Milan - Milan is ready for the opening of the most awaited Museum of Cultures, which will be located in the former Ansaldo area, in the Tortona neighborhood.
The project, approved in 1999, was committed to British architect David Chipperfield and will be completed in October. Chipperfield created a building of concrete blocks on three levels, with a total area of 8,600 sq mt.

In fifteen years the creation of this institution costed around €60 mln and represents an important test of public-private collaboration: while the city will be in charge of the permanent display, a private company will run the commercial part, including its educational programs, the bookshop, the restaurants and the organization of at least two exhibitions a year.

The permanent collection will be curated by Marina Pugliese, art historian and director of the Modern Art Gallery (Gam) and the Museo del Novecento. It will include 8.000 items of non-european cultures from the municipal archives, from pre-Colombian artifacts to Modern and Contemporary artworks of anthropological relevance. In particular, the museum will display a reconstruction of the wunderkammer of Manfredo Settala and even the painting "Femme nue" by Picasso.
An area of 1,300 sq mt will be devoted to temporary exhibition, while visitors will have access to the storage areas to see the works not on display.

In line with its future mission - promoting the dialogue among cultures through different disciplines - the museum will inaugurate its activity with the event "The world in Milan", dedicated to the international exhibitions held in Milan between 1850 and 1950, which brought the first influences of extra-european cultures.