At Palazzo Morando, a photography exhibition documents the evolution of organised crime in the city through 140 vintage images, artefacts and newspapers: Milano e la mala is open until 11 February.
A city is the sum of its places, people and events, and Milano e la mala is the story of roughly forty years of the Lombard capital told through photojournalism that documented the criminal underworld of this turbulent period. At Palazzo Morando until 11 February, it is a not-to-be-missed event for anyone who loves this city and its past.
140 black-and-white photographs drawn from private and press archives, alongside a series of documents and objects, retrace the history of crime in Milan from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. Milano e la mala. Storia criminale della città, dalla rapina di via Osoppo a Vallanzasca is the full title of the exhibition on show at Palazzo Morando – Costume moda immagine, via Sant'Andrea 6.
It is a chronological journey through the years when Milan was at the forefront for many reasons: armed robberies, kidnappings, drug dealing. The dark side of the city, but a fascinating one too, because the protagonists of the criminal underworld — the "mala" — are often figures with incredible, almost novelistic stories. Perfect for the kind of serialised, illustrated narrative on display here. The exhibition unfolds across nine rooms, and the advice is to make use of the audio guide, whose compelling narration makes this chronicle of a historical period even more gripping. Almost like listening to a radio news bulletin from the era — genuinely moving.
Visitors move from the military-green Giulia police car of those years to Luciano Lutring's famous submachine-gun case, from photographs of the handsome René to images of the nightclubs. Walking through the exhibition, you feel as though you are treading those city-centre streets, or wandering through the neighbourhoods that still struggle with crime today, such as the Giambellino. Milan as it once was — rendered in black and white, looking even more leaden and foggy, concealing stories of wrongdoing but also a powerful economic ascent that would usher in the glorious 1980s.
While some, such as the criminal Renato Vallanzasca, are still remembered today, others who were equally significant in the history of Milanese crime are less well known: among the key figures of this era, and therefore of the exhibition, are names of the calibre of Francis Turatello and Angelo Epaminonda.
Dedicated focus sections have been devoted to specific phenomena — including real kidnappings and those that were merely threatened, places of detention and prison revolts — and to groups of ferocious killers such as Epaminonda's notorious Apaches, who terrorised the city in the early 1980s. Alongside the villains, however, there is room for the men of the law: the heroic representatives of the police forces who sought, and sometimes managed, to curb Milan's rampant criminality, above all Commissioner Mario Nardone and future police chief Achille Serra.
This is not an exhibition for crime enthusiasts alone, but for everyone who loves the city of Milan, whatever their reason. Partly nostalgic, partly historical, social and cultural, this photographic and documentary journey forms part of the story of a great Italian metropolis that set in motion an economic rise even while it was for a long time ravaged by episodes of violent crime.
The exhibition Milano e la mala is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 20:00, and on Thursdays until 22:30 (the ticket office closes one hour earlier). Admission is €10. The catalogue is superb.