Milan, April 16, 2026 – The site-specific installation “Apside” by artist Mohammed El Hajoui was inaugurated yesterday evening at Open Casello, a space dedicated to young people in Milan. The intervention, promoted by the Municipality of Milan and BASE Milano, with the support of Fondazione Banca Popolare di Milano, is a key part of the Milan Art Week 2026 program.
“Apside”: Redefining Public and Shared Space
The artwork, developed through a participatory process with the youth community of Open Casello, transforms the threshold of the former customs house in Piazzale Cantore into a recognizable landmark. It aims to foster a deep dialogue with the external public space and the wider citizenry.
The primary objective of “Apside” is to reverse the perception of the former customs house: from a closed, transitional space, it is transformed into a device for openness and a point of shared reflection on cultural identity.
“Apside” represents a new step in the cultural and social enhancement of Open Casello, an urban regeneration project promoted by the Department of Youth Policies. In 2024, the former customs house at Porta Genova was transformed into a dedicated space for young people under 35, offering orientation, cultural experimentation, civic activation, and artistic production. All activities within Open Casello are conceived and developed by young people, for young people.
Inauguration Ceremony and Key Figures
The inauguration was attended by Martina Riva, Councillor for Youth Policies; Umberto Ambrosoli, President of Fondazione BPM; representatives from Municipio 1 and Municipio 6; and exponents from BASE Milano. Also present were volunteers from the Open Casello community, including those from the initial two-year period and young people who responded to the Municipality’s call and will participate in a training, experimentation, and co-management program during 2026-27. The event marked a fundamental handover, celebrating the continuity and solidity of the relationship with the young people involved in the project.
“With Apside,” emphasized Councillor Riva, “Open Casello confirms itself as a space where young people are not just recipients, but true protagonists in building proposals for the city. In recent years, the Municipality has worked continuously to open and return spaces to new generations: places that must be beautiful and attractive, but also capable of stimulating reflection and discussion. Installations like this go exactly in this direction, contributing to giving quality and meaning to the life of public space.”
“We are very proud to have supported the Open Casello project,” stated Umberto Ambrosoli, President of Fondazione BPM, “because it represents a concrete example of urban regeneration and social innovation, capable of transforming a historical space, previously underutilized, into a place of encounter, growth, and participation, especially for young people. Our commitment is, in fact, to foster paths that strengthen the dialogue between institutions and communities and contribute to building a more open, equitable, and supportive city.”
“The choice to work with Mohammed El Hajoui,” affirmed representatives from BASE Milano, “stems from a deep affinity with his research, which has long investigated opaque subjectivities and the processes of identity construction. In a context like Milan, a crossroads between Europe and the Mediterranean, his work seemed particularly capable of activating a reflection on the space of the threshold as a place of passage but also of recognition. With Apside, this dimension translates into an intervention that transforms a place of transit into a relational space, where different identities can meet and reflect each other. The direct involvement of the Open Casello community makes this process even more significant, in line with the work that BASE has been carrying out for years on relational practices and its curatorial frameworks, aimed at building contexts of openness, belonging, and new forms of coexistence.”
The Concept Behind “Apside”
For Open Casello, Mohammed El Hajoui conceived a site-specific intervention that reflects on the meaning of the threshold as a space of passage, recognition, and encounter between cultures. The work takes shape from one of the recurring symbolic elements in the artist’s research: the door, transforming that of Open Casello into a visible and recognizable entrance, capable of inviting citizens to cross the boundary between public and shared space. The intervention thus transforms the threshold of Open Casello into a symbolic device of welcome, a boundary to be crossed to imagine new forms of community and relationship in the urban space.
The title “Apside” is inspired by the astronomical term of the same name, which indicates the points of maximum proximity or distance of a celestial body from its orbital center. Imagining Open Casello as a center of gravity, the work interprets the personal and professional paths of young people as continuously moving orbits and the Casello as the point of maximum proximity to their realization.
“My practice,” explained Mohammed El Hajoui, “is born in relation to the social context and develops through participatory processes that activate communities and inclusion. At the center of my work is the threshold, understood as a space of encounter and possibility: not a boundary, but a place where different identities can come together. This intervention is an invitation to cross, recognize each other, and imagine new forms of belonging, transforming a personal experience into a collective space of relationship.”
Open Casello: A Hub for Youth and Social Innovation
Open Casello is a project of the Department of Youth Policies of the Municipality of Milan in partnership with BASE Milano, Codici, and the Institute for International Economic Cooperation. In its first two years, it has established itself as a space for inspiration, connection, and design, where ideas and connections are shaped, exploring new ways of conceiving and living the city’s public spaces. The 2026-2027 biennium will ensure continuity, transforming Open Casello from a pilot experiment into a true instrument of planned, long-term social innovation, where dialogue between institutions and young people becomes a central tool for redesigning city services.
In 2025, Open Casello hosted over 70 events, involving more than 1,500 users and 30 organizations and associations, with activities covering performing and audiovisual arts, including exhibitions and screenings, and the production of a live podcast. Additionally, it hosted events for cultural training, creative production, and social inclusion, alongside a constant commitment to a young and active citizenry.
Open Casello and Mohammed El Hajoui’s artistic intervention are included in BASE Milano’s UNDER30 program, which aims to provide space for new generations and encourage their direct involvement in cultural production processes. Through training and mentoring programs, artistic workshops, support for co-management of spaces, and co-production of cultural formats, the program experiments with new learning and participation methods, rethinking cultural institutions as places of social transformation.
Within this process, BASE Milano supports the growth path of the youth communities involved by promoting co-management practices of the space and supporting collective creation processes with the aim of experimenting with a participatory governance model, where new generations can actively contribute to the management of a public space and the construction of an open cultural ecosystem.
Source: https://www.comune.milano.it/w/milano-art-week-2026.-inaugurata-a-open-casello-l-installazione-apside-di-mohammed-el-hajoui
