Welcome!

The Malcantone Museum, opened to the public in 1989, is situated in Curio. The museum is housed in a beautiful neo-classic building, projected by the architect Luigi Fontana in 1853 as the first professional school in Italian Switzerland - a School of Design.

The permanent exhibition is in two large and four smaller rooms and occupies the entire ground floor area. In the first of the two large rooms, dedicated to rural civilisation, one can obtain a brief overview of the activities and moments in the life of the Malcantonese population up to about the middle of the present century: hunting, fishing, agriculture, handicrafts, stock-raising, viticulture, various customs and traditions.

The second large room houses the 'Time-tables', an original composition of images developed along the walls on three sides of the room, a good sixteen meters in length and organised on the basis of the synoptic tables: the visitor can use this to site himself in time and visualise, by wandering through space, what will become of the Malcantone region in the future.

The four smaller rooms are dedicated to the theme of living - the kitchen, heart of the home - religion (the parish of Malcantone, on its side, has contributed church ornaments, vestments and documents), and emigration. Here, besides world-renowned architects, town planners and engravers - two names will suffice, those of Domenico Trezzini and Giacomo Mercoli - the more humble trades of the plasterer and the stucco-worker are illustrated. The schools of design in Curio and Breno taught these subjects from the middle of the nineteenth century onwards. Another trade which is illustrated is that of the blacksmith, one of the most widespread trades amongst the seasonal emigrants in the Malcantone.

Opening Time

The museum is open from 14.00 pm to 17.00, every Thursday and Sunday, from April to October. For organized groups, the visits can be performed upon notice!