An exhibition on the drawings of "The famous invasion of bears in Sicily"

The famous invasion of bears in Sicily is a novel written and illustrated by the writer Dino Buzzati, which was published in installments on Corriere dei Piccoli in 1945 and then in a single volume that year. In 2019 the story was transformed into an animated film, the first directed and designed by the famous illustrator Lorenzo Mattotti; presented at the Cannes Film Festival in the "Un Certain Regard" section, it arrived at the cinema on 7 November and is still present in some rooms. The creative process of the film is told in an exhibition at the Formentini Laboratory for Publishing in Milan, from December 3rd to January 17th: it collects tables, preparatory sketches of the characters and set designs and images of the feature film production. Mattotti has reworked Buzzati's style mixing it with his personal trait, particularly recognizable by the use of color.

The story, which is a metaphor for the corruption of comforts and wealth, tells of a group of bears who live in the Sicilian mountains but, to escape hunger and the cold of a harsh winter, invade the milder and more prosperous Grand Duchy of Sicily, governed by humans. After an invasion, various battles and acts of cunning and generosity, bears take the place of humans but over time end up taking on their vices too.