The Swiss Institute inaugurates its program in Milan with The House of Dorothy, the first solo exhibition in Italy by the artist Vincent Grange (born in Geneva in 1997, lives and works in Geneva). Grange presents an architectural installation designed for the spaces of the Swiss Institute. 

The title of the project is inspired by the expression "friends of Dorothy," a code used by the gay community - and later LGBTQIA+ - in the United States starting from the Fifties to recognize each other, escaping persecution of homosexuality. The definition was so widespread that in the Eighties the Naval Investigative Service launched a long and futile investigation to find Dorothy, believing she was a real person. 

At the intersection of space design and queer history, The House of Dorothy reconstructs the home of this imaginary figure, whose name was probably a tribute to the character played by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The different rooms tell the life of Dorothy, paying homage, at the same time, to a series of places historically linked to the LGBTQIA+ community. From legendary clubs to city cruising spots, from historically existing homes to cinematic references, Dorothy's house spans epochs and geographies to gather symbolic and real spaces that have been safe havens for the queer community. 

In the house, the memory of stories of oppression alternates and overlaps with the joyful experience of shared struggle. The project continues a practice rooted in the history of LGBTQIA+ movements: reclaiming, in an emancipatory perspective, terms and narratives born from discrimination. The architectures, objects, and presences of the house question contemporary as well as past mythologies, bringing suppressed stories to the surface and strongly reaffirming the importance of not forgetting them, re-inhabiting them together.

The title also refers to the concept of "house" in ballroom culture, where chosen families, led by a "mother" or "father," offer a sense of belonging and support to their "children," who are often estranged from their biological families. The House of Dorothy thus becomes a space for the community, honoring present and past queer genealogies, offering them a home.