Inauguration in Milan of a statue dedicated to Margherita Hack

Inaugurated today at Largo Richini in Milan, a sculpture dedicated to Margherita Hack, the internationally renowned astrophysicist whose birth centenary falls this year. The project was promoted by Fondazione Deloitte, in collaboration with Casa degli Artisti and with the support of the City of Milan - Office of Art in Public Spaces. The ceremony was attended by Tommaso Sacchi (Milan’s Councillor for Culture), Guido Borsani (President of Fondazione Deloitte), Fabio Pompei (CEO Deloitte Italia), Elio Franzini (Rector of Università Statale Milano), Valentina Kastlunger (President Casa degli Artisti), Sissi (artist author of the work and Bolognese academic) and Simona Cerrato (researcher and science popularizer).

Made of bronze and 270 centimenters high, the statue was donated to the City of Milan by Fondazione Deloitte, which will be responsible for routine and extraordinary maintenance for years to come.

“The sculpture represents a tribute to the scientific merits of Margherita Hack,” said Guido Borsani, president of Fondazione Deloitte, “but above all it is intended to offer a positive model for future generations. It is a project that Fondazione Deloitte firmly believes in and is part of a path that began two years ago with the establishment of the Observatory on STEM subjects, which was created with the aim of stimulating girls and boys to undertake study paths in technical-scientific fields. Today, with the laying of this work, we hope to offer young people - and especially girls - a model to be inspired by. A model that encourages them to be curious, to study, to understand the world through science.”

The work entitled Physical Gaze was created by Bologna-based artist Sissi. The bronze sculpture represents Margherita Hack as a metamorphosis: a person born from the elements of a galaxy and engaged in studying the stars that form it. The body is deep gray in color: emerging from the magma of life pulsating within the Earth’s crust. The hands of gold color, like the stars embedded in the galaxy are raised to the sky to look through it without instruments. The title plays with her identity as an astrophysicist: Gaze is the sense capable of perceiving light stimuli; Physicist not only recalls the root of her profession, but also the concreteness and solidity of her intellectual and philosophical attitude.

The work was the winner of the ideas competition launched in July 2021, in which eight Italian and international female artists entered. It was created between February and May 2022 with and at Bottega d’arte Ceramica Gatti in Faenza and Fonderia artistica De Carli in Turin, with the support of Casa degli Artisti.

“As Casa degli Artisti we are proud to have been part of this project,” commented Valentina Kastlunger, President of Casa degli Artisti. “A choral project that brought together the work of many people and many different worlds: science, art, business, public institutions and nonprofit organizations. We for our part are convinced that art can play an important role in redefining public space, both material and immaterial. Choosing as a model a scientist, a woman and an interpreter of the contemporary like Margherita Hack is significant. To choose to do so through the language of art, donating to Milan the work of an artist who has managed to reinterpret the concept of monument without distorting it but without being imprisoned by it, to respect the difficult criterion of recognizability by inserting symbolic and conceptual elements that are immediately comprehensible even to casual passers-by, is far-sighted.”

The initiative stems from Fondazione Deloitte’s commitment to promote STEM subjects especially among the younger generation and the desire of all parties involved to expand the national and urban artistic heritage, giving visibility and recognition to women who have contributed to the history and culture of our society. The choice of Largo Richini, in front of the State University of Milan, in a central and highly visible location, intends to leverage the strong symbolic value of the place for students and female students, who are the main recipients and recipients of the work.

Image: Sissi, Physical Gaze, 2022. Courtesy of Deloitte Foundation.

Inauguration in Milan of a statue dedicated to Margherita Hack

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