Museo delle Culture, Milano

In continuity with its original vocation but also in response to the need for recognition and revaluation manifested by the foreign communities that have found opportunities to develop and put down roots in the city, the Milan Council decided to create the Mudec Museum of Cultures in the old Ansaldo area to house and display the municipal collections of ethnographic material.

These latter studies (2006-2012 campaigns) also focused on the conservation and qualification of numerous ancient remains from various epochs (from the 3rd century BC to the colonial period) found on the sites that look over the hypnotic Andean lake, still today a catalyst for rituals and pilgrimages by local populations.

During the 2011 and 2012 campaigns, the research team began a new archaeological survey in a different Andean region characterized by great cultural and environmental traditions, namely the north-western districts of Argentina. The research initially focused on the area of Brealito/Luracatao in the province of Salta. From 2013 to 2019 it was broadened to the district of Tacuil and its monumental defensive hilltop site, and the nearby La Hoyada Valley. Numerous pre-Hispanic settlements were spotted in the La Hoyada Valley, as well as a side branch of the Qhapaq Ñan , the Inca road system that connected a large part of the South American regions before the Spanish Conquest.
Research activities in Argentina culminated in a series of academic papers and an exhibition focused precisely on the Inca road system.

Since 2020, the research team has returned to Peru, once again in the foothills of the Cordillera Blanca, in the Central Andes. Here, excavations began at the large site of Tumshukayko, occupied since 3000 B.C.
The project was supported locally by several indigenous institutions, such as the Unión de los Pueblos de la Nación Diaguita-Salta in Argentina, the Alcaldes of Puruhuay and of Ñawpamarca in Peru. Currently it enjoys the support of the Asociación de los Vecinos of Tumshukayko and the Asociación Caraz Cultura. At an institutional level, partnerships have been established with the Municipality of Hari and, most recently, with the Municipality of Caraz.
International sponsorship was provided by the following institutions: the Italian Embassy in Lima and Buenos Aires, the Italian Institute of Culture in Lima, the Peruvian Ministry of Culture and the Museum of Anthropology in Salta.
Several universities are contributing to the research, including the Free University of Languages and Communication IULM in Milan, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the Belgian Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) and the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Furthermore, several students and scholars from different Italian and Latin American universities have been taking part in the project over the years.

Visit the mission blog in Spanish
Visit the mission page on the "Italian" website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The library is present in the OPAC of the LOMBARDY REGION
Biblioteche Regione Lombardia

Through the advanced search it is possible to select the Library of the Museum of Cultures and search for available volumes.

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Reference service (request appointment by email)
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ACCESS MODALITIES

Access to the Library is allowed only by appointment to be requested by email indicating the volumes requested.
To access the consultation, users must be equipped with personal protective equipment (mask).
The Library will provide the user with a pair of disposable latex or vinyl gloves, to be worn after sanitizing the hands.
In order to limit the co-presence of users, during this period it is possible to request by email the scanning and sending of articles or other materials within the limits allowed by current regulations.