<論文>ローマ万博の光と影--ジュゼッペ・ボッタイのまなざし

Abstract

This paper investigates how and what influence the Universal Exposition of Rome of 1942 (E42) exercised on Italian culture in the lastest years of the Fascist administration. Giuseppe Bottai (1895-1959), a dedicated fascist who was in charge of cultural politics, provided the crucial and effective viewpoints to reconsider the unrevealed aspects of E42. Although cancelled due to World War II, the site of E42 had been prepared as an ideological city to celebrate the achievement of Italian and fascist civilization. The two prominent supervisors, Marcello Piacentini (architect 1881-1960) and Cipriano Efisio Oppo (painter and art critic 1891-1962) designed the whole site in ancient Roman and monumental styles in order to exploit such traditional fashion for the purpose of glorifying Italy as the "new empire" of fascism. Yet on the other hand, letters and essays written by Bottai of the same period suggest that E42 may just have been the result of the "rhetorical presentation of the Nation". In fact, the cultural policies promoted by him were based on his intentions to reject and to oppose the ideological rhetoric of the regime. One of his intentions appeared as the "2% Law" that sets aside two per cent of the construction budget of public buildings for artworks to be integrated into their actual fabric. It allowed Italian artists to participate in social activities, but at the same time controversially evoked the discussion concerning the subordination of the plastic arts to architecture, and vice versa. This discussion matched Bottai's attempt to cultivate both art and architecture without dictorial intervention. He always tried to provide alternatives in order to avoid over-concentration of culture. Besides, such problem of artistic representation of E42 became the foothold for reconsidering the social responsibility and utility of art in Italian culture after the war. E42 was an indispensable event of Italian fascist culture not only for contemporaries of Bottai but also for the studies of modern cultural history.