MOVIE ICONS | Hollywood props
Museo Nazionale del Cinema di Torino
29th May 2024 – 13th January 2025
One hundred and seventeen props, costumes, and memorabilia from Hollywood film sets take the spotlight in the exhibition MOVIE ICONS. Hollywood props (29th May 2024 - 13th January 2025), organized by the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in collaboration with Theatrum Mundi and hosted inside the Mole Antonelliana. Curated by Domenico De Gaetano, director of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema of Turin, and Luca Cableri director of the Theatrum Mundi gallery in Arezzo. The exhibition will be inaugurated on 28th May 2024 at the presence of the three-time Academy Award for Best Production Design winners Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo.
From Forrest Gump's feather to Harry Potter's magic wand, from the Stormtrooper helmet used in Star Wars to the bullet from The Matrix, these are just a few of the original props shown in the Mole Antonelliana, shaping the cinematic imagination over the last 40 years.
The exhibition is not only a catalog of memorabilia from major cult movies of recent decades. Movie Icons offers a journey through cinematic genres via iconic objects, costumes accompanied by posters and advertising materials from the Museum's collection to give life to a layering of narratives: from the simple memory of the film and its history to backstage and the different professions of cinema. Each object also tells a story of artistic research that, in just a few decades, has veered increasingly toward the virtual and digital. Hence the importance of returning to tangible objects and reflecting on collecting and its evolution. The pieces on display come from the collections of the National Cinema Museum, Theatrum Mundi and Propstore.
"With this exhibition, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema continues a path of artistic significance" says Enzo Ghigo, president of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema. "The aim is twofold: on one hand, to stage spectacular exhibitions to attract a wide audience, on the other, to engage younger audiences. Every visitor will encounter iconic objects capable of transporting them through time and emotions, now actual part of the history of cinema, made even more spectacular thanks to the fantastic setting of the Museo Nazionale del Cinema at the Mole Antonelliana."
"The exhibition aims to outline a map of the creative and technological changes in cinema through its symbolic objects" says the museum director and exhibition curator, Domenico De Gaetano. "Collecting, returning to physical objects, to their power to convey meanings, emotions, and knowledge also means to analyze the backstage of cinema, the creative professions of the Seventh Art, the evolution of costume, and ultimately, that act of collecting itself. It's a challenge, almost an urgency, in an era where the boundary between material and immaterial becomes increasingly blurred, not just in cinema."
"I am honored that my collection of props is being hosted in a museum unique in the world" says Luca Cableri, director of Theatrum Mundi Gallery and exhibition curator. "The passion that drove me to gather these cinema objects is the same I found in the museum staff, convincing me to exhibit them to the public for the first time. For me, it's a dream come true, and I hope the visitors can also dream with their eyes open, reliving the stories these iconic objects tell."
On 28th May, the Museo Nazionale del Cinema will host a special Masterclass in the Aula del Tempio of the Mole Antonelliana, held by two of Italian Masters who have shaped the cinematic universe of unforgettable masterpieces, not only from Hollywood: Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo, production designers and costume designers, wo each won three Academy Awards for Best Production Design.
Ferretti and Lo Schiavo will be awarded with the Premio Stella della Mole, a prestigious recognition that the Museum bestows upon the most representative excellences of the international contemporary cinematic panorama.
As frequent collaborators of masters such as Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese, and Tim Burton, they have crafted the sets for major international productions such as Gangs of New York and Hugo Cabret. Visitors will be able to admire costumes from the former during their museum visit, and for the first time in an exhibition, the famous automaton from the latter, a precursor to the cyborgs and robots that populate cinematic imagination and the exhibition at the Mole Antonelliana.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Museo Nazionale del Cinema
28th May 2024, 12:00 pm
Masterclass by Dante Ferretti e Francesca Lo Schiavo
Museo Nazionale del Cinema – 28th May 2024, 5:00 pm
Presale opening: 17 May 2024, 10:00 am