Homo sapiens. The new stories of human evolution

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The MUDEC – #museo delle Culture of Milan is set to host the first exhibition in the world to tell the story of humankind through a great multidisciplinary fresco: Homo sapiens. The new stories of human evolution.
New scientific discoveries, recent finds and the rich ethnographic patrimony of MUDEC’s permanent collection bring up to date the international project that has involved the scientific communities of Italy, the United States, Israel, Germany, France, Spain, Australia, Georgia, and South Africa, together with Universities, Museums and Institutions from all over the world: a remarkable joint effort to explain where we come from and how we managed, from one expansion to another, to populate the entire planet, building the kaleidoscopic mosaic of present-day human diversity.
Homo sapiens at the MUDEC – from a project by Luigi Cavalli Sforza - is curated by Telmo Pievani with scientific coordination by Stefano Papi, promoted by Comune di #milano | Cultura, MUDEC – #museo delle Culture, and 24 ORE Cultura, and produced in collaboration with Codice. Idee per la cultura
“Given its intercultural vocation and its importance as a centre of historical and scientific research, the Mudec, a museum of all the world’s cultures, is the ideal venue to tell the new stories of human evolution using a lively, innovative language,” explains Filippo Del Corno, Head of Milan City Council’s Office for Culture. “It will be exciting to discover how humankind as we know it today has evolved through continuous migrations, maintaining the same biological identity yet at the same time creating the remarkable cultural diversity which is now such an invaluable asset for all of us.”
The exhibition, divided into five thematic and chronological sections, includes many original pieces and reconstructions, some seen for the first time in Italy: from the Homo naledi found by chance in a South African cave in 2013 to Israeli choppers, the first stone tools found outside Africa, dating to 1.6 million years ago, from the remarkable Neanderthal finds discovered in the Fumane Cave to the reconstruction of the Lucy skeleton in erect position, the fossil of the skull found in the Qafzeh Cave in Israel, the Altamura Man, the Neanderthal man found in a cave in Apulia, and the footprints of Homo ergaster discovered in June 2016.
The evolution of man, our extinct cousins, the movements of the sapiens species, its adaptation to a wide variety of ecosystems, genetic and linguistic comparisons, human races and racism, contemporary migrations, cultural melting-pots, and present-day biological and cultural diversity are just some of the themes that the exhibition will bring to the attention of the public with continuous parallels between the “history” of the human race and contemporary life and society.
A thrilling experience which, thanks to the varied exhibition design, will be suitable for people of all ages: next to original finds from all over the world, visitors will be able to admire life-size models and edutainment installations, and to immerse themselves in sounds and colours that recount the great "first times" of the human race.
The many multimedia installations, in fact, will make the experience of the exhibition much more “real” and engrossing.
Visitors will be able to discover how many everyday objects have a very different origin and history from what we imagine by exploring the interactive installation “The world in a day”, or to relive what is considered the first walk in human history: “The Laetoli Walk” is an immersive installation, a dynamic animated landscape that takes us on a journey almost 4 million years into the past when a “family” of hominids left their footprints in the ash of a volcano.
Technology and the study of Neanderthal bones have made it possible to work out the sounds our ancestors were able to produce: “You, too, can speak Neanderthalian” is a voice transformation device that will allow visitors to emit the same sounds as Neanderthal Man.
“The Race Test”, on the other hand, is an engaging “game” that aims to show the lack of scientific proof of the existence of human races, while the multimedia installation “The paths of Homo sapiens” allows visitors to retrace the stages of the population of the planet by the human species: a journey lasting 1.5 million years brought to life by an interactive map and graphic info.
Finally, "Match the skulls" is a real “hands-on” prehistoric experience that will test the skills of both adults and children as they try to recognize and reassemble the casts of hominid skulls.

Homo sapiens. The new stories of human evolution
30.06.16 - 26.02.17
MUDEC – #museo delle Culture di #milano (Via Tortona, 56) from 30 September 2016 to 26 February 2017.
OPENING TIMES
MON 2.30PM‐7.30PM | TUES, WED, FRI, SUN 9.30AM‐7.30PM | THURS, SAT 9.30AM‐10.30PM Last admission one hour before closing time.
PRICES
Adults € 12.00 | Concessions € 10.00