We would very much like those who think that our country is a country to be abandoned [...] to come here, perhaps on a Sunday afternoon like the one we just spent.

The afternoon was long, intense and still echoes the words heard in so many dialects while, little by little, we restore calm here at the Museum.

There is a positive feeling that remains with us and we have not yet rationalized it. It's a concentration of tight hands, photos taken, stories collected and words of gratitude. One thing is certain, we would like so much that those who think that our country is a country to be abandoned, to let it drift adrift without even trying a stroke of oars to put it back on the right course would come here, maybe on a Sunday afternoon like the one just ended.

Certainly all the prerequisites were in place for a successful event, starting with the speakers. Antonino D'Anna e Andrea Vecchiwho have turned their passion for Alfa into the main road to which they have dedicated their profession. While Vecchi reconstructed the genesis of the Alfa 164 project, without neglecting details known only to a few, D'Anna presented a preview of the forthcoming special issue of "il Garage dell'Alfista" (The Alfist's Garage) in which there will be in-depth information from Cozzi.Lab (the Museum's archive) and the stories of those who, even today, boast the possession and driving ability of the saloon that marked an epochal passage in Alfist history.

But such a beautiful and complex story deserved the participation of the many protagonists who actively (and humanly) collaborated in the design. From Enrico Fumia, who was responsible for the design of the car, to Pasquale Oliveri who told a page of Italian ignorance of an era when Alfa Romeo could take the chair and give lessons to the world. Speaking of 164 could not miss the presence of Giorgio Langella "the one who brought Alfa to Santa Claus" testing the prototype in the most extreme conditions, whizzing through the icy roads of Sweden and Finland to go even beyond the Russian border. The story was completed by Elvira Ruocco, the "Lady in red Alfa" who, thanks to her twenty years of experience at the Arese documentation centre, preserves and passes on an infinite amount of Alfa knowledge, from the smallest events to great memories.

In the audience, Donatella and Gabriella Chirico, daughters of Domenico Chirico and Federico Moroni, son of Guido Moroni, Arcangelo Jeker nephew of Giuseppe Luraghi (editor's note: he worked at the Style Centre of Arese with Walter De Silva), both remembered with anecdotes that gave back to the many present the human dimension, besides the legendary one of Uomini Alfa.

What we would like to share is the sense of belonging that the many guests have shown and told us about. There were those who travelled from Germany and Switzerland so as not to miss out, and those who flew in from Calabria because this day, this car, this story is part of them. The emotion was palpable when watching the vintage videos of a factory in Arese that made those who worked there proud and who, even today, speak in the plural with a choral 'we'. No, we were not a country to run away from, nor are we now, because despite the economic and political vicissitudes, Italy is still a dream that unites many people across borders who want to meet, share, defend the memory of the country with living testimonies, so that there can be the basis for a new future that starts from here: from memory, from belonging, from pride. Special thanks to all those who continue to send us their thanks and expressions of esteem, you are the fuel of this Museum... you are a piece of the Museum. A curiosity: in just one week the event has attracted 28,000 views with over 3600 interactions.  

And the "magic" will be renewed next March 8th with an event that fills us with pride. The Museum has been included in the City 2020 Museum initiative , promoted by the City of Milan and carried out in collaboration with the City Museum Association.

An itinerary that aims to enhance the history and beauty of the museums of the Milanese metropolitan city that, in this edition, will touch on a theme that is particularly dear to us: "Women protagonists in different fields of art. From female figures portrayed over the centuries to women artists, as well as women active in the promotion of art and in leading positions in museums and art facilities in general"..

Find out more info here...