The island of the day before

The Umberto Eco Foundation, in collaboration with the Braidense National Library and the Galileo Museum in Florence, presents an exhibition and educational project designed to highlight the work and thought of Umberto Eco. The exhibition unfolds through a narrative of the captivating original illustrations from the novel The island of the day before, drawn from the literary and scientific heritage of his collection of antique books and the holdings of the Braidense Library, as well as from evocative digital reconstructions and the author’s preparatory works.
The exhibition will take place in Milan, at the Braidense Library, from 2 October until 10 January 2027, and is conceived as a journey through time, exploring literature, history, science and voyages across the South Seas.
The exhibition features 70 volumes and a series of original illustrations that accompanied the story, drawn from the literary and scholarly heritage of Umberto Eco’s collection of antique books and from the holdings of the Braidense Library.
These are complemented by a number of handwritten sheets by Umberto Eco containing drawings, annotations and reflections relating to the drafting of the text.
Visitors are invited to retrace the experiences of the protagonist through installations created specifically for the occasion, which will engage the senses through the reproduction of sounds, visuals and lighting.
Also on display are some of the navigational instruments mentioned in the novel, on loan from the Museo Galileo – Institute and Museum of the History of Science in Florence, as well as digital representations developed by metaLAB in Harvard and Berlin.
The project was conceived by the Umberto Eco Foundation in collaboration with Davide Picca of the University of Lausanne.
The exhibition was designed by XyComm.

Photo@Cesare Maiocchi - Pinacoteca di Brera