THE MUSEUM
Opened on 1 April 2011 at the presence of the Mayor and Councillor for Culture,
WOW Spazio Fumetto - Museum of Comics, Illustration and animated Image is the new cartoon house in Milan. A unique reality, of international scope, with a careful look at all the possible contamination between different media and genres. WOW allows artists, publishers, fans and curious to learn more about the comic even in its contemporary production, to confront themselves unto various themes in a perspective of development and growth, focusing on teaching and aggregation through the
Ninth Art.
WOW Spazio Fumetto has both permanent and temporary exhibitions, cultural events, screenings, interactive workshops. There is also an open access library with more than 9,000 pieces, a modern cafeteria and a well-stocked specialized bookshop.
Careful director of the Museum is
Luigi F. Bona, well known in the world of collecting and Italian comics (and great friend of my father, Carlo Pedrocchi, that some of us have already encountered reading the listing of mistery cache
GC69ZDC, dedicated to Federico C. Pedrocchi)
THE LOCATION
It is located in Viale Campania 12 in Milan. It's a historic 1926 building built as ATM deposit. In 1960 the entire area was purchased by Motta for the production of its confectionery products (such as its famous
panettone). In 1985, however, they had to close its factories and the area was abandoned. Thanks to the
Milan Municipality the urban regeneration began: they realized the current large public garden of about 11,000 square meters, the surviving building was destined to Culture and it was renovated to be used for exhibitions. The culmination of this process took place in 2010, when the building was licensed to the
Franco Fossati Foundation, which transformed it into a multifunctional space dedicated to sequential art, to animated films, to traditional illustration and to new generation art, according to the most advanced European standards.
THE FRANCO FOSSATI FOUNDATION
Founded in 1997 as an Association, it became Foundation in 2007 and it was recognized by the President of the Lombardy Region in 2009. It's a non-profit institution, originated in memory of
Franco Fossati, critic and journalist. It is a cultural institution engaged in organizing events, exhibitions and conferences related to comics, illustration and animated image. With a heritage of more than 500,000 pieces and strong ten-year experience of its members, it wants to study, catalog, preserve and enrich its archive, making the Foundation a unique reality in Italy.
WOW Spazio Fumetto is an important milestone in its path of study and enhancement of the Ninth Art (comics), including the
conservative aspect (the museum, the historical archive) and the
popular one (exhibitions, events, library), focusing on the
local roots, on the
international cultural network and on the steady increase of the
teaching proposal.
THE CACHE
Black bubble hidden in the urban fabric. A classic Milan hiding place. Maybe you've already seen many caches hidden like this :)