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History of Exhibitions

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The history of exhibitions examines the development, organization, and cultural significance of public displays of art, science, and industry throughout time. It explores how exhibitions reflect societal values, influence public perception, and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and cultural exchange.
lightbulbAbout this topic
The history of exhibitions examines the development, organization, and cultural significance of public displays of art, science, and industry throughout time. It explores how exhibitions reflect societal values, influence public perception, and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and cultural exchange.

Key research themes

1. How did world fairs and international exhibitions shape imperial and national identities through the representation and staging of culture and power?

This theme investigates the role of world fairs and large-scale exhibitions as platforms for imperial and national self-representation from the nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries. These events were pivotal in constructing and disseminating ideas of modernity, hierarchy, and identity by combining displays of technological progress, ethnographic showcases, and cultural diplomacy. Much research focuses on how exhibitions embodied imperial ambitions through displays of colonized peoples and goods, influenced urban transformations, and mediated knowledge production and social imaginaries. This theme matters as it elucidates how the politics of display intersected with colonial ideology, nationalism, and globalization, shaping collective memory and contemporary museum and exhibition practices.

Key finding: This work contextualizes world fairs as global venues for projecting imperial and industrial power beginning in the eighteenth century, emphasizing how exhibitions featured colonized peoples as part of colonial displays that... Read more
Key finding: Focusing on Latin America, this volume demonstrates how world fairs served as cultural world maps reflecting global power dynamics while fostering identities and knowledge exchange beyond Eurocentric narratives. By moving... Read more
Key finding: Analyzing the 1940 Milan Triennale colonial exhibition, this paper reveals how Italian modernist design and exhibitions constructed colonial imaginaries that framed violent imperial conquest as an adventurous masculine... Read more

2. How has the evolution of exhibition practices intersected with technological innovations and digital mediation to preserve and reinterpret temporary cultural heritage?

Recent investigations focus on the challenges and methodologies involved in preserving and presenting temporally limited exhibitions, particularly through virtual and digital means. Research explores the integration of 3D reconstruction technologies, virtual museums, and interactive platforms to extend the accessibility and longevity of ephemeral exhibitions, addressing issues of curatorial control, content volatility, and user engagement. This theme is significant as it combines heritage preservation, digital humanities, and museology, proposing actionable technological solutions to enhance exhibition legacy and democratize cultural consumption.

Key finding: This study develops a systematic methodology and technical platform tailored to the preservation of temporary cultural heritage exhibitions via virtual museums (VMs). By integrating 3D reconstruction technologies such as... Read more

3. How have exhibitions historically mediated national and cultural identity narratives within contested or postcolonial contexts through curatorial strategies and visual discourses?

This theme explores how exhibitions act as mediating sites for negotiating national identity, memory, and cultural representation, especially in postcolonial or politically contested contexts. It investigates curatorial politics, inclusion/exclusion of communities, resistance to hegemonic narratives, and the strategic use of objects and spaces to construct or challenge historical understandings. This research is crucial for academics interested in exhibition studies, memory politics, and the role of museological practice in shaping contested histories and identities.

Key finding: This work analyzes the shifting curatorial strategies at the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrating how evolving Taiwanese national identity politics from 1965 onward have influenced the museum's portrayal and... Read more
Key finding: This paper conceptualizes the Resurgent Nahda exhibition as a meta-exhibition that interrogates the role of exhibition-making practices in Mandate Palestine, revealing how exhibition spaces were battlegrounds for conflicting... Read more
Key finding: This essay uncovers the tensions and contestations surrounding Jewish victim representation in immediate post-WWII French exhibitions, focusing on the 1945 'Crimes hitlériens' exhibition. It shows that despite inclusion... Read more

