MUMAC brings the excellence of Italian design to Brazil

MUMAC participates in the prestigious exhibition “Passione italiana: l’arte dell’espresso”, which is taking place in Brazil

MUMAC – the Coffee Machine Museum of Cimbali Group, announces its participation in the prestigious exhibition “Passione italiana: l’arte dell’espresso” in Brazil in two major venues:

• Museu do Café in Santos from 1^st October 2024 to 4^th February 2025
• Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo from 21^st February 2025 to 26^th May 2025

Curated by Elisabetta Pisu, the exhibition pays tribute to the design, innovation, and history of espresso coffee, one of Italy’s most beloved symbols worldwide, highlighting the connection with the history of Italian emigration to Brazil, which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2024, and the origins of the widespread diffusion of coffee in the South American country.

The exhibition was opened on 1^st October 2024, on the occasion of International Coffee Day, a particularly meaningful date to honour the beverage that has become an emblem of the Italian lifestyle and its cultural ties with Brazil.

In addition to the historical narrative, the exhibition presents a series of thematic insights that analyze the social significance of the world’s most-consumed beverage through places, domestic rituals, and designers who have significantly influenced habits and collective imagination. With an exhibition path that includes over 60 items, from domestic and commercial coffee machines to images of historic cafés, rituals, and customs of the Italian way of life linked to coffee consumption, MUMAC will showcase a significant selection from its collection.

Among the featured items are some of the most iconic models in the history of espresso coffee machines:

• Snider Insuperabile, with its unique column shape from the early decades of the 20th century, a hallmark of early espresso machines.
• La Cimbali Brillante from the 1950s, known for promoting the global recognition of “Cimbalino” espresso with crema.
• Gaggia TS, a reflection of the post-war American style that influenced design across many sectors.
• La Pavoni Lilliput, a lever machine, a prime example of famous design by Studio PFR (Gio Ponti, Antonio Fornaroli, Alberto Rosselli).
• La Dorio Kapitan, produced in various colour options and displayed here in red.
• Faema E61, the timeless icon from the 1960s, still produced and distributed worldwide today.

«The loan of these models, drawn from MUMAC’s Cimbali and Maltoni collections, celebrates the museum’s excellence in exporting Italian design and ingenuity, showcasing the
technological and stylistic evolution that has shaped the espresso coffee machine industry over the years», says Barbara Foglia, MUMAC Director.

Through an exhibition spanning two centuries of history, the show highlights the evolution of espresso machines and their societal impact. Each item on display, including those from MUMAC’s collection, represents a crucial piece of this development, from the pursuit of technological innovations to the aesthetics of Italian design.

This collaboration reinforces MUMAC’s role as a global reference point for the dissemination of the culture and history of coffee machines, this time through the story of the historical connection between Italy and Brazil.

The exhibition is produced and organized by IMF Foundation and EP Studio. It is presented in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy in São Paulo and the Instituto de Preservação e Difusão da História do Café e da Imigração.