Challenging cultural categories: The transformation of the Venice Biennale under Fascism

Abstract

This article analyzes the development of a national cultural event, the Venice Biennale, under the auspices of the Fascist government. As part of a larger project of forging responsive publics and modernizing cultural life, Fascist culture ministries and bureaucrats used this international fine arts exhibition as a place to challenge existing practices of cultural display and organization. In this process, which took place between 1930 and 1938, cinema, the decorative arts and audience incentive practices drawn from the tourist industry were mobilized to transform a previously limited institution.