#unmuseoalminuto: a big digital clock celebrating business museums

Today the ADI Design Museum in Milan inaugurated #unmuseoalminuto, the permanent installation by Assolombarda and Museimpresa that enhances the value of over 110 museums and business archives, places that preserve objects and documents that tell the extraordinary stories of men and women who have experimented, produced and built wellbeing, work, beauty and social inclusion.

Among the museums involved is the Reale Mutua Historical Museum, represented by an image that alternates, every minute, with that of the other museums and archives on the dial of a large clock, representing the stratification of corporate culture over time. The pendulum, which metaphorically swings between yesterday, today and tomorrow, narrates the ability of companies to look back at their history, operate in the present and look towards the future in a process of continuous innovation.

"The archives and museums of Italian companies preserve and recount the heritage of manufacturing expertise and quality services, which are still today the driving force behind sustainable development and the cornerstone of a widespread economic, social and civic culture," says Antonio Calabrò, President of Museimpresa, "And it is precisely company archives and museums that work on preserving memory as a lever for historical awareness and the relaunch of company values. Museums and business archives tell the story of the past, without nostalgia, but as an engine for transformation. The identity of Italian companies demonstrates that it is possible to innovate without ever losing sight of tradition, making tradition a lever for change and competitiveness".

The project, curated by NEO [Narrative Environments Operas], aims to underline the relevance of business museums and archives, institutions of reference, in time and space, for communities and territories, for the custody of local knowledge and material culture, in urban centres as well as in the territories in which the many Italian manufacturers are rooted.