Serica 1870. Ipotesi per un museo antropologico

The research work is focused on the “Serica 1870”, an Italian industry, leader on the fashion sector. The object is the design of an anthropological museum on the textile art to enhance the collections and the ancient machinery of the company, still used today. First of all, an interpretative explication was necessary. What is a museum? What is an anthropological museum? What are its elements? What is the material culture? What is the immaterial culture? What is culture? What is anthropology? So, in this script– which was difficult to understand, and which was learned with the direct experience – we tried to answer all these questions. Then, the theoretical topics are deepened through a lexical explication based on the methodology of anthropological research «based on knowledge of the language and on an observer’s intimate participation in the life of the societies that he studies», the “language” of textile culture has been decoded and systematized through the drafting of three technical-scientific glossaries: matter (fibres, yarns and fabrics), machinery (looms) and a specific field of application (sacred vestments). After clarifying these concepts, and their lexical aspect, the text includes the analysis on the state of the art of the textile museum as a particular type of anthropological museum, through some interpretative categories. Finally, the script is focused on the history of the company, on its products and on the market factors, to propose a design project for a museum of this company. The museum layout project is composed by an analysis of the exhibition itinerary, a proposal to valorize the collections and archives, and by the study of a communication plan with a unique aim: trigger and promote cultural tourism. The constant relations with the client and with all the actors involved in the textile company were important both during the research and the museum project.