Difficult Heritage: Fascist-Era Art and Architecture Out of Its Time

On the critical preservation and ongoing legacy of material artefacts from Fascist Italy

As part of Italy's national cultural heritage, its fascist-era architecture is protected by preservation laws--as are many artworks and monuments from that period. However, in the country's more recent reappraisal of its fascist and colonial past, these buildings and artworks have become a nexus of keen critical debate and political conflict. A Difficult Heritage focuses on the material history of fascist-era works of art, monuments and architecture in Italy, and examines their afterlife and critical reception. Contributions explore Italy's ambiguous transition from fascism to republic and the dynamics of postwar censorship, and reexamine some of the artists close to the fascist regime and the role played by private collections in the preservation and survival of fascist-era works of art. Probing this concept of "difficult heritage" in relation to both Italy itself, and in comparative perspective with other nations, the book addresses issues of restoration, display and critical preservation of fascist-era artifacts in public and institutional spaces.