October 28, 2026, 6:00 pm, Museo Poldi Pezzoli, via Alessandro Manzoni 12, Milan
Museo Poldi Pezzoli presents À tout prix. Conversations on Collecting by Ilaria Bollati and Marta Spanevello (Corraini Edizioni).
Joining the authors in conversation:
Alessandra Quarto, Director of Museo Poldi Pezzoli
Martina Mazzotta, art historian and curator
Giulio Iacchetti, designer and collector
The event will be preceded by readings of selected excerpts from the book by Eleonora Angelini.
Choosing, excluding, arranging, making connections. Deciding what to keep and what to let go. But when does a group of objects stop being an accumulation and become a collection? Why do we collect, who is the collector, and how does a collection take shape?
Exploring these questions, Ilaria Bollati and Marta Spanevello involved 37 contributors, including collectors, artists, designers, art historians, architects, anthropologists, economists, curators, psychologists, and scholars, creating six imagined conversations from their responses: dialogues that never took place, bringing together different perspectives, experiences, and languages. From the desire to possess to care and conservation, from the private dimension of collecting to its entry into the public sphere, the volume explores collecting as a lens through which to view the present and our relationship with things. The book is complemented by illustrations by Jean Blanchaert.
Free admission; RSVP recommended at rsvp@museopoldipezzoli.it.