Torino and the Great War 1915-1918

The exhibition is dedicated to the meaning the war had for Torino, from the point of view of mobilization, propaganda and assistance and the consequences it had on the city’s life and activities.

The exhibition counts 310 pieces and is divided in two parts. The first one, organized in seven sections, is dedicated to the war front and pays particular attention to some of the means of propaganda used during the conflict – the popular art of celebrating war, trench newspapers, postcards, war fliers, photography, the illustrations by Achille Beltrame for “La Domenica del Corriere”. In juxtaposition, the anti-rhetoric insight of the combatants is shown through sketches by anonymous soldiers, realized during their life in the trenches.

The second part of the exhibition is dedicated to Torino during the war. It is introduced by a video installation that shows the mobilization of the citizens organized by the city board in collaboration with other institutions and private initiatives; it is followed by the description of the peculiarities of Torino, which was the most neutral city in Italy at the beginning of the war, and later became central in organizing mobilization and propaganda in favour of the conflict. Documented here are the changing life conditions, the high concentration of warfare industry and the social initiatives for a widespread action of assistance to civilians and to the many refugees from the war zone. The exhibition ends with a selection of lithographies by Raemaekers, incisive representations of the horrors of the war.

The initiative, which takes place on the centenary of the entrance of Italy into World War I, is realized in collaboration with the Historical Archives of the City of Torino and the Lions Club Torino Monviso.

From 18.9.2015 to 22.5.2016; extended until 22.1.2017