The Form of Museums in Italy after World War II: A Historical Review for Contemporary Times
| Componente | Categoria |
|---|---|
| Carla Subrizi | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Donatella Capaldi | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Giovanni Michetti | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Eliana Billi | Componenti strutturati del gruppo di ricerca / Structured participants in the research project |
| Caterina Modesti | Dottorando/Assegnista/Specializzando componente non strutturato del gruppo di ricerca / PhD/Assegnista/Specializzando member non structured of the research group |
| Componente | Qualifica | Struttura | Categoria |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letizia Tedeschi | The Institute Director | Mendrisio, (Università della Svizzera Italiana), Archivio del Moderno dell'Accademia di Architetturao), Archivio del Moderno | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Carlo Birrozzi | The Institute Director | Rome, Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Benedetta Cestelli Guidi | Adjunct Professor in Patrimonio Culturale e Fotografia di Documentazione | Rome, "La Sapienza", Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Storico Artistici | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
| Maria Alicata | PhD. Degree in History of Contemporary Art | Rome, "La Sapienza", Università di Roma | Altro personale aggregato Sapienza o esterni, titolari di borse di studio di ricerca / Other aggregate personnel Sapienza or other institution, holders of research scholarships |
The research project The Form of Museums in Italy after World War II: A Historical Review for Contemporary Times intends to systematize the knowledge of documentary, visual and written sources, with the goal of arriving at an overview of museographic and museological renewal in Italy between the II World War and the 1970s. Such a historical review may no longer be delayed; there is too great a need for detailed, documented critical reflection at this time, when we are preparing to ¿modernize¿ these very museums to cater to contemporary museology and museography.
In the wake of wartime destruction, the urge to rebuild monumental architectures, rearrange collections and open archaeological sites led to a radical renewal of museum spaces and collections display. The "museums of the reconstruction" (Marisa Dalai Emiliani, Musei della ricostruzione in Italia, tra disfatta e rivincita della storia, 1982) have to this day remained among the loftiest witnesses to a time of civil commitment and creativity in the service of repurposing and renewing the form of museums and, at the same time, museums¿ cultural and educational functions. Up and down Italy, heritage conservation went hand in hand with the need to educate the public and make the works accessible. The museum reconstruction effort catered to both of these requirements as part of a State-led project.
We interpret the post-WW II museum as a discursive institutional "device" governed by narrative paradigms germane to bolstering Italy's cultural identity (Giorgio Agamben, Che cos'è un dispositivo, 2006). To this end, the relationship between museums and historiography will be a central aspect of the project.
Recovering this history through archival documentation and iconographic sources will make it possible to show models that are valid today and able to assist contemporary museology and museography in the extremely delicate matter of updating the form and content of these historicized spaces.