Afterhours Members Open Hybrid Bookstore and Cultural Space Germi in Milan

Manuel Agnelli and Rodrigo D'Erasmo of the Italian rock band Afterhours, together with Francesca Risi and Gianluca Segale, have opened Germi, a hybrid bookstore and cultural venue in Milan's Navigli district. The space, which opened in 2019, combines literature, music, and performance, hosting concerts, writer meetings, and workshops. The founders emphasize 'contamination' across artistic disciplines and audiences, deliberately choosing a provocative name to spark discussion rather than consensus. The bookstore features independent publishers like Shake Edizioni, Tsunami, and Agenzia X, with selections made personally by the four founders. Programming includes classical music in collaboration with the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado, contemporary avant-garde curated by the collective 19’40”, and talks with writers, cartoonists, photographers, and even an astrophysicist. The venue aims to reclaim the city center as a space for grassroots culture, countering the dominance of financial institutions. Germi also includes a bar and is designed to function primarily as a bookstore during the day, with events in the evening. The founders view the space as a response to contemporary cultural homogenization and a platform for genuine exchange.