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Fondazione Prada: the great call, 20 months and 18 projects after

Stefano Pirovano

A couple of days before Christmas Cfa sat down with Astrid Welter, head of programs at Fondazione Prada, to take stock 20 months after the opening in Milan of their main new venue, and just a few days after the opening of Osservatorio, an additional space focused on photography that is located at the top floor of the most prestigious spot in town, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. “To begin with, we are extremely happy about how the public is responding to our efforts” says in fluent Italian Ms. Welter, who took her M.A. in Milan and has been contributing to the artistic program of the Fondazione since 1997. And they have indeed reason to be so, since during the relatively short window of time that goes from May 2015 to December 2016 the “re-configured” Fondazione produced as much as 18 cultural projects, including two film festivals and two dance performances. Is it too much? “We felt the need to show to the audience, and perhaps also to ourselves, what we can do” explains Ms. Welter adding that 4 more new exhibitions are already in the pipe, including an experimental short film based on virtual reality by Alejandro Iñárritu and a comprehensive exhibition dedicated to Italian television curated by artist Francesco Vezzoli. Moreover, she confirms that the multi-floors tower currently under construction to host the extraordinary permanent collection gathered together by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli during their life will also be completed and partially opened to the public later this year.

Before enquiring about some other numbers we take a little walk down memory lane recalling when, in December 2015, we visited the area still under construction. It was completely covered in snow, garrisoned by just a few cold workers. At the time it seemed unlikely they would have the buildings completed on time to match the Expo and the Venice Biennial. “But we had to make it” exclaimed Ms Welter, suggesting us to watch the video documenting the last 30 days before the opening (Spiriti, by Ila Bêka e Louise Lemoine). “At some point there were no less than 300 workers on the site, seven days a week and 16 hours per day – on two shifts”. Not to mention that the Fondazione Prada staff had a second, no less demanding venue in Venice to take care of. History will consider it was half of a miracle, made possible by a unique commitment to culture – from the Fondazione Prada’s mission: “We embrace the idea that culture is deeply useful and necessary as well as attractive and engaging. Culture should help us with our everyday lives, and understand how we, and the world, are changing”.

Now it’s 11 am, Ms. Welter receives a call on her phone. She begs our pardon, she has to interrupt our conversation: “it’s Mrs. Prada calling, as it generally happens every morning at this time, and some other time during the day when needed”. That would be a first hand evidence of Mrs. Prada’s commitment to her Fondazione and if you also have noticed that political oriented fil rouge connecting all the many different ingredients which make the fortune of this unique cultural constellation now you should know who is directly responsible for that. To give just one example, it is not for a case that the Iñárritu’s short-film is going to explore the dramatic experience of a group of people crossing the border between Mexico and United States, hence inquiring from a lateral perspective the problem of immigration that is dramatically affecting also the European countries.

Ms. Welter is back in less than 10 minutes. We ask about numbers and her answer is consistent with the frame we tried to describe above. “We are proud to say that during the Expo we had days with more than 5000 visitors, and now during the weekend we are having about 2000 visitors. But it should be added that if we had been interested in numbers we would have opened the Fondazione in cities such as Paris, London or New York”. That is to say capitals with a population twice or three times bigger than Milan. Or, to put it in another way, they chose to give back to Milan a significant part of the energies the city has given them. God save the Fondazione.

March 1, 2019