Living the Black: a Milan exhibition probing the meaning of black in

Living the Black: a Milan exhibition probing the meaning of black in art and fashion

From 16 April to 5 May 2026, CUBO Museo d'Impresa at the Unipol Tower in Milan presents Living the Black, an exhibition that examines what the color black signifies today in the dialogue between art and fashion.

The show centers on Nero con punti by Alberto Burri (1958), a large jute canvas marked by a ripped-and-stitched wound that frames material as memory and lived experience. Curated by Silvia Casagrande, the exhibition stages a conversation between Burri and three leading Japanese designers: Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Junya Watanabe.

The display highlights formal and conceptual links: black becomes more than an aesthetic choice, functioning as a field of experimentation — folds, seams and deliberate imperfections that convey vulnerability, craftsmanship and a non-idealized notion of beauty.

An important element of the exhibition is the 2019 restoration of Nero con punti, which used funori, a traditional Japanese algae-based adhesive. This conservation detail reinforces the cross-cultural dialogue at the heart of the project.

• Dates: 16/04/2026 – 05/05/2026
• Venue: Unipol Tower, Milan (CUBO Museo d'Impresa)
• Curator: Silvia Casagrande
• Featured figures: Alberto Burri, Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Junya Watanabe
• Practical note: opening hours and ticketing information should be checked on the event's official channels

Living the Black invites visitors to reconsider black as a conceptual space — a language of absences and traces that reveals the intersections between material, memory and sartorial practice. The exhibition suits audiences interested in critical and sensory readings of art and fashion.