2005 –
The name ISOLA ART CENTER comes from the Isola neighbourhood in the heart of Milan, where the centre has operated since 2001. Its story comprises four phases. For the first two years it operated with no permanent venues, in conjunction with diverse neighbourhood events. Later, it worked in the Stecca an occupied abandoned factory (a ‘dirty cube’) for four years. After that, it became a guest of other friendly spaces throughout the neighbourhood (the ‘the dispersed center’). Today it finds its home mainly in the neighbourhood garden ISOLA PEPE VERDE, from where it still interacts with the neighbourhood of Isola.
The group works in different constellations and on various projects, but says that all these projects share a desire “to challenge art as a political determiner”. From the very beginning, ISOLA ART CENTER collaborated with OUT – Office for Urban Transformation. Together, they focused on their immediate urban and social environment to change one of the biggest speculative planning projects in Italy and to advocate substantial planning involving the inhabitants of Isola.
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