Anversa 1930: l’Italia all’ “Exposition Internationale Coloniale, Maritime et d'Art Flamand”

Antwerp 1930: Italy at the 'Exposition Internationale Coloniale, Maritime et d'Art Flamand'. The essay aims to investigate Italy's participation in the 1930 'Exposition Internationale Coloniale, Maritime et d'Art Flamand' in Antwerp, with particular regard to the colonial section and the role of art within it. For the first time, a room was set up entirely dedicated to the new genre of colonial art, about which there had been much discussion in specialised reviews in previous years. The artworks were no longer used as a simple background for goods and agricultural products but became integral to the regime's programme of propaganda. Held at the crucial opening of the decade, the exhibition provided an opportunity for Italy to bring itself up to date. From then on, Italy would also assimilate a series of exhibition strategies employed by Belgium, demonstrating the importance of comparative and transnational analysis in studying colonial exhibitions and museums.