Redefining Museums - Innovative Management at the Pesaro Civic Museum

Pesaro in Marche Region - the Roman town of composer Gioacchino Rossini (Figaro) 

After a long restoration period, the Pesaro Civic Museums at Palazzo Mosca is open to the public as a modern cultural center dedicated to the production and diffusion of all types of art and the valorization of artistic heritages, including the local history, culture and traditions. 

Innovative Management 

Redevelopment of the Musei Civici was ambitious, forward-thinking and supported by the Pesaro city council as well as the local business community. It was implemented under a ten year program tasked with the design, renovation and fitting out works, as well as the management of reception services, the valorization of permanent collections and the organization of exhibitions, events and research activities. 

New services include wifi, QR codes for visitors wishing to personalize their experience, and tablets for detailed descriptions of the collections on display.

The result: a producer of culture that launches new initiatives with a focus on temporary exhibitions of local works, contemporary art, ceramics, design and photography. Restoration works and management of services are incorporated into a single function, thus ensuring unity and coherence of the final outcome.

The Exhibition Areas of Palazzo Mosca are the main seat of all cultural activities of the museums with complementary exhibition areas at Casa Rossini, birthplace of the famous composer and the annual ‘Rossini Opera Festival’, now in its 35^th year, and the Sephardic Synagogue of Pesaro, in the center of the old Jewish quarter and dating back to the 16^th century. Photo credit Karen Warren https://www.worldwidewriter.co.uk/visiting-pesaro-birthplace-of.html

The exhibition path was designed to give visibility to a rich artistic heritage as well as to explore the history, culture and traditions of this part of Marche region. The narrative line was conceived with flexible features; wall double runners allow exhibit items the utmost freedom while conforming to pre-existing architectural construction, and integration into a single element in support of the different works of art and the application of graphics, captions and signs. 

The four sections:

The permanent section covers a large part of the palazzo’s first floor and is based on a double exhibition method – chronological and ‘emotional’ – with the intent of highlighting the masterpieces of the artistic heritage and the large variety of artistic work types. The tour includes the Italian school of painting from the 14^th century to the 1 8^th century as well as a notable selection of decorative arts  - ceramics and furnishings -  and sculptures mostly from the Mazza and Mosca collections which have strongly contributed to the museums’ unique identity.

- The open space section events and exhibitions in collaboration with cultural institutions.

- The window on the world larges space for photography and the new languages of art.

- The temporary exhibitions focus on artistic heritage and contemporary art, as well as on ceramics, design, photography and video installations. 

- The opening exhibition - together with the permanent collection– is that of Franco Bucci, Massimo Dolcini, Gianni Sassi/Beyond the Territory– dedicated to these three famous designers, the first two from Pesaro while Gianni Sassi is from Milan. The exhibition was developed through meeting events with ‘other’ design worlds which have found in Pesaro their homeland and a cultural affinity, as well as through a unique and ongoing research effort.

VIDEO Redefining a Museum

A New Museum Concept a dynamic reality, open to all forms of art, able to attract a large group of visitors, including the young. Among a host of new initiatives devised for better enjoying the visit: 

The Pesaro Cult Card gives access to the city’s numerous cultural offers. The Civic Museums renovation has also led to a redefinition of the museum admissions policy and visiting modes

The Palazzo Mosca Café has been furnished with a modern and basic style. This space is equipped with wifi system, self-service area to drink cups of coffees, barleys, teas or herbal teas, free of charge, while reading a book or a paper in a quiet environment. The cafeteria spaces are also suitable for meetings, theme-aperitifs, tasting venues and other meeting events.

An Educational Experience A journey to discover a new world: the museum interiors where the objects come back to life and become real tools of exploration and adventure. The younger visitors will be captivated by the whirl of colors and urged by the will to act and create. The visitor will be further stimulated through senses, facilitated in understanding, activated by the play and they will soon become an integral part of the museum. 

Lab activities for school and after-school experiences:

- School projects to build, invent and create- Workshops with an interdisciplinary connection
- The museum as an active place of learning, playing, meeting and enjoying
- Work sessions to experience new languages and expressions with unusual and sensory tours.- The museum as an active place of learning, playing, meeting and enjoying- Work sessions to experience new languages and expressions with unusual and sensory tours.

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An Identity and a Brand The museum is also redefined with a new communications project: from the study of the brand, to the promotional image, to the signs, and up to the drawing of pictograms, as well as the definition of the guidelines for fitting out the temporary exhibition spaces. A communication campaign for this ‘institutional brand’ aims at reinterpreting the masterpieces in the Museum’s collection in order to show them to the general public in a direct way (look at me, follow me, find me), with fascinating and modern communication modes to excite and intrigue the users towards this new cultural reality. The same stylistic approach has been used for the museum internal signs: it has been devised starting from the colors but with the purpose of giving clear and prompt information and highlighting the works of art in such a way as to make it almost invisible. 

                                        An Innovative Exhibition Structure

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