Forte Col Badin, MGGM - Concept of the Museum of the Great War in the Mountains

Intervention: exhibition concept, assembling content, preparing educational and scientific equipment and audio/video content

Chiusaforte (UD), Italy, 2011 - 2012
Intended use: museum, cultural centre for exhibitions and conferences
Client: Municipality of Chiusaforte
Status: completed

The museum offers a learning experience to anyone wanting to find out about the first world war from the perspective of the valleys of Raccolana, Dogna and Rio Freddo that form a small region overlooked by the mountains with a prominent multi-ethnic presence, where soldiers from distant parts of Europe fought each other.

The finds tell part of this history, of the physical conditions for soldiers, the technology used to destroy one another, and the solutions adopted to survive in the rough conditions of war in the mountains. There are no barriers between the displays and visitors, no glass screens or display cases, only a few clear boxes to protect delicate exhibits. Objects are set out on simple, rugged, welded mesh grids made from iron rods and can be touched, displayed just as they appeared to the person who unearthed them. Looking along the objects and displays projecting the remains of the soldiers’ presence onto the walls of the fort, the objects become integral to the architecture and, as with memory, we wanted them to be part of it.

It is harder to understand and then communicate the mark left by the conflict on these men, how they could make sacrifices and strive to the limits of their capabilities, and fight for ideals that often left them disappointed.
To describe fear, elation, resignation, heroism, patriotism, and the will to survive, we have included in the exhibition poems and memories written in different languages by those who faced each other on this front.

We have also represented some of the millions of soldiers involved in the war through the use of photo portraits. When you look at the photos, remember that compared to today (where the snapshot taken on your mobile phone and sent to your friends and acquaintances shows “real life” in real time) photography in the first world war was often used for the purposes of strategy, tactics, documentary and propaganda.
Finally, we also represented the “life” of the area with photos and maps to illustrate the profound changes − some temporary, others permanent − that these valleys underwent, reminding us that a little over 100 years ago many of the areas regularly visited today were still “outside history”.

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