THE EXHIBITION “DRIVE DIFFERENT. FROM AUSTERITY TO THE MOBILITY OF THE FUTURE”.

From 24 November 2023 to 7 April 2024

The generalized dream of owning a car; a circulating fleet that quadrupled in the sixties; the upheaval of cities that were packed with cars, the traffic in historic centers that was congested and stunning squares that were transformed into immense parking lots. Then, in 1973, with the conflict in the Middle East the armies of Egypt and Syria attacked Israel by surprise. And the price of oil increased from three to twelve dollars a barrel. On November 23, 1973, the Rumor Government, with Decree Law 304, decided to implement a historical phase known as Austerity, with new and sudden prohibitions and restrictions to limit consumptions: the use of cars on Sundays was prohibited, thermostats in homes, street lighting and speed limits were reduced; cinemas, theatres and commercial activities were forced to lower their shutters earlier and gas pumps closed from 12 noon on Saturday to all Sundays.

Starting from this 50th anniversary, the exhibition “DRIVE DIFFERENT. From Austerity to the mobility of the future”– which can be visited at the Italian National Automobile Museum from 24 November 2023 to 7 April 2024 – offers the possibility to think about the challenges of the mobility and the questions that need to be asked so that technological research, on the one hand, and individual habits, on the other, converge on the common goal of safeguarding our fragile Planet.

A multimedia narrative, unique in its kind, which starts from the oil crisis of the 1970s, traces decades of mobility policies, technological research on engines, design of new urban areas, innovation in public transport and futuristic inventions, and through shots, documents, films, models, and installations questions the past and analyzes the challenges of Future Mobility, inextricably linked to the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

DRIVE DIFFERENT is conceived and curated for MAUTO by Giosuè Boetto Cohen, created in collaboration with Stellantis and Automobile Club Italia (ACI), with the support of Eni, Politecnico di Torino, Senseable City Lab (Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT), and Quattroruote, and with the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, Regione Piemonte and Città di Torino.