Museimpresa, the Italian association of corporate archives and museums, encompasses over 100 museums and archives operated by small, medium and large Italian businesses.
The SAME Museum and the SDF Historical Archive have been members of Museimpresa since 2010.
Founded in Milan in 2001 as an initiative of Assolombarda and Confindustria, the association is a unique pan-European network with the aim of promoting businesses choosing to celebrate and safeguard their cultural heritage in museums and archives.
Objects, documents, advertising imagery, photographs, films and oral accounts illustrate the history of businesses and their key men and women. A unique heritage and an expression of innovation and creativity documenting how much businesses have done and continue to do for the economic, social and civil growth of Italy.
Members include famous Italian brands such as Barilla, Birra Peroni, Benetton, Bracco, Campari, Ducati, Eni, Fila, Kartell, Lavazza, Magneti Marelli, Olivetti, Piaggio, Pirelli, Touring Club Italiano and Zambon.
Each year, Museimpresa organises a programme of events for discussing and promoting this heritage, such as the Business Culture Week and the Residential seminar.
The Business Culture Week is an extraordinary collective event addressing the topic of the culture of business, and a unique opportunity to get to know the associate businesses through numerous initiatives, conventions, workshops, industrial cinema reviews, exhibitions and debates organised by Italian companies and industrial associations. The theme chosen for this year’s edition of the Business Culture Week is “The school of business”. Central to this theme is today’s younger generation, and the goals of this year’s edition included strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship between businesses and schools and emphasising the importance of high quality education and a knowledge of Italy’s manufacturing and entrepreneurial history in giving young people the tools they need to work with conscientiousness and passion towards a better future. Each associate contributes with its own event in an official programme of initiatives replicated throughout Italy.
Hosted by a different associate museum or archive each year, the Residential seminar brings archivists and museum operators together in round table events to discuss the key themes addressed by the Business Culture Week in more detail. This year’s residential seminar, with the title “The history of businesses, the energy of the future”, was hosted at Venice, where participants shared their experiences in the following areas: schools and educational activities, inclusiveness and accessibility for all, and the cataloguing and management of items of special interest in corporate archives.
However, there are many other occasions throughout the year in which associates are involved in projects for promoting Italy’s cultural heritage by the Museimpresa network. These include initiatives and tours conceived to let participants discover sites in Italy often unknown to the general public.
It is clear that archives and museums play an important role for businesses and their strategic value. A business which wants to be competitive must – in the words of the German sociologist Ulrich Beck – have “roots and wings”. And this expression perfectly encapsulates what an archive or museum means for a business: they are the roots forming the foundation the business needs to stay strong and vital, but also the starting point for “flying” towards distant new goals.
For more information visit the website: https://museimpresa.com/en/about-us/