Il Corridoio Rosso

“The Red Corridor” by Giovanni Agosti and Jacopo Stoppa with a set by Margherita Palli, is the true gem in this at times cacophonous edition of the 23rd International Exhibition of Triennale Milano. In an extremely realistic reconstruction of the corridor of the early 20th-century bourgeois house of Mr. Agosti, mystery lurks behind every door.

Entering and leaving the rooms, the curators invite us to reflect on the limits of knowledge. Up and down through the ages of history, the exhibition starts with a sketch of an anthropomorphised moon by Leonardo da Vinci and features paintings, books, drawings and a curious automaton with a devil’s head from the end of the 16th century which could move its head, eyes, grind its teeth, show its tongue and emit a sneer-like noise thanks to a mechanism that is still partially functioning.

The only possible exit from this labyrinth of masterfully organised surprises — where the spectator is left with no way out — can only be from an Etruscan tomb, while it remains unknown what lies behind the frosted glass door at the end of the long red corridor.