CfP: Venice and Fascism. Museums, Exhibitions, and the Art Market

Deadline: 18 January 2026

For the Fascist regime, Venice was above all a showcase in which to stage Italy's cultural primacy within Europe. Alongside major infrastructural works new cultural initiatives emerged, including the strengthening of the newly-nationalized Venice Biennale. The creation of new museums (and the reorganization of existing ones) represented an attempt by the Superintendency to respond to the gradual disintegration of Venice's historic private collections.

This conference aims to investigate the cultural, historical, and political identity of Fascist Venice through the lens of exhibitions, museums, and the art market. In contrast to the existing scholarship – largely focused on the role of the Biennale and contemporary art – we adopt a broader and more integrated perspective on the history of collecting, including not only artistic collections, but also archaeological, ethnographic, natural history, and cultural-history collections. Through this expanded approach, we intend to foster an interdisciplinary reflection on how Fascism shaped Venice's cultural landscape through the interrelation of art history, colonialism, and political and economic history.

International conference, Venice, 7–9 October 2026
Languages: Italian, English

Download call for papers here.

Please submit your proposal (max. 300 words, in English or Italian) and a short biographical note (max. 100 words) by 18 January 2026 to: Matilde Cartolari (m.cartolari[at]zikg[dot]eu), Francesca Castellani (fcast[at]iuav[dot]it), Katharina Hüls-Valenti (k.huelsvalenti[at]dhi-roma[dot]it).