Manifestazioni artistiche nei centri sociali autogestiti della Milano tra anni Settanta e Ottanta. Dai Circoli del proletariato giovanile al movimento punk

The present research project aims to investigate the artistic phenomena - pictorial, sculptural, performative, but also theatrical, musical and editorial - which manifested themselves within the squat of Milan between the 1970s and 1980s. Starting from 1974, i.e. from the period in which the first occupations of buildings to make them social centers took place, the transition to the political and social ebb around 1977-78 was investigated, to then verify how much of these places remained in the 1980s. Therefore, starting from the birth of the Circoli del proletariato giovanile, and from the occupations promoted by them, such as Fabbrikone, Santa Marta, Ciovassino and Fabbrica di Comunicazione, we have come to investigate the case of Macondo, a cultural circle organized by veterans of Lotta Continua in full of the political ebb of the late 1970s. Finally, we wanted to devote an entire chapter to the case of the "fort" in via Correggio 18: the latter, occupied by militants of Lotta continua, Potere Operaio, but also by anarchists and members of the Quarta Internazionale in 1974, from 1980 saw the within it give rise to artistic collectives – such as the Vidicon – and socio-cultural ones – such as the punk movement, which created the Virus, the first punk squat in Italy. In this context, we focused on the investigation of the cultural "apparatus" promoted by the political parties of the "new left": therefore, the investigation focused on seeing the initiatives promoted by the Circoli Ottobre - affiliated to Lotta Continua - by Circoli Giovanili – close to Avanguardia Operaia – and of the Circoli del proletariato giovanile, close in terms of cultural and political experiences to the magmatic galaxy of Autonomia Operaia. The latter, in particular, have been given greater importance, as during their short life - from 1975 to the end of 1976 - they gave rise to numerous cultural experiences, such as the VI Festival del proletariato giovanile in Parco Lambro, but also more canonical “artistic” performances such as performances by Odin Teatret, the Living Theatre, artistic installations by Franco Mazzucchelli and the Laboratorio di Comunicazione Militante, which hinged on a new way of understanding the relationship between artistic practice and political militancy.