The posters of the Milan Trade Fair, a mirror of the Italian dream and our historical memory
Milan, 1 December 2011 – The book La Fiera di Milano - Lavoro e società nei manifesti storici 1920-1990 – Fiera di Milano – Work and society in its historical posters 1920-1990 was presented this afternoon at 6.30 pm at Palazzo Giureconsulti in Milan. Using these historical posters as a leitmotif, the book runs through the history of the Milan Trade Fair within the broader context of a century packed with economic and social, scientific and technological, human and political events. Stories of relations, ideas and cultures that met and networked during the exhibition days. A project coordinated by the Communications and Public Relations Department of Fondazione Fiera Milano and curated by Tiziana Ferrari.
The presentation was attended by Gianpiero Cantoni, Chairman and CEO of Fondazione Fiera Milano, Michele Perini, President of Fiera Milano Spa, Giulio Sapelli, President of the Scientific Committee of the Center for Business Culture at the Milan Chamber of Commerce and Luca Masia, the author of various texts in the book which opens with introductions by Cantoni, Sapelli and Salvatore Carrubba.
Through this unparalleled collection of posters produced by Fiera Milano between 1920 and 1990, explained Gianpiero Cantoni, Fondazione aims to help disseminate its iconographic assets among an ever wider public as a cultural service under the banner of historical continuity. The development of our Fiera has accompanied and accompanies all the changes and evolutions that have taken place in the country and in the city of Milan, and its history – that of Fiera di Milano – continues and becomes stronger with its society and territory. A territory which, over recent years, has changed physically, and with the construction of the new exhibition complex has experienced a move in the fulcrum of economic activities. With the Universal Exposition in 2015, this territory will be the star of a new momentous transformation that will once again strengthen the values that have always characterized Milan and the country, and that are hinged on hospitality, social relations and the culture of exchange.
By describing its past and tracking its progress, the book aims to rediscover the founding values of the development of Fiera di Milano, which are essential in laying the groundwork for the future. A glorious past made of tangible and intangible networks that re-surface during the historical narration and are faithfully reflected in the book’s iconographic material.
Fiera’s posters are a heritage of extraordinary value that offers an overview of the history of a company that was established with the dreams of the 1800’s and is projected towards the 21st century.
In fact, for more than sixty years Fiera di Milano, initially through its Trade Fair and later with the Great April Fair, was a powerful driver of the national economy, as well as an important venue to learn and share knowledge and to get to know very different cultures. The book describes the almost genetic and very deep relationship that the Milanese people (and others) have with their fair, which continues to be a must-have to the present day. The book works on making this history known through the “reading” of Fiera’s posters; because the history of Fiera is also, or rather, is mainly the story of the men who experienced it and loved it as protagonists. As trade people or simply as visitors.
A success story that continues and becomes stronger, bringing benefits to society and the economy of the entire country and in sync with all the components of the territory.
