The Mostra d’Oltremare and Colonial Heritage in Naples: Between Artistic Practices and Memory Activism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/rlec.7412Keywords:
colonial heritage, memory activism, public space, Naples, difficult heritageAbstract
This article examines the historical transformations of the Mostra d’Oltremare di Napoli (The Overseas Exhibition in Naples), the exhibition complex built during the fascist era to familiarise Italian people with the colonies, as a site of contemporary memory activism. Drawing on urban mapping of colonial heritage, historiographical reconstruction, and semi-structured interviews conducted within the CONCILIARE Project, the study investigates how colonial traces persist in the urban landscape and are contextualised and endowed with new meanings through artistic interventions. The article situates the Italian case within the broader European debate on colonial heritage while highlighting its specific trajectory. Although Italy has experienced only a limited number of highly visible protests against colonial symbols, public reflection on colonialism has also developed through less spectacular, more diffuse practices rooted in local activist networks, migrant communities, artistic production and urban cultural spaces. The case of the Mostra d’Oltremare reveals how colonial heritage sites can simultaneously remain hyper-visible and socially invisible. Although the site continues to function as one of the city’s main cultural and entertainment hubs, many of its colonial references remain largely uncontextualised and publicly unacknowledged. Through the analysis of artistic projects, exhibitions and activist practices, the article explores how different actors seek to reactivate critical engagement with colonial memory in contemporary Naples. The study argues that the Neapolitan case reflects a specific form of memory activism in which artistic and performative practices are central in mediating public awareness of colonial legacies.
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