The Role of State Museums in Retelling the History of Italian Colonialism and Related Migrations
This article aims to outline the ways in which Italian state museums have addressed the issue of migration and to examine the manner in which these institutions have engaged in a process of renarrating history and collective identity in recent years.
Italy has a long history of migration, with an exodus beginning around 1850. In this context, we will analyse how museums deal with migrations resulting from the Italian colonial experience.
The initial phase of Italian colonialism commenced following the unification of Italy in 1861, characterised by a growing interest among liberal governments in pursuing a colonial expansion policy, primarily aimed at the opening of new trade routes. The second phase originated by the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), which marked the beginning of European powers' attention to the African continent. The Colonia Eritrea was established on 1890. The third phase started with the establishment of the Colonia Italiana, comprising the provinces of Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan. The fourth phase resulted in the Italo-Ethiopian War (1935-1936). This conflict saw Benito Mussolini's Fascist government pitted against Haile Selassie I's Ethiopian Empire.
The phases of Italian colonialism are characterised by significant differences in terms of political, social and cultural contexts. These differences have resulted in a gradual process of historical amnesia among the Italian population, with a lack of awareness of key events and consequences.
In the present era, museums, in collaboration with citizens who hold the memory of colonialism and related migrations, are one of the main actors in the process of retelling the true Italian colonial history.