Two Italian exhibitions look to the past: Chagall in Aosta, the economic boom in Turin

Two exhibitions open a different dialogue with Italian and European cultural memory, each in its own way.

In Aosta, the Regional Archaeological Museum hosts from 20 June to 25 October 2026 the exhibition “Marc Chagall. Tra poesia e spiritualità” (“Marc Chagall. Between Poetry and Spirituality”), organised in partnership with the Musée National Marc Chagall in Nice. The French institution, which holds one of the largest collections of the Russian-French painter’s work, is lending material for an exhibition path that promises to cover the recurring themes of his painting: the connection with Jewish tradition, dreamlike imagery, the relationship between colour and transcendence. The news comes at present from a single source (statement from the Regional Archaeological Museum of Aosta); no independent confirmation available.

In Turin, the National Museum of Cinema presents until 24 August 2026 “A schermo pieno. Eni nel cinema italiano” (“Full Screen. Eni in Italian Cinema”), curated by Sergio Toffetti. The exhibition takes an unusual angle to recount the social transformations of the post-war period: the AGIP service station, which became a recurring visual icon in Italian cinema during the economic boom years, serving as both narrative settings and travel backdrops. In this case as well, the news comes at present from a single source (statement from the National Museum of Cinema of Turin); no independent confirmation available.

The two exhibitions, though distant in subject, share an approach: using a specific archive – that of a single artist in the first case, that of a company and its cinematic imagery in the second – to reread broader phenomena, the spirituality of twentieth-century Europe on one hand, Italian modernisation on the other.

The schedule of the two shows also marks a difference in duration: the Piedmontese exhibition closes at the end of summer, while the one in Aosta Valley remains open until autumn, thus covering the entire tourist season. Both remain open for a good part of the year, offering a wide time window for those wishing to visit, and in both cases the material on display comes from a single institutional source, that of the organising museum or of the partner lending the works.