The Trains between art, graphics and design

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The exhibition creates a continuity of investigation and reflection on the theme of transport, with particular reference to the inauguration and commissioning of the Ceneri base tunnel and the cantonal project “Culture in Movement”. Chiasso, a border town, has experienced urban and social development in close correlation with the railway.

The event will present a display of posters, lithographs, postcards, brochures, train timetables, menus, calendars, almanacs, historical photographs and videos, as well as the process of designing logos, commemorating the great Swiss graphic designer Müller-Brockmann. The outcome is a combination of graphics and design capable of arousing the interest of a broad public. A 1929 “Méditerranée Express” carriage designed by René Prouvé and decorated by René Lalique, recently restored, will also be on display. The exhibits will include a study model of Bertone’s design of the Frecciarossa and comparisons with other futuristic projects such as ALPTransit and the Ceneri base tunnel. Over the last 50 years the efficiency of trains has increased considerably and today the dominant trend is towards sustainability. Trains still have strong symbolic values for the development of modernity.

A specific section of the exhibition, which is part of the twelfth Biennale dell’immagine, is dedicated to historical, “vintage” photographs of trains and the railway, to highlight the historical evolution of the role played by Chiasso – a border town – while another section is housed inside the Chiasso railway station.

The exhibition, in collaboration with Historic SBB of Windisch, the Verkehrshaus in Lucerna, the Museum für Gestaltung in Zurich, MASI, Lugano, Galleria Baumgartner, was devised as an integrated exhibition project with the Museo Nazionale Ferroviario at Portici (Naples). The exhibition also boasts important loans from public institutions and private collectors. Among them, Alessandro Bellenda, Alassio and Walter G. Finkbohner, Zurigo. The exhibition receives the patronage of the Consulate General of Italy in Lugano.

Curated by Oreste Orvitti and Nicoletta Ossanna Cavadini.