May is a month full of events and new openings across the district. Here are some of the most exciting highlights you won’t want to miss.
FuoriOrticola
When: Until 18 May 2025
A widespread exhibition unfolding across art venues, museums, galleries, and flower-adorned shop windows, guiding visitors on a journey that celebrates art and nature as genuine expressions of a passion for life. A rich program of public events and guided tours enhances the experience, while talented floral designers transform windows into elegant and eye-catching displays.
Mercante in Brera
Where: Chiesa del Carmine
When: 10-11 May 2025
The Donne & Madre Onlus Association organizes a charity market that transforms the Chiesa del Carmine into a vibrant meeting point for fashion, design, flavors, and creativity. Proceeds support social projects for women and children in need, involving other nonprofit organizations active in the area.
Open House
Quando: 17-18 maggio 2025
A weekend of “open architecture” to explore and share design. Open House marks its tenth anniversary with a special edition promoting a participatory city. The initiative encourages dialogue between public and private sectors, strengthens civic belonging, and fosters a virtuous cycle of sustainable urban development.
Piano City Milano
When: 23-25 May 2025
As Piano City Milano celebrates its 15th edition, the Brera district comes alive with music. Hidden courtyards, cultural venues, and iconic locations across the neighborhood host free concerts, with the piano taking center stage in an engaging urban experience that blends art, architecture, and music in a unique atmosphere.
Exhibitions
Unveiling the Unknown
Where: Tempesta Gallery
When: Until 13 June 2025
The exhibition explores the boundary between the visible and the invisible, gradually dissolving the separation between what we know and what remains hidden. Lou Jaworski and Théo Viardin guide us through an immersive experience that, like Plato’s cave myth, invites us to free our gaze and discover what is hidden from view.
Best of Both Worlds: ITALY
Where: ADI Design Museum
When: Until 15 June 2025
Italian design, through relentless research and innovation, has created a universe that anticipates today’s “aesthetic society.” The exhibition Best of Both Worlds: ITALY celebrates this journey, exploring the connection between design, art, and industry from 1915 to 2025. Featuring works by iconic authors, it addresses the fusion of functionality and aesthetics, evolving with the industrial and cultural context.
Unlocked area: Sergio Limonta
Where: BUILDING
When: Until 24 May 2025
BUILDING TERZO PIANO hosts a selection of six works by Sergio Limonta, including new and site-specific pieces. The artist transforms industrial materials into installations that engage with the space, exploring the boundary between environment and perception through a visual language rooted in urban landscapes and the traces of labor.
Il Gruppo Crack
Where: Galleria Gracis
When: Until 20 June 2025
An exhibition revisits the experience of Gruppo Crack, formed in 1960 as a radical break from dominant artistic norms. Eight artists, together with poet Cesare Vivaldi, asserted expressive freedom and intellectual independence, moving beyond the abstract/realist divide and opening new directions for artistic research in Italy.
In the Shadow of the Giant Frog
Where: Galleria Antonio Colombo
When: From 8 May until 7 June 2025
A new solo exhibition by El Gato Chimney explores the shadows between folklore, current issues, and imagination. Drawing on traditional Japanese imagery and folk myths, the artist creates large-scale ink works populated by yōkai and zoomorphic figures, reflecting contemporary fears such as surveillance, fast fashion, and climate change.
Il mondo fuori, il mondo dentro
Where: MADE4ART
When: From 14 May until 3 June 2025
The works of five artists explore the relationship between natural and human environments, time and space. Pier Paolo Fassetta transforms landscapes into imaginary territories, Fausto Meli creates origami that engage with nature and history. Nicola Ughi captures a suspended sea, Gabriele Gentile preserves abandoned places, while Sergio Finesso immortalizes forgotten objects, giving them visibility and memory.
RE-VERSAL
Where: Fondazione Luciana Matalon
When: From 9 May until 7 June 2025
An immersive experience between art, design, and responsibility. Franco Marabelli returns with a layered and multifaceted display, where new works, installations, and design objects intersect with ecological reflections, personal symbolism, and shared memory. His visual exploration—poetic yet urgent—unfolds as a journey that invites us to reconsider our relationship with time, matter, and the environment.
