The artists’ journal, it could be said, is one of the most transient objects out there. This is not only because they climb into bags and hit the road, board trains and planes, spines open and bearing witness to the riches of worldly artistic inspiration, but because even when static, these vestibules can take us far away into the imagination, the outer limits, the past. 

In celebration of Milan Design Week, Moleskine and the Moleskine Foundation have come together to present Detour, a traveling exhibition of artist notebooks. Transporting visitors into the creative process, this year’s exhibition took place in two locations, Alcova, an independent design fair, and at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, a library and museum that houses numerous Renaissance masterpieces. 

As Moleskine CEO Daniela Riccardi, who previously served as CEO of Diesel and Baccarat as well as a member of Kering’s board of directors, explains, "Each notebook tells a unique story, reflecting the background and vision of the artist who created it. We are thrilled to bring this extraordinary exhibition to Milan, a city that perfectly embodies the spirit of innovation and creativity."

With Detour, a selection of the over 1,600 artist notebooks held by the Moleskine Foundation, are on view to the public. “Together with the Moleskine Foundation,” notes Riccardi, “we have this dream: that creativity can change the world.”  Housed in glass cases, visitors are encouraged to flip through their pages and go on the journey of inspiration, documentation, and creative evolution. 

At the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Moleskine notebooks from contemporary artists including Giorgia Lupi, Antonio Marras, Pascale Marthine Tayou, and Joana Vasconcelos sit under the same roof as works on paper by Leonardo Da Vinci and opposite the cartoon iteration of Rafaello’s 16th-century masterpiece, The School of Athens. Sketched out, notes taken, crossed out, iterated, invented, “All big ideas start on paper,” shares Riccardi.

In tandem with the exhibition, Milan Design Week also served as a launching pad for Moleskine’s new “Pen&Paper” campaign, which explores the power of handwriting as a tool to stimulate creativity as well as a mnemonic device. Riccardi is passionate about the universality that a blank page, a fresh notebook represents, “It's really the power of ideas, not the power of money that [can] change the world.”

Detour is on view now through June 11th at Pinacoteca Ambrosiana.