Felice Casorati was one of the most influential Italian artists of the first half of the 20th century. Born and raised during the era of Futurism, he chose to stray from the path of the ‘dominant style’ and depicted scenes that represent a virtually suspended world.

Over one hundred works are on display at Palazzo Reale, comprising paintings, sculptures, drawings and engravings, furnishings and documents, which magnificently depict Casorati's multifaceted talent. A set and costume designer as well as an artist, he also created for the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome and the Teatro alla Scala, merging his artistic vocation with that of a teacher in the main Italian institutions, such as the Accademia Albertina in Turin.

The exhibition forays into different fields, such as the launch of the Fiat 600, for which he designed a striking promotional poster.

The theme of the exhibition is also Casorati's connection with Milano. Throughout his career, the artist regarded the city as a strategic point of reference, being the first Italian entity to develop a modern art strategy and market. He considered his 1920 exhibitions as a privileged opportunity to engage with the latest artistic trends.

Palazzo Reale

From € 13 to € 17

How to get there: red M1 subway line and yellow M3 line Duomo stop

«I am a painter. When people ask me how I do it, I answer: “I am” ». With these powerful words Leonor Fini, the Italian-Argentine artist (1907 - 1996), encapsulated her artistic identity, which will be on display at Palazzo Reale until June 22nd.

This exhibition fits into Palazzo Reale’s programme of presenting and promoting artists linked to Surrealism: for spring 2025, in this case the protagonist is the artist who skilfully weaves surrealism, classicism and performance in a path free from any convention.

Raised in Trieste in a household frequented by intellectuals such as James Joyce, Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba, Fini began painting at a young age and, when she was seventeen, she began travelling around Europe.

In Paris she frequented the surrealist artists Max Ernst, Paul Éluard and Victor Brauner and, despite never actually becoming a surrealist herself, she drew inspiration from that dreamlike world for the creation of her enigmatic universe.

Her unique artistic freedom and individuality, free from rigid conventions, is what actually characterizes her through different media: painting, drawing, photography, decorative art, fashion design, costumes, artist's books and documents.
On display are her pioneering works that transcend the fundamental themes of contemporary society, such as the questioning of gender, identity, self-affirmation, consolidated family models, masculinity and femininity.

A fascinating world populated with ambiguous creatures and objects with enigmatic psychoanalytic symbolism, all to be explored.

Palazzo Reale

From € 13 to € 17

How to get there: red M1 subway line and yellow M3 line Duomo stop

The artistic and design movement Art Deco, which originated in France shortly before the First World War, is synonymous with timeless elegance. It flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, and the name derives from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes held in Paris in 1925, which celebrated innovation in decorative design.

A centenary later, Milano celebrates the Roaring Twenties with the Art Deco. The Triumph of Modernity exhibition, until June 29th.

A lavish style that imbued all aspects of society, from architecture to art, fashion, music and advertising. Visitors can admire displays of glass, porcelain, majolica, textiles, furniture and gold smithery together with paintings, sculptures, drawings and advertising posters, as well as period images and film clips which strive to convey the atmosphere and extravagant ornamentation of an unrepeatable and fascinating era.

One of the most important examples of Art Deco in the city is the Padiglione Reale (Royal Pavilion) of Milano Central Station: for the entire duration of the exhibition, there will be a specific exhibition focused on this venue which can be discovered free of charge on the first floor of Palazzo Reale. Photographs, drawings and furnishings of the Pavilion on display will be accompanied by a podcast commissioned for the occasion.

The itinerary dedicated to Art Deco continues beyond Palazzo Reale: at the Museum of Decorative Arts of the Castello Sforzesco, a selection of porcelain by Gio Ponti from the Ginori Museum in Sesto Fiorentino will be on display until June 29th.

Palazzo Reale

From € 13 to € 18

How to get there: red M1 subway line and yellow M3 line Duomo stop

What better season to envisage travel than spring? In this case, however, we are not just focusing on the holiday aspect of travel: the exhibition Travelogue. Stories of travel, migrations and diasporas at Mudec - Museo delle Culture from March 20th to September 21st, 2025, addresses the theme from different perspectives.

It commences from the mythical journey of European culture with Charon and Dante, moving on to nomadism, metaphorical and vicarious travel, to arrive at the ‘materiality’ of travel.

The theme of itinerant journeys is also intrinsically linked to the history of the Mudec collections which were created as a collection of ‘exotic’ artifacts transported from around the globe by citizens, enthusiasts, businessmen, travellers and researchers. The exhibition is, therefore, an opportunity to appreciate the link between travel mementos and the history of humanity in its rites and values.

Travel also means migrations and diasporas, which rewrite history: the theme is addressed with contributions from contemporary artists and ‘directors’, such as Yervant Gianikian and Angela Ricci Lucchi.

The exhibition also steps outside Mudec with a mural in San Siro and poster art in the Tortona district, in collaboration with IED Milano.