All papers in History of Exhibitions

This article describes the tools, materials, and the conception, design and construction process of a traditional canoe by master Eugenio Cueto Pacheco in Loma de Arena, Bolívar, Colombia. It includes a photogrammetric model and a... more
Abstract of the organized panel session at AAS Annual Conference 2025, sponsored by Association of Chinese Art History
This essay examines the Venice Biennale – the longest and most emulated of major international exhibitions – by intertwining art history with the history of the city. A key focus is the decision to situate the Exhibition along the... more
In the art historical text “Christa Jeitner’s Visions of Trees,” Marie Meyerding argues that it was growing awareness of the finitude of natural resources and fears about the chemical pollution emanating from extractive industries that... more
This research is a managerial approach study, which identifies and analyses the elements that can affect the initiation of the Arch. Biennale in Khartoum, focusing on how to engage people, art and place to be a part of the biennale. So I... more
https://saudipavilion.org/pedagogies-of-proximity-and-relation/ Venice Architecture Biennale, 2025 Pedagogies of Proximity and Relation Prototyping Alternative Education October 10–12, 2025 Building on the discussions of previous... more
Il contributo indaga come Corrente — nata a Milano nel 1938 intorno all’omonima rivista, soppressa dal regime due anni dopo — abbia alimentato le matrici visive, critiche e istituzionali che, dal secondo conflitto mondiale a oggi,... more
The first part titled 365 Apocalyptic Days outlines the developments following the dismissal of director Alexandra Kusá, the resignation of more than 100 employees including key chief curators in protest, the cancellation of cooperation... more
Recensione del libro di ricerca sulla museologia e sulla museografia nelle riserve museali in Île de France.
Paper given to the international symposium, "The Artistic Networks of Trust: Collecting and Dealing in Times of War and Diplomacy", on 8-10 October at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon.... more
This essay focuses on studioli decorated with ebony and ivory inlays, marking forty years since their rediscovery by Alvar González-Palacios. Two significant additions to the known catalog are highlighted: a 1587 box signed by Theodoro de... more
This study investigates the conceptual and spatial continuities between traditional Japanese residential architecture and its contemporary reinterpretations. Drawing upon principles such as spatial permeability, integration with nature,... more
During the first few decades of its existence, the Bratislava City Museum acquired a sizable collection of works by notable sculptors active in Pressburg (now Bratislava), such as Viktor Tilgner (1844 - 1896), Johann Fadrusz (1858 - 1903)... more
L’articolo intende chiarire i primi contatti tra Franco Russoli e Fernanda Wittgens attraverso la corrispondenza intercorsa tra il 1950, anno di trasferimento del giovane funzionario dalla Sovrintendenza pisana a quella milanese, e il... more
Il contributo ricostruisce la storia del padiglione italiano alla Biennale di Venezia del 1999, inizialmente eliminato da Harald Szeemann, curatore di quell'edizione, e poi reintrodotto in una versione "smaterializzata" composta dalle... more
Il 23 dicembre del 2018 una "Lucrezia" di Artemisia Gentileschi è passata sul mercato antiquario austriaco (Vienna, Palais Dorotheum, 23.10.2018, lotto n. 56). Il dipinto proveniva dalla collezione Jatta a Ruvo di Puglia dove era entrato... more
Despite their differences, arising from the steps taken by the many curators in charge, the Venice Biennials of the past ten years have shown some unity and coherence, stemming from and nurtured by, one might almost say paradoxically,... more
Against the backdrop of the government's active promotion of cultural and creative industry policies, the Creative Expo Taiwan has overcome numerous challenges and withstood public criticisms to successfully host more than ten sessions,... more
Fecha de Aceptación: (23/06/2025) Fecha de Publicación: (23/06/2025) Resumen: La historia ha sido escrita desde una perspectiva sesgada, en la que la mayor parte de contribuciones femeninas han sido invisibilizadas. Este artículo se... more
His contribution to the music scene in Canada has never  been fully recognized. Both as a military band conductor and teacher as well as  composer. This article will outline his works and life.
Introduction Abraham Manievich (1881-1942) was an artist, whose creative vision, rooted in perception of nature, evolved through a synthesis of various stylistic and thematic influences. Although personally reserved, painter actively... more
Maria Luisa Righini Bonelli è stata una figura di spicco nel panorama della storia della scienza internazionale. È stata principalmente ricordata per il suo eccezionale impegno nella museologia storico-scientifica e per il suo ruolo... more
