Guided Tours:
Friday: 8:15pm
Saturday: 10:00am / 11:30am / 1:00am / 2:30pm / 4:45pm / 6:15pm / 7:15pm / 8:15pm
Sunday: 12:00 pm / 1:30pm / 3:00pm / 4:30pm / 5:45pm / 6:45 pm/ 8:00pm
Stories of extraordinary ordinary people told by Giovannino Guareschi, Italian novelist, and Enzo Jannacci, Italian songwriter. To download the invitation, click here: Little world. Minimal stuff
Presentation on Sunday, January 17, at 10:15 am, 4th floor conference room, by Giorgio VITTADINI, Professor of Statistics, University of Milan, Italy.
Could it be that our being human, our very humanity on its own, so restless and uncomfortable with itself, be the “key” to navigating the stormy seas of life? This possibility can be discovered in front of people who do not fit the norms, perhaps even marginalized, but nonetheless people that are true and authentic. People capable of revealing the greatness that we all carry within ourselves, capable of revealing to each one of us our own naked “I”.
Guareschi, the Italian writer whose works have been translated more than any other Italian writer, and Jannacci, the ingenious Milanese poet and songwriter, have been able to express this great human capacity through their characters. In “little world stories”, the characters Don Camillo and Peppone are at the same time friends and adversaries, capable of arguing constantly about their differences yet without ever allowing their differences to prevail over the good of the community at large.
“Giobà” is a character that could have success and money, but he does not care about them. For him what counts is being fulfilled by the way he works. The figure of the farmer “Canalaccio”, who after having falling victim to great injustices, says of his torturer: “I have pity for his damn flesh”.
Jannacci’s character, the homeless man with the sneakers who wanders the streets talking to himself, does not need to feel “normal” in order to realize his importance in encountering love. Or, a character like “Vincenzina” who, standing in front of the factory, in front of the daily fatigue that wears her out, is certain because of the “smell of cleanliness” that she will never be just a number in a production line.
Or, the farmer in “I saw a king” that unmasks and mocks the abusive wrong doing of any power.
Jannacci and Guareschi, with their ironic and free gaze, partner with every small facet of human nature. They have created characters that never seek recognition, hardly giving in to self-interest, comfort, or trends. Rather, they follow something that is dictated by their heart, their consciousness. Irony without cynicism, folk soul without demagogy, absolutely no homologation to any trend of the moment.
Guareschi, the journalist writer, and Jannacci, the doctor/song writer: so different from each other, yet so close to one another.
Enzo Jannacci was an Italian singer-songwriter, actor, stand-up comedian, and medical doctor. He is regarded as a master of musical art and cabaret, as well as one of the founders of Italian rock and roll music.
Giovannino Guareschi was an Italian novelist, journalist, cartoonist, and humorist whose most famous creation is Don Camillo. He is the most translated Italian author in the world.
A special thanks for the following materials utilized in the exhibit:
• “La mia gente. Enzo Jannacci, canzoni a colori”, exhibit curated by Davide Barzi and Sandro Paté, promoted by Caritas Ambrosiana, the street paper Scarp de’ tenis (member of the International Network of Street Papers) and WOW-Museo del Fumetto
• Series “Don Camillo a fumetti”, published by Renoir Comics
• Video clips of Enzo Jannacci, provided by Rai Direzione Teche
• Unpublished video clip of Guareschi, provided by Archivio Guareschi
Logo design by Maurizio Milani (Milani Design, Milan), containing Giovannino Guareschi’s self-portrait and “Omaggio a Enzo Jannacci” by Bruno Bozzetto
