Daniele Marzorati's Dual Exhibition Explores Colonial Memory in Milan

Daniele Marzorati's project 'Cercando di far conoscenza con Omo e Giuba' unfolds across two Milan venues: Edicola Radetzky (closed February 2022) and BUILDING gallery (through March 19, 2022). Curated by Irene Sofia Comi and supported by the University of Parma's Natural History Museum, the exhibition interrogates collective memory in public space and colonial zoological heritage. Marzorati focuses on the Monument to Vittorio Bottego in Parma, featuring Omo and Giuba—personifications of Ethiopian rivers flanking the explorer. Using a Deardorff view camera, he photographed the Bottego Hall's Eritrean zoological collection, removing display cases to confront the specimens directly. Blue ballpoint drawings reproduce Omo and Giuba at 1:1 scale. The split venue mirrors the project's dual focus: Edicola Radetzky presented museum-related works, while BUILDING shows the monument intervention. The exhibition also inaugurated BUILDINGlibrary, previously inaccessible. Marzorati has pursued this research since 2019 in Florence, Faenza, Udine, and Milan; the next phase is the group show 'La Natura e la Preda' at PAV in Turin from March 18.