Mudec - Museum of Cultures
Free admission
How to get there: green subway line M2, S. Agostino stop; tram 14, Piazza del Rosario stop; bus 68, 90/91

The Iranian artist Shirin Neshat is known internationally for her cinematic and photographic works in which she explores the identity representations of the feminine and the masculine in her culture.

Born in Qazvin in 1957, she left Iran to study in the United States before the birth of the Islamic Republic in 1979: returning to visit her country in 1990, she was shocked by the changes that Iran had undergone during her absence. From that moment onwards, her art became a means of confrontation with her cultural roots, questioning herself, through her poetry and calligraphy, on concepts such as martyrdom, the space of exile and questions of identity.

In the tormented photographs of women with their faces inked by Farsi calligraphy or armed and wearing the hijab, the women’s gaze becomes a powerful communication tool.

Winner of the Golden Lion for best international artist at the Venice Art Biennale in 1999, she also won the Silver Lion for best direction at the Venice Film Festival in 2009 with the feature film Uomini senza done.

The exhibition at the PAC until June 8th is the first large Italian retrospective of her work, where she invites us to address the themes of gender and society, of the individual and the community, of the relationship between past and present, between belonging and exile.

PAC – Contemporary art pavilion

From € 4 to € 8

How to get there: Red subway line M1, Palestro stop, and Yellow line M3 Turati stop; Buses 61, 94; tram 1

From April to July, the Podium - Fondazione Prada’s main space - invites visitors to delve into the world of 20th Century German photography and explore how perceptions of reality can differ between individuals.

The Typologien exhibition, which displays 600 images by 25 artists, is organized not in chronological order, but by typology: the fern, the cow, the human being, the ear, the bus stop, the water tank, the stereo system, the museum and so on.

By positioning different interpretations of the same object together, we are able to observe what is individual and what is universal through typological comparison.

Susanne Pfeffer, the exhibition’s curator, states: ‘When differences are not seen as something other, but turned into something that divides us, it is crucial to recognise what we have in common. Typologies enable us to identify undeniable similarities and subtle differences’.

The exhibition space will be framed by a system of floating suspended walls, which create unexpected connections between various artistic approaches that are united by a common principle or typology.

Fondazione Prada
From € 7.50 to € 15
How to get there: subway line M3, Lodi T.I.B.B. stop; tram 24; bus 65

Fondazione Prada’s Cisterna space will host the NADA exhibition by Thierry De Cordier: a black pictorial landscape formed by ten largely monochrome works which expose visitors to a feeling of nothingness.

This concept originated from the idea of erasing the image of Christ on the cross with demonstrative intent. According to the artist, it is also an ultimate attempt to experiment with the ‘grandeur of nothingness’.

The fulcrum of the entire exhibition is a bench placed in front of the colossal work Gran Nada in the centre of the Cisterna, which provides an opportunity for visitors to observe and contemplate.

Fondazione Prada

From € 7.50 to € 15

How to get there: subway line M3, Lodi T.I.B.B. stop; tram 24; bus 65

Pirelli HangarBicocca presents Tarek Atoui’s Improvisation in 10 days, a collection of sound rooms created by the Lebanese artist. These sound installations represent Atoui’s reflections on today’s social and political issues, revealing how music and new technologies constitute important aspects of expression and identity.

Water, air, stone and bronze are used to absorb sound and return it with unexpected nuances, initiating interest and stimulating non-traditional learning processes.

Atoui uses the Shed as a large blank canvas where he deconstructs and reassembles works belonging to one of his previous exhibitions. By embracing the identity of the space and, depending on the day in which the installation takes place, he ‘improvises’ movements, harmonies and tunings to create a collective experience through a sound environment.

This is the first time that Atoui has conceived an exhibition as an actual device which is in a constant state of evolution.

Pirelli HangarBicocca

Free admission

How to get there: subway line M5 Lilac, Ponale stop, then bus 51 (Direction Cimiano M2) stop Via Chiese – HangarBicocca

From March 27th to July 27th, Pirelli HangarBicocca continues its tradition of presenting the general public with important artists on the international contemporary scene with Yukinori Yanagi’s Icarus.

The influential Japanese artist Yukinori Yanagi (Fukuoka, 1959), who lives and works far removed from the public gaze on the island of Momoshima, will return to Italy with a major exhibition after 32 years.

His works are large-scale site-specific installations which investigate complex themes related to sovereignty, globalization and borders. Icarus, a body of work that encompasses the artist's career, is inspired by the Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus, and issues a cautionary tale about human arrogance stemming from our excessive trust in technology.

EC Flag Ant Farm, which won Yanagi a prize at the Venice Biennale in 1993, will also be featured in this exhibition. This work consists of 170 flags made of coloured sand, which are fragmented day-by-day by thousands of live ants. At HangarBicocca, however, there will be 200 flags, comprising 193 states recognized by the United Nations in addition to seven states that are not members, such as Palestine, Taiwan and Tibet.

Pirelli HangarBicocca
Free admission
How to get there: subway line M5 Lilla, Ponale stop, then bus 51 (Direction Cimiano M2) stop Via Chiese – HangarBicocca