Culture is reclaiming the creative city : the case of Macao in Milan, Italy

In May 5, 2012, a group of artists and cultural workers occupied a 33-storeys abandoned skyscraper in Milan, founding Macao or the “New Centre for Arts, Culture and Research”. It was an event, with thousands of people joining in, newspapers headlines, and a massive flow of social media activity. Along with spaces, they claimed a new role for art and culture in society. Macao constitutes one of the last nodes of the national network of occupied theatres, which spread out in Italy from early 2011. This case is explored with the aim of understanding to what extent Macao, and more in general the global wave of art activism, constitutes an alternative to the neo-libel articulation of the creative city in Milan. On the one hand, we ask whether Macao is a political actor able to influence the local cultural policy and to what extent it is included in the urban governance of Milan. Related questions concern Macao claims and expectancies, and its possible process of normalization. On the other hand, we evaluate Macao’s role into the cultural milieu at different levels (local, national, international). We will argue that Macao not only is an actor included in the urban governance, but also it provides the city a different cultural offer, open to bottom-up processes.