On display are paintings, posters, sketches, archival documents, exceptional graphic, photographic and audiovisual material: a kaleidoscope of images to tell the story of 125 years of the company that has represented the Italian path to modernity starting from the visual heritage it has produced or inspired.
On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the founding of FIAT, MAUTO – Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile presents the exhibition 125 TIMES FIAT. Modernity through FIAT imagery that traces the long and fascinating history, unique in the twentieth-century industrial context, of the Turin car factory, offering a reinterpretation that highlights its social impact and artistic production. The exhibition project, curated by Giuliano Sergio and carried out in collaboration with Centro Storico FIAT and Heritage HUB, can be visited from 15 November 2024 to 4 May 2025 in the ground floor spaces of the Museum.
Founded in 1899, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino was able to seize the opportunities of the industrial revolution and Italian national unity to establish itself as the main private interpreter of the country’s modernization in the last century. Drawing on the vast visual heritage produced or inspired by FIAT, the exhibition 125-TIMES FIAT. Modernity through FIAT imagery traces the link that has united the Turin car company to the cultural, industrial and economic development of Italy. A story – scattered with insights into art, cinema, communication, design, architecture, advertising, music and literature – which, through the evocative power of objects and images, tells over a century of history and experimentation, not only in the automotive field, offering an in-depth look at the unique business model of a company that has represented the Italian path to modernity, exploring languages, production sectors and geographical areas.
The exhibition is completed by a series of five meetings and debates held in collaboration with Università di Torino. Each event represents a reflection on the themes addressed by the exhibition, underlining its multidisciplinary approach: the authors of the essays included in the catalogue will discuss with professors from Università di Torino, moderated by the curator Giuliano Sergio.
The programme of talks includes special guided tours with the curator, editorial presentations and meetings that will help to enrich the story of the exhibition with different points of view and experiences.
The exhibition path develops, room after room, starting from a phenomenological and multidisciplinary approach, well represented by the team of co-curators who supported Giuliano Sergio – Davide Lorenzone and Ilaria Pani, respectively Curator and Head of the Museum’s Documentation Centre; Maurizio Cilli, Architect and Artist; Mauro Coppini, Journalist; Roberto Giolito, Head of Heritage Stellantis Italy; Manuel Orazi, Architect; Maurizio Torchio, Head of Centro Storico Fiat; Clino Trini Castelli, Designer and Roberto Vaccà, Publicist.
The cars on display are presented alongside a wide selection of works of art, archival documents, exceptional graphic, photographic and audiovisual materials that help define the visual imagery of the company: from the advertising posters and sketches of the beginning of the century made, among others, by Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Plinio Codognato – where the transition from the aesthetic culture of liberty to the dazzling power of the new technical and mechanical possibilities that will inspire Futurism took place – to the pictorial works of Mario Sironi, Carlo Carrà and Felice Casorati that offer an extraordinary representation of modernity imagined by Fiat.
The cars on display are presented alongside a wide selection of works of art, archival documents, exceptional graphic, photographic and audiovisual materials that help define the visual imagery of the company: from the advertising posters and sketches of the beginning of the century made, among others, by Leopoldo Metlicovitz and Plinio Codognato – where the transition from the aesthetic culture of liberty to the dazzling power of the new technical and mechanical possibilities that will inspire Futurism took place – to the pictorial works of Mario Sironi, Carlo Carrà and Felice Casorati that offer an extraordinary representation of modernity imagined by Fiat.
Carried out by the Leftloft studio, the exhibition set-up project interprets some of Fiat’s genetic characteristics through simple and functional choices reproposed in an innovative way. An assembly line, specially reinterpreted, takes place in space, interrupting and starting again in a game of references and bringing with it testimonies and images as distinctive molecules of an articulated and complex DNA, in a path of thematic focuses. All around, an immersive and changing projection acts as a scenography of context, telling the story of 125 years of social changes, characters, lifestyles, and historical events that have intertwined with the history of Fiat.
Carried out by the Leftloft studio, the exhibition set-up project interprets some of Fiat’s genetic characteristics through simple and functional choices reproposed in an innovative way. An assembly line, specially reinterpreted, takes place in space, interrupting and starting again in a game of references and bringing with it testimonies and images as distinctive molecules of an articulated and complex DNA, in a path of thematic focuses. All around, an immersive and changing projection acts as a scenography of context, telling the story of 125 years of social changes, characters, lifestyles, and historical events that have intertwined with the history of Fiat.
Joining the exhibition is the Skira Arte catalogue in which a rich and significant iconographic apparatus – made up of vintage images, drawings, photographs, sketches and posters – accompanies the contributions of Giuliano Sergio, Maurizio Cilli, Mauro Coppini, Roberto Giolito, Manuel Orazi, Clino Trini Castelli and Roberto Vaccà.
Talk / 125times FIAT #1
In dialogue
Roberto Giolito / designer for Fiat since 1989, today Head of Heritage Stellantis Italia
Cristina Voto / professor of philosophy and theory of language, University of Turin
Moderator
Giuliano Sergio.
Couldn’t attend? The video of the meeting is available here.
Some of the scheduled meetings – all free and upon reservation – develop from the themes addressed by the temporary exhibitions and research activities of the Museum’s Conservation and Restoration Centre and Documentation Centre.
The Ensemble of the Centro di Formazione Musicale of Turin presents a musical journey from Johann Pachelbel, Antonio Vivaldi, and Johann Sebastian Bach to Lamberto Curtoni and Astor Piazzolla.
Ensemble CFM
Students and teachers of the Music Training Courses
Silvio Bresso, violin
Silvia Cucchi, piano
Massimo Bairo, violin and conductor
Repertoire
Johann Pachelbel / Canon in D Major
Antonio Vivaldi / Concerto in G Major “Alla rustica,” RV 151
Johann Sebastian Bach / “Air on the G String” BWV 1068
Karl Jenkins / Palladio
Lamberto Curtoni / Nights over the Ancient Theme of “la Mantovana”
Astor Piazzolla / Libertango
Advance booking required. Free entry until seats are filled.
Info and tickets HERE
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10126 Torino
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from 10 to 14
From Tuesday to Sunday
from 10 to 19
Ticket office always closes one hour earlier
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