The demise of Count Jurij Günther Herberstein, proprietor of the manor and castle of Wurberk, in 1677 at the dam on the Studenčnica stream near the village of Lokev in the Drava Plain, marked the culmination of longstanding disputes... more
MENDES, Ricardo. A historiografia da fotografia em crise: um olhar sobre grandes narrativas produzidas entre 1970 e 2010. São Paulo: FFLCH-USP, 2024. doutorado em história social. orientação: Vânia Carneiro de Carvalho... more
El present estudi tracta el desenvolupament de les capelles i la presència de retaules als habitatges dels estaments privilegiats de Mallorca durant el segle XVI, responent als seus afanys representatius i a la pietat domèstica que... more
In some respects, this biennial began with a first dispatch dropped on 6 December 2024, in Mousse, six months to the day before its physical opening. While many biennials are developed in the utmost secrecy, curator Chus Martínez offered... more
Appui financier du CRSH/SSHRC support Ce projet s'appuie sur des recherches financées par le Conseil de recherches en sciences humaines du Canada.
This book equips educators, students, translators, and museum professionals with tools to: Reframe specialized content for diverse audiences Translate across languages and semiotic modes Navigate the cognitive and communicative demands... more
NO complaciente: Boris Lurie en México. Esta muestra reúne 95 obras del artista ruso-estadounidense y de origen judío, Boris Lurie (1924-2008), quien desarrolló su carrera artística en la ciudad de Nueva York. La exposición tiene un... more
In 1981, the Cologne Trade-Fair centre hosted a large exhibition titled Westkunst: Zeitgenössische Kunst seit 1939 [Western Art: Contemporary Art since 1939]. Organised by art critic Laszlo Glozer and curator Kasper König, the... more
intentar meticulosamente retener alguna cosa, hacer sobrevivir alguna cosa: arrancar algunos trocitos precisos al vacío que se abre, dejar, en algún lugar, un surco, un rastro, una marca o algunos signos Georges Perec a pulsión de... more
The nineteenth century witnessed an upsurge of interest in the region across Europe and North America, in media ranging from literary fiction to the illustrated periodical and from visual arts to architecture. This rise of regionalism has... more
Le geste artistique, que ce soit dans le domaine musical, celui des arts visuels ou de la danse, est fondamentalement un acte technique qui pose la question de sa transmission, de sa reproduction, de son perfectionnement. Le geste... more
Il disegno è il mezzo per me più capace di rappresentare le oscillazioni, le correzioni, gli errori del pensiero in tempo reale. Lo schizzo è l'erompere improvviso di un pensiero interno che si fa esterno, l'apparire agli occhi, prima di... more
Cette journée d’études, organisée à l’occasion de l’exposition Sur les pas des Lumières Séville en couleurs au Collège d’Espagne, se propose d’explorer l’histoire de la photographie urbaine espagnole des XIXe et XXe siècles à travers ses... more
Este libro incluye una antología del periódico La Vida Literaria. Crítica. Información. Bibliografía, que el editor Samuel Glusberg llevó adelante entre fines de 1920 y los primeros años de la década siguiente, simultáneamente con la... more
A partire da una selezione di casi espositivi ospitati dal 1970 al 1973 presso gli spazi della Galleria dell’Ariete di Milano lo studio indaga i diversi formati in cui la ricerca fotografica di Ugo Mulas è stata presentata e promossa da... more
I testi qui raccolti offrono una prima riflessione sulla ricezione delle arti africane, oceaniche e centro-sudamericane in Italia nel secondo dopoguerra, esplorando le letture critiche, visive ed espositive che hanno accompagnato la... more
Lo studio indaga la riflessione di Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti, il primo storico dell’arte italiano ad essersene occupato, su strumenti e principi di metodo per l’analisi delle arti africane: straniere non solo per lontananza geografica e... more
O artigo objetiva apresentar, por meio de uma investigação da materialidade de algumas obras pertencentes à década de 1990 do artista visual Raimundo Rodriguez, a formação de uma identidade territorial e visual periférica. Conceitos que... more
Freie Universität Berlin - Alfred Landecker Foundation, November 13-14
Este artigo relaciona-se a Projeto Temático desenvolvido com apoio da Fapesp (Processo 2022/12333-3) e que tem como propósito mapear e analisar as mostras internacionais de artes visuais que circularam pelo Brasil e por outros países da... more
Each of you knows perfectly well that, among the pieces of advice physiognomists and artists or art theorists give to their readers, there is at least one they all share: to observe one's own face in a mirror. Now, the issue I would like... more
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