Rereading the Risorgimento. Turin

Exhibition.
Environmental Graphics.
Graphic Design.
Brand Identity.
Adv.

National Museum of the Italian Risorgimento / Piazza Carlo Alberto 8. Turin / October 2024 / National Museum of the Italian Risorgimento

Within the magnificent setting of the Monumental Corridor of the Italian Chamber of the National Museum of the Italian Risorgimento, located in Palazzo Carignano, in an exhibition space spanning 200 square metres, a large storytelling bookcase accompanies the visit experience and guides the public within a physical and digital pathway dedicated to curiosity, learning and discovery. It is a participatory, empathetic and memorable place in which people will be hosted and to which they will want to return. It is conceived as a spatial narrative characterised not only by physical elements but also by words, actions, movement and the use of technology, in order to strengthen the connection between the visitors, the space and the exhibited content that the set-up project aims to create.  In the centre of an imposing gallery, a large 33-metre-long luminous bookcase divides the space into two aisles and constitutes the narrative support for a journey that develops into four thematic nuclei through different tiles consisting of memorabilia, objects, paintings, historical photographs and texts. This journey starts from a reconstruction of the history of the Temple of the Risorgimento from the Esposizione Generale Italiana of 1884 to the present day, restoring the meaning of the word Risorgimento to contemporary times. This last section is completed by a series of materials from numerous Italian museums dedicated to the Risorgimento, from Udine to Caprera, from Palermo to Pisa, passing through Genoa, Bologna, Milan and many other cities. Following the spirit of the 1884 Exhibition, these institutions were called upon to contribute to this exhibition by loaning particularly significant works that are helpful for understanding this crucial moment in the history of Italy. An element of interactivity and public involvement has been included in the exhibition, with each chapter of the story marked by the presence of telephone handsets through which the visitor can activate audio-stories told by the directors of the Italian museums involved, interpreted by the voices of young actors who graduated from the Teatro Stabile in Turin. To conclude the exhibition, a graphic map of Italy highlights the value of this great collective contribution from North to South, indicating the cities that participated in the exhibition: by scanning a QR Code, visitors will be able to enjoy all the contents heard – this time in written and complete form – in a choral vision of the operation that made it possible to find all the materials on display. In the final section, the public will be invited to engage in a broader moment of interaction, centred on the feelings aroused by the themes and contents of the visit, and where they can in turn take away a memory from the exhibition. The Interior design expands into environmental graphics, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the context of the 1884 Exhibition. The studio has also designed the Brand Identity for all the exhibition’s communication materials: a system of signs for a story that is articulated from the interior spaces of the museum to the exterior and urban spaces, as well as the digital spaces of the web and social media, acting as a guide for the visitor’s journey of discovery.

Photo by Michele D’Ottavio