Mostre e musei nei cinegiornali dell’Archivio Luce tra le due guerre

The film heritage of the National Institute Luce collects several hundred hours of footage covering the history of the exhibitions and museums of the ’900 in Italy and beyond. Since its inception in 1925, the LUCE (The Union Educational Film) sent his workers to document museums, galleries and exhibitions, especially on the occasion of official visits of kings and members of the fascist regime. Newsreels and educational documentaries and that for some years on-line are also visible on the Archive audiovisual database, and partly also on the dedicated YouTube channel. The paper draws a first reconnaissance of a vast landscape of documentary materials and informative, giving regard to the use of the medium of film to document the temporary exhibitions and museums. The importance of the LUCE’s material, which in 1931 also becomes sound, offers a glimpse still little known of this form of documentation in relation to the contemporary debate on museums, including propaganda and pedagogical use of the image. Ways visual and textual presentation strategies are examined distinguishing among the museums of archeology, ancient art, modern and contemporary art, considering some specific cases of temporary exhibitions like the Venice Biennale and the Rome Quadrenniale. The conclusion is dedicated to a reflection on Adolf Hitler travels in Italy in relation to the artistic and architectural heritage.