Exhibitions in Milan
Leggi la guida completaLooking for an exhibition in Milan? Here you'll find the ranking of the most wanted ones right now plus the full schedule of exhibitions, from museums to galleries, updated every day.
20 events in Milano
The two souls of art in Milan
Exhibitions in Milan split cleanly in two. On one side the big civic-museum shows, led by Palazzo Reale: monographs on historical artists, retrospectives that run for months and draw long weekend queues. These are the shows that reach the wide public, and for them booking a time slot beats turning up at the desk. Museo del Novecento on piazza del Duomo and Gallerie d'Italia on piazza Scala work in a similar register, with strong permanent collections and historically framed temporary shows.
On the other side is contemporary art, and here Milan has few rivals in Italy. Fondazione Prada on largo Isarco and Pirelli HangarBicocca on via Chiese put on large-format installations and specially commissioned projects: HangarBicocca permanently houses Anselm Kiefer's The Seven Heavenly Palaces and is free to enter. Triennale on viale Alemagna sits in between, across design, architecture and art, while MUDEC on via Tortona works on cultures and civilisations with a more accessible approach.
Planning the visit
Geography helps you build a sensible route. The city-centre cluster (Palazzo Reale, Museo del Novecento, Gallerie d'Italia) can be covered on foot in half a day, and it is the simplest choice if time is short. The contemporary cluster is out of the centre: Fondazione Prada to the south, near Lodi Tibb, Pirelli HangarBicocca to the north-east in the Bicocca district. Each is a half-day stop on its own and they are hard to combine in one afternoon.
One useful detail: many Milan museums and foundations run late openings on certain days of the week, and those slots are the best way to avoid crowds. Fondazione Feltrinelli on viale Pasubio, beyond its exhibitions, does a lot of talks and book presentations, so it is worth checking the events programme and not just the exhibition calendar. On this page you will find current and upcoming exhibitions with venue, dates and a link to the official box office where advance sale exists.