PAC Milano Marks 30 Years Since Mafia Bombing with Contemporary Art Exhibition
'Performing PAC — These fragments I have shored against my ruins' is an exhibition at the PAC – Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea di Milano that reflects on the 1993 Cosa Nostra car bombing, which resulted in five fatalities and severely damaged the Ignazio Gardella-designed building. Running until September 13, 2026, the show is inspired by T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land' to examine themes of trauma. Curated by Silvia Bignami, Iolanda Ratti, and Diego Sileo, it includes an archival segment revisiting the 2001 PAC exhibition alongside contemporary works from seven artists. Featured pieces comprise collages by Lucia Marcucci, posters by Thomas Hirschhorn, Roberto Cuoghi's 'Pepsis' series, Jacopo Benassi's 'Studio manifesta', John Bock's installation, and Gabriella Ciancimino's 'Il giardino della Chimera'.
Key facts
- The PAC – Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea di Milano was bombed by Cosa Nostra on July 27, 1993, killing five people.
- The building, designed by Ignazio Gardella, was almost destroyed and rebuilt identically in 1996.
- The exhibition 'Performing PAC — These fragments I have shored against my ruins' runs until September 13, 2026.
- The title is a line from T.S. Eliot's 'The Waste Land'.
- Curators: Silvia Bignami, Iolanda Ratti, Diego Sileo.
- The show includes an archival section on the 2001 Kurt Schwitters exhibition at PAC, with four surviving works and Merzbau material.
- Seven contemporary artists are featured: Lucia Marcucci, Thomas Hirschhorn, Roberto Cuoghi, Jacopo Benassi, John Bock, Gabriella Ciancimino.
- The curators reference the 2015 Bardo National Museum attack in Tunis as a contrasting response.
- Installation views photographed by Nico Covre, Arsenalia.
Entities
Artists
- Silvia Bignami
- Iolanda Ratti
- Diego Sileo
- Lucia Marcucci
- Thomas Hirschhorn
- Roberto Cuoghi
- Jacopo Benassi
- John Bock
- Gabriella Ciancimino
- Kurt Schwitters
- T.S. Eliot
- Ignazio Gardella
- Nico Covre
- Yael Bartana
- Maurizio Cattelan
- Douglas Gordon
- Miguel Gomes
- Christian Boltanski
- Clemencia Echeverri
- Maja Bajevic
- Giulio Squillacciotti
- Ottonella Moccellin
- Nicola Pellegrini
- Leonard Cohen
- Marco Bova
- Simona Zecchi
- Jean-Hubert Martin
- Davide Merlo
Institutions
- PAC – Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea di Milano
- exibart.com
- Cosa Nostra
- Bardo National Museum
- PAC (Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea)
- Artribune
Locations
- Milan
- Italy
- Tunis
- Tunisia
- Via Palestro
- Paris
- Berlin
- Germany
- Warsaw
- Poland
- Salamina
- Colombia
- Cauca River
- Sarajevo
- Bosnia
- Jugoslavia
- Padua
- Genoa
- Florence