C9286 - LE ESPOSIZIONI UNIVERSALI. ARTI, INDUSTRIA, PATRIMONI IN ETÀ CONTEMPORANEA

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide critical tools and knowledge for understanding the relationship between art, politics and industrial civilisation in the 19th and 20th centuries. The focus will be on the great universal exhibitions, places dedicated to the construction of new imaginaries of industry and technical progress, as well as spaces for the dissemination of concepts related to the pedagogical and educational role of art in the process of civilisation. At the end of the course, students will have developed the ability to recognise, the meaning and value of the heritage of industrial civilisation in relation to art, politics, technological development, production and the media over the last two centuries.

Course contents

The course examines the relationship between the arts, heritage, and industrial civilization between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries through the study of World's Fairs as privileged observatories of modernity. The exhibitions are explored as spaces in which the arts assumed multiple roles: from serving as instruments of political prestige and national identity to fostering dialogue between art and industry, from the promotion of the decorative arts and movements for the reform of taste to the emergence of socially engaged art and the ideological uses of the arts in the twentieth century. The course also investigates the concept of heritage in its multiple dimensions—including cultural, scientific, technical, technological, and industrial heritage—by analysing the role of World's Fairs in the dissemination of innovation, the construction of material culture, and the development of museums dedicated to the arts, science, technology, and the cultures of the world.

Readings/Bibliography

a ) General books on World's Fairs

Aimone, L., and C. Olmo. Le esposizioni universali, 1851–1900. Il progresso in scena. Turin: Umberto Allemandi, 1990.

Fontana, G. L., and A. Pellegrino. Esposizioni Universali in Europa. Attori, pubblici, memorie tra metropoli e colonie, 1851–1939. Special issue of Ricerche Storiche, nos. 1–2 (2015).

Geppert, C. T., and M. Baioni. Esposizioni in Europa fra Otto e Novecento. Spazi, organizzazione, rappresentazioni. Special issue of Memoria e Ricerca, no. 17 (2004).

Massidda, L. Atlante delle grandi esposizioni universali. Storia e geografia del medium espositivo. Milan: FrancoAngeli, 2011.

b) World's Fairs, Art, and Technical Museums 

Baculo, A., S. Gallo, and M. Mangone. Le grandi esposizioni nel mondo, 1851–1900: dall'edificio città alla città di edifici, dal Crystal Palace alla White City. Naples: Liguori, 1988.

Bennett, T. “The Exhibitionary Complex.” New Formations 4 (1988): 73–102.

Bennett, T. The Birth of the Museum: History, Theory, Politics. London: Routledge, 1995.

Colombo, P. Le Esposizioni Universali. I mestieri d'arte sulla scena del mondo. Venice: Marsilio, 2012.

de Matos, A. C., I. Gouzévitch, and M. C. Lourenço, eds. Expositions Universelles, Musées Techniques et Société Industrielle / World Exhibitions, Technical Museums and Industrial Society. Lisbon: Colibri, 2010.

Evangelisti, F., and A. Pes. Le esposizioni: propaganda e costruzione identitaria. Special issue of Diacronie, no. 18 (2014).

Mainardi, P. Art and Politics of the Second Empire: The Universal Expositions of 1855 and 1867. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.

Marino, I. Expo! Arte ed esposizioni universali. Florence: Giunti, 2015.

c) World's Fairs and Colonialism

Abbattista, G. Umanità in mostra. Esposizioni etniche e invenzioni esotiche in Italia (1880–1940). Trieste: EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste, 2013.

Bancel, N., P. Blanchard, G. Boëtsch, É. Deroo, and S. Lemaire, eds. Zoo umani. Dalla Venere ottentotta ai reality show. Italian translation by Stefania De Petris. Verona: Ombre Corte, 2003.

Teaching methods

The course combines lectures with the guided analysis of a wide range of primary sources, including written, visual, and material documents. Teaching activities are supported by the use of documentary films, audiovisual materials, and images. The course also includes seminar-style workshops devoted to the critical analysis and discussion of primary sources, fostering active participation and the development of historical interpretation skills.

Assessment methods

Attending Students

Assessment is based on continuous evaluation throughout the course and includes:

• active participation in lectures and class discussions;
• completion of an individual or group assignment, to be agreed upon with the instructor during the course;
• a final oral examination.

The final oral examination is designed to assess the knowledge acquired through lectures, the teaching materials and slides provided by the instructor, and one of the general texts listed in the bibliography. The examination includes questions on the main topics covered during the course, the critical analysis of one of the primary sources examined in class, discussion of the selected monograph, and, where applicable, presentation and discussion of the individual or group assignment.

The final grade is based on the student's overall performance throughout the course, taking into account class participation, the quality of the assignment, and the outcome of the oral examination.

Non-attending Students

Assessment consists of a final oral examination.

The examination is based on the study of one general text selected from Section A –  together with two additional texts chosen freely from the bibliography.

During the examination, students are expected to demonstrate their ability to:

• place events, phenomena, and historical processes within their appropriate historical context;
• use an appropriate chronological framework and historical periodization;
• critically analyse the assigned readings, identifying their main methodological and historiographical issues;
• develop independent historical arguments and employ appropriate disciplinary terminology.

Assessment Criteria

The following assessment criteria apply to all students:

• Fail (below 18/30): inadequate knowledge of the subject, inability to contextualize historical events and interpret texts and sources correctly, and inappropriate use of historical terminology.
• Pass (18–23/30): satisfactory knowledge of the fundamental topics; generally correct interpretation of historical issues, although with limited precision and critical independence.
• Good (24–27/30): solid knowledge of the course content; accurate analysis and interpretation; appropriate use of disciplinary terminology and a good degree of independent critical thinking.
• Excellent (28–30/30 with distinction): comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of the subject; ability to establish connections between historical themes and historiographical debates; independent and rigorous interpretation of sources and scholarship; precise use of historical terminology and excellent critical and analytical skills.

Teaching tools

Teaching activities make use of multimedia resources for the presentation and analysis of slides, images, visual documents, and short audiovisual materials supporting the topics covered in the course.

Office hours

See the website of Anna Pellegrino