quirky museums near Milan, part 2 (of 2) : the vintage petrol station museum

the tale of our wandering around Milano looking for curiosities continues. after our visit to Vittorio Tessera's scooter & lambretta museum,  our bucket list led us to another awesomely weird collection: Museo Fisogni.

the Fisogni Museum of the Petrol Station is the world's largest collection of anything related to the history of fuel pumps and gasoline distribution, from the XIX century to the '90s. 

quirky museums near Milan, part 1 (of 2) : the scooter & lambretta museum

let's go to Milan and check something off that list

I am a list maker. I make list everytime, for everything. I have dozens of bullet points to (sooner or later) check off, they are on the files in my computer, handwritten and hanging on the board next to my desk, on the pages of my many notebooks. one of those list is named "Marco and Silvia's places to visit", and, since it came to our attention, several years ago,  that a lambretta museum existed, of course it entered the list, to be finally marked with a satisfying tick a few weeks ago: our pilgrimage has been done. 

Collezione Salce, vintage poster museum in Treviso

there was a time when advertising posters were artworks. I am clearly just one of the many fans of this almost lost form of art (as I stated many times). 

Mr. Nando Salce was a bright and wealthy man who had been playing in the adverts lovers team in the best possible way: born in 1877 in Treviso, at the age of 17 years he started to collect affiches and continued doing that till his death in 1962. with his will, he donated the entire collection of more than 25.000 posters to the Italian state. 

a few weeks ago, a new museum finally opened in the historic center of Treviso: Collezione Salce, so now we can all enjoy the artworks and share Mr. Salce's passion. 

Arte Sella: contemporary art in the woods

one of the (many) perks of film photography is that you look at your pictures more often. a few days ago I was tidying one of my drawers and found the roll taken in a beautiful summer day from last year.

it was august and we had just come back from our lambretta road trip in southern France. you may expect we'd take a little break from the road, but clearly we were feeling nostalgic already, and went to a field trip to Arte Sella, an international outdoor exhibition of contemporary art set up between the fields, woods and mountains of Trentino Alto Adige, in the municipality of Borgo Valsugana.

analogue walk in Palermo

i've never been to a city that resembled Palermo. anyway, as people usually approach new things by comparing them to what's already known, i immediately thought the city has the same decadent charm and distracted elegance that Lisbon and Venice somehow have. but it's also pompous and proud as Rome can be. the open air markets are loud and picturesque, the traffic on the roads is a nightmare. they reminded me of Morocco.

Sunday, April 12th. discovering silk farming in Vittorio Veneto

the silkworm museum - Museo del Baco da Seta in Vittorio Veneto

tipoteca italiana museum. April, Saturday 27th

I'm sure you remember the digital invasions project, and the event I was planning at tipoteca museum.
if you don't, you must know that the idea involved the organization of several mini-events (invasions) at museums or art venues outside the mainstream, in Italy during the week from 20 to 28 of april.

it was aimed to bloggers, instagramers, photography lovers and anyone active on social media who wants to be ambassadors of their local cultural heritage.
the goal was to spread the culture, the local beauty and history, using the power of internet and social media.

when I proposed the invasion to the tipoteca museum staff {Michela and Sandro: very kind, very cool people}, I was expecting about 15-20 registrations, but in the end, that saturday morning there were 46 enthusiastic invaders, armed with cameras and smartphones. 

curiosity has been the mainspring: what is a tipoteca? the word in italian language implies a typographic collection, but there is not other known examples of that. this is because tipoteca museum is an unique place. 

in the past 20 years, the Antiga family, owners of the printing firm Grafiche Antiga, has been collecting fonts from italian printing houses, which were throwing them away since the metal type and wood type had become obsolete to work with. 

now, they have this amazing collection of typeface, most of which they actually use for their everyday work, that ranges throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries of italian typography. a priceless heritage, so meaningful for italian history.

you could feel Michela and Sandro's passion for their work when they were telling us that story.  

 

a visit to tipoteca museum is a journey into the history of books and printing.

who among you has ever seen a linotype machine, or a monotype machine? they made the printing history, which was (is!) so crucial to our cultural history.

there were some graphic designers among the invaders, and believe me, they were purring. but even for the uninitiated like me, the place was pure magic.
and the best part is that the museum is alive! I mean, the fonts have not just been closed in drawers or showcases, they can be used from anyone who ask, for real letterpressing. the machines are still working. people from american universities come here several times a year to do workshops. 

italians or foreigners, if you are interested in graphic design, typography, or are passionate about well printed books, this place must be in your bucket list.

surprise! tipoteca has given us a small precious gift after the invasion: a handprinted sheet of cotton paper, with the event's tagline "a short circuit of font, from lead to bits" and the details.
the font is semplicità by alessandro butti, from 1933.

the digital invasion usual procedure was to bring a sheet with the written words "invasione compiuta" {invasion accomplished} and take a group photo with it, but we did better! forget the boring printer, we printed the invasion accomplished sign ourselves!  here there is a funny video of me doing that.
* laughing at my silly faces is forbidden *

as you can see, despite the digital invasions, I have not given up on being analogue, and I brought my nikon em to try to capturing the tipoteca's genius loci on film. 
anyway, for some digital bits, this is the storify of our invasion {with tweets, instagram pics, etc.}, and you can find some professional photos here. 

the tipoteca's invasion ended how any event in Italy should end: drinking and eating together in a near osteria.

 thanks to all the invaders! it was awesome ♥
{nikon em + superia 1600}

info and tips 

TIF - TIPOTECA ITALIANA fondazione  
via Canapificio, 3 - 31041 Cornuda (TV) 
www.tipoteca.it

wine, local taste, relaxed atmosphere in the surroundings:  

Ristorante e Enoteca Casa Brusada
Via Erizzo, 117 - 31035 Crocetta del Montello (TV)

Antica Osteria Guarnier
Via Feltrina, 28  - 31035  Cornuda  (TV)