Press release
THE PROJECT’S HISTORY
Towards an inclusive museum
The museum’s mission is twofold: it is to exhibit and to communicate (in the sense of being interactive and inclusive).
Hence, the task at hand was not simply to create a traditional exhibition centre in which to preserve and showcase
industrial heritage—in this case the prized wooden and cast iron pieces produced by Follonica’s expert master carvers
and skilful melters. It was also about creating a springboard to help the Follonica community take possession of its local
and territorial identity and build a new economy revolving around it.
It was along these lines that the refurbishment of the Saint Ferdinand Furnace got underway, ultimately leading to the
creation of the MAGMA (Museo delle Arti in Ghisa nella MAremma). The Saint Ferdinand Furnace is the oldest building
in the city, the heart of Follonica.
The building itself is architecturally quite complex and of extraordinary heritage value. Cleared of the slag piles, debris
and general build-up from over the centuries, and restored to all its splendour, the central area is impressive for its
awesome height and for some of its finer features, which can be appreciated when admiring the space as a whole.
The first challenge was that of preserving the point of the restoration effort and the original purpose of the space, which
of course was completely different, seeing as it housed a blast furnace for smelting iron ore. All the light and the detail of
the stone were not originally here; it was a closed space completely filled by the furnace, which hid all the connecting
areas from view.
In an effort to evoke how different it was, we decided to include an art installation to represent the furnace, occupying
the same position and bearing the same shape as the inner chamber. A device shuts out, at regular intervals, the natural
light that enters through the skylight, restoring the hall to its original darkness.
The installation is an attempt to combine the narrative with art by creating an original and purely allegorical installation, a
unique experience that stirs feeling and the imagination. Taking this idea as our starting point, we sought to weave a
narrative between the past and the future—between a museum that has a story to tell, and a new community that will
rediscover its roots in that museum.
Museums today need to be workshops, places where we can relate to the past using a contemporary approach that is
inquiring and actively inclusive. Exhibitions need to engage visitors and drive them to get involved and find out more. By
creating narratives, visitors are encouraged to come back and interact with each other.
It was on these principles that we sought to develop a narrative that was open and discontinuous, just like the languages
and culture of our own age. Thus, alongside the traditional display of exhibits, we have always inserted audiovisual
devices providing information, or simply for effect. Where we have opted for effect, it is because we felt that there was
something to experience, some specific function of the “factory–machine” that needed to be conveyed, but was
impossible to put into words.
On the one hand there was the collection of sophisticated pieces of remarkable artistic value, designed to grace streets
and homes; on the other there was a whole territory to explore, with all its resources, contrasts, and people. A
particularly complex job, as it called for very different narratives to be created—the exhibition of artistic pieces, scientific
information on the resources and technologies found, and the human and urban development of a town established in
the middle of a vast marshland. All this in a building that had to shine through in its own colours, since it, too, is part of
the story.
Comprensorio ILVA 58022 Follonica (GR) | tel +39 0566 59243 / 59004 | info@magmafollonica.it | www.magmafollonica.it
Hence, we decided to develop a project that revolved around the ever-present principle that attention should always be
shifted from the object to the story surrounding it. The hands busily carving away at the original workbench take us back
to the true nature of work. They bring to life the gesture behind an object, which can thus tell its story beyond the
confines of the showcase. They introduce us directly to a skill involving the finest tools and details, which we would
never have associated with this kind of work.
The use of multimedia displays to provide information is fundamental in a narrative approach such as this. Virtual
space frees up physical space, which thus becomes more contemplative and evocative. The use of multimedia opens up
many different ways to explore the pieces, enabling, importantly, the development and updating of the issues
themselves.
Today, the concept of “museum” has changed radically. It has outgrown its purely exhibitive and contemplative role to
become a place of lifelong learning, targeted at a much more diverse, and much more demanding, audience. Learning
itself must include a highly interactive component if it is to capture interest and attention. Video is a fundamental
medium for evocation, completing the message left unfinished by the written word.
All this will be meaningless, however, if it is not rooted in a new consciousness of local identity. Firm in this conviction,
the focus needs to be placed on the collective memory of the local community, to ensure a link with identity and with the
social interrelations of the past and present. To put this process into gear, the community needs to be engaged in both
the preparatory stage and later in the production and start-up stages. Thus, the museum is a form of inclusive
participation, open to input and capable of enhancing its most pregnant aspects, giving them a voice.
It was not only stories and first-hand accounts that were requested to help in the practical preparation of exhibits, but
also collaboration and professional skills. This is how the Ghosts of Times Past section was created. The room tells the
collective story of the community through significant literary accounts (contemporary travellers, historians, scholars and
modern writers). The backdrop to their words is given by a collage of images from public and private archives, from the
cinema and from home movies, capturing two centuries of history in one great mosaic.
In this way, we have sought not only to put the visitor at the centre of the story, but to ensure that story can be changed
and enriched over time by the very community who lives and breathes it. It is a place to stay in and to return to, a
touchstone we can identify with, adding significant value to life in, and visits to, the local territory.
This is the MAGMA’s mission: to be a museum that respects local identity and the scientific work behind the exhibits,
while conveying a clear poetic message that leaves a strong, lasting mark.
Barbara Catalani e Marco Del Francia
Comprensorio ILVA 58022 Follonica (GR) | tel +39 0566 59243 / 59004 | info@magmafollonica.it | www.magmafollonica.it