang from a network of human expertise that combined research centres, entrepreneurs,universities, and private citizens.The objects and artefacts in the display cases encapsulate this story with texts, icons, along with videos created by the students from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia.