Caleidoscopio – Esplorazione

Art in Dialogue with the Territory
By Piermario Dorigatti, Arcangelo Esposito, Daniela Moro, Pantaleo Ragno, Tetsuro Shimizu, Maria Tcholakova

Now in its third edition, the Caleidoscopio – Esplorazione project has been renewed and enriched thanks to a new and meaningful collaboration between the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, the Butti Museum | Contemporanea, and the Multipurpose Center of Viggiù. This synergy has been made possible by a recent agreement aimed at strengthening the ties between academic training, cultural heritage, and the local territory, initiating a virtuous process of exchange and dialogue that highlights both emerging artistic practices and the historical and cultural specificities of the area.

The relationship between the Brera Academy and the Butti Museum has deep roots in the 19th century and represents a profound connection, rich in history and symbolic meaning. The Viggiù-born artist Enrico Butti, to whom the Museum is dedicated, was in fact a student at the Academy starting in 1861, where he attended the courses of Pietro Magni, one of the leading sculptors of his time. Butti’s figure thus represents the first point of contact between Brera and Viggiù—a bond that has endured through the ages and is now being renewed with a contemporary perspective through this project.

Further strengthening this relationship in the 20th century was the artist and professor Gottardo Ortelli. A former Painting instructor at the Academy, Ortelli directed the Butti Museum from 1977 to 1995, leading its renewal both from a curatorial and institutional standpoint. During his tenure, he established the Premio Orsa and curated major exhibitions, inaugurating a section dedicated to contemporary art and inviting artists to engage with the Museum’s space and its surrounding context. Ortelli’s vision was clear: to transform the Museum into a starting point for a broader cultural project capable of involving the territory and fostering a fertile dialogue among the various expressions of contemporary art.
It was within this framework that the Centro Polifunzionale was created—an initiative promoted by Councillor Ortelli as a space for cultural events—which was inaugurated in 1980 with the exhibition I Longhi. A Family of Architects between Mannerism and the Baroque. Curated together with Giulio Carlo Argan, the exhibition was hosted in a building located within the museum park and connected to the Butti Plaster Cast Gallery, the Butti Museum | Contemporanea, and the Museum of the Sculptors of Viggiù. This year, the building offers the Caleidoscopio project new spaces, originally designed for exhibition purposes.

Today, this important legacy is being carried forward by curator Veronica Zanardi, who is committed to keeping the Museum’s vocation as a space for dialogue and experimentation alive. Under her leadership, the Museo Butti | Contemporanea—now housed in what was once the Butti family home—and the evocative park that surrounds it have become open spaces for contemporary art, capable of hosting innovative projects and encouraging reflection on the role of art within local contexts.
It is precisely within this setting that Caleidoscopio – Esplorazione takes shape—a project aimed at showcasing the work of students from the Brera Academy, offering them a concrete opportunity for growth, visibility, and exchange.

The initiative involves students from the School of Painting, selected by a team of faculty members—Piermario Dorigatti, Arcangelo Esposito, Daniela Moro, Pantaleo Ragno, Tetsuro Shimizu, and Maria Tcholakova—who oversaw and coordinated the various phases of the project.
Through a careful and participatory workshop process, the students were invited to engage with the Museum and with the urban and cultural fabric of Viggiù, exploring the place’s memories, its symbolic layers, and its visual and identity-based traces in a personal and sensitive way.

The result is an exhibition of site-specific works, conceived to establish an authentic dialogue with the space that hosts them. Painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, installation—the various techniques and expressive modes intertwine in a polyphonic narrative, where each work represents an autonomous voice while also resonating with the others.
The works are conceived not merely as formal outcomes, but as processes of research, immersion, and attentive listening to the territory. In this sense, the project also carries strong educational value: not just an exhibition, but an opportunity for reflection and growth, in which students test the skills acquired during their academic journey in a real-world context—outside the classroom, in direct contact with the space and the community.

Caleidoscopio – Esplorazione also represents an important moment of opening to the public. The exhibition becomes an opportunity to reflect on the role of contemporary art in relation to memory and landscape, on the concept of cultural identity, and on the relationship between artistic practice and the context in which it is situated. The diversity of languages presented is no coincidence, but rather an expression of a plurality of visions and approaches, testifying to the richness and vitality of contemporary artistic research.

Completing the project is the photographic documentation of the exhibition and installation phases, entrusted to some students from the Bachelor’s program in Photography, coordinated by Professor Cosmo Laera. Their work has played a fundamental role in capturing and visually interpreting the entire exhibition journey, creating an additional layer of interpretation and memory for the project.

A special thanks goes to the Mayor of Viggiù, Emanuela Quintiglio, and to curator Veronica Zanardi for their availability and sensitivity, which made the entire project possible. Their support allowed the realization of an initiative that is not merely an exhibition, but a true laboratory of ideas—a platform for dialogue between institutions, artists, students, and the local community.

Caleidoscopio – Esplorazione is, ultimately, a project that places art at its core as a shared experience and as a tool for interpreting and transforming reality. It is a formative and cultural experience that originates within the Academy but extends outward, building connections, encouraging reflection, and creating new opportunities for engagement.

On display are works by: Alessio Angelica, Adriano Bassi, Carlo Di Bella, Elia Berardi, Sara Boglioni, Elisa Dell’Era, Carlo Di Ella, Raffaele Farber, Philip Gentili, Alice Geymonat, Alessandra Lanza, Valentina Macrì, Carlotta Maffiuletti, Simona Mastropietro, Davide Mastrolia, Nicola Nobili, Giorgia Pavan, Alice Riva, Celeste Sala, Lisa Scarella, Raffaele Sotgiu, Giulia Senn, and Martina Zennaro.