Freak Show

Spazio Leonardo will become populated by a series of inflatable artefacts reproducing the imaginary relics of Luna Park delle Varesine, a now dismantled amusement park. The project takes the viewer on a trip down memory lane – an excavation into collective and personal memories of Milan and its citizens from before the year 2000, with a focus on the district where the space stands today.

Very little photographic documentation of the place remains today. Yet, this gap is filled by the abundance of materials originating from the world of cinema, since the venue was often used as a movie set. After a careful study of numerous feature movies and amateur films, frame by frame, the most iconic bits of Le Varesine come back to life in the exhibition “Freak Show” as large inflatables resembling the carousels that used to occupy the amusement park.

Installed on the walls of the Gallery and in other key spaces of Spazio Leonardo, these elements playfully recall a not-so-distant past, which many Milanese would remember in person and many others – the youngest or simply those who did not live in Milan in those years – would discover for the first time,  a portion of an almost forgotten history. As the passing of time clouds our memories, the round shapes of the inflatable structures seem to soften the contours of our perceptions, altering their emotional impact.