«Un fatto che nella storia della nostra città non si potrà tacere mai». Chieti’s 1905 Expo of the “Ancient Art of Abruzzo”. A historical research through the analysis of the sources /«Un fatto che nella storia della nostra città non si potrà tacere mai». La Mostra d’Arte antica abruzzese di Chieti del 1905 attraverso un’analisi delle fonti documentarie

Across the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, the newborn Italian nation expressed the desire and the willingness to show itself and be acknowledged by the world. Therefore, exhibitions represented valuable opportunities to unveil the level of progress and modernity achieved. Simultaneously, they served as a platform to enhance the nation-building process through the reconstruction of the local, artistic, and cultural history of the Italian regions within the new State. This ambivalence between a national identity in the making facing a well-rooted local sense of belonging boosted the organiza-tion of exhibitions at the regional level. In this context lies the purpose of this research by taking into consideration the "Mostra d'Arte Antica" organized in Chieti in 1905 which linked art and craftsmanship of the Abruzzo Region over times. The study has been con-ducted by collecting the available sources from local and national archives, with a keen eye on the points of view of several commentators and academics of the time.