Bagatti Valsecchi Museum in Milan and the president's commitment to the city

It's quite natural when you visit one house museum ask yourself: “What must it have been like to live here? And raise us as children?”. Let's start our chat on the phone with here Camilla Bagatti Valsecchipresident of the namesake Museuma beloved cultural institution of Milanon the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition THE LOOK OF FEELING The seventeenth century Emilian from the Credem art collections in favor of Romagna.

What do you remember about your childhood? And what are your first memories related to art?
«I was born in that house in 1964 and I lived my first 12 years of life inside the building. My parents and I lived in a modern apartment on the 2nd floor, while my grandparents lived in what are now the museum rooms, where I also spent a lot of time. They are etched in my memory. I loved and love those rooms very much.”

What does art teach children?
«Growing up there, among art, taught me to love it and taught me that art must be experienced. My parents and grandparents never removed anything from the house, I was the one who immediately learned to have to be responsible towards what surrounded me. I realize that I grew up in a particular reality, but for me it had to be normal.”

Has he never broken or damaged anything?
«Yes, I broke a plate with a ball and I just had it repaired».

When was the decision made to turn the family home into a museum?
«In '74 my father, together with his sisters and my grandfather, made the decision to create the Foundation and in '76 we left the house. The palace is unique, dividing it or dispersing it would have been a shame. However, the museum was opened in '94: it took a long time and a great deal of work was done to maintain everything that was there and to make it available to the city – and beyond.”

How do you keep a museum alive?
«We always try to propose something new and create various types of initiatives, in different areas. To return to a museum he has already visited, a person must find something new. The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is ultimately a home, a place that by its nature hosts and where one returns, so programming designed with this objective is natural.”

Are you referring to the Evenings at the Museum program and the exhibition that is opening in recent days?
«Yes and we do it in the spirit of my ancestors who have always hosted and welcomed people in this house and organized evenings of music and theatre. And I also think of the youth group that I created as soon as I joined the Foundation. My children and I called it Spicciati because we organized parties speech and because it was an invitation to hurry up and come to the museum. We have organized many interesting evenings for their peers: it is important to bring young people closer to museums, art and culture.”

Speaking of commitments, the new exhibition is now inaugurating, part of the proceeds of which will be donated to the Zauli Museum in Faenza, hit by last year's flood. Solidarity between institutions?
«The museum lives to create culture, this exhibition born from the possibility of collaborating with Banca Credem aims to help those areas affected by floods in 2023».

What are your commitments to the city?
«I am very grateful for the role we have in the city. There are many challenges to face to make the Museum live in the best possible way. We have many new ideas in mind for the future and one of my desires is to also bring contemporary art into the museum.”