Contemporary Art at Casa della Memoria in Milan to Celebrate the First Universal Suffrage Vote

Artist Gaia De Megni (born 1993, Santa Margherita) presents the exhibition "Per un’antologia delle ombre" at Casa della Memoria in Milan, running from 28 May to 13 September 2026. Curated by Salvatore Cristofaro and promoted by Careof, the show marks the 80th anniversary of the Italian Republic and the first universal suffrage vote. De Megni’s research in the archives of ANED and the Istituto Nazionale Ferruccio Parri uncovers women who participated in the anti-fascist resistance, supported clandestine networks, or endured deportation but were left out of official memory. The central work, "Medagliere alle Amanti," replaces traditional medals with paper flowers inspired by Monique Wittig’s "Appunti per un dizionario delle amanti," critiquing the hierarchical nature of archival preservation.

This exhibition matters because it challenges the celebratory rhetoric around Italy’s democratic founding by foregrounding the erased contributions of women. De Megni’s practice transforms archival gaps into a fragile, poetic installation that questions who decides what is worth remembering. By giving names and stories back to those historian Lucio Ceva called “unknown protagonists,” the show connects historical amnesia to contemporary debates about representation, memory, and the politics of archives. It also underscores the ongoing relevance of feminist methodologies in art, using Wittig’s radical reimagining of myth to propose an alternative, non-hierarchical model of history.