Documentary exhibition curated by Alessandra Sirugo
Spazio Forum – LETS Museum, Piazza Hortis 4
from 20 November 2026 to 1 February 2027
opening: Thursday 19 November at 5.30 pm
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was a writer determined to shake up minds and hearts unable to grasp the changing times.
The exhibition, organised into thematic sections, guides visitors from Marinetti’s literary and Symbolist origins to the birth of Futurism, from his experimentation with ‘words in freedom’ to the production of manifestos, from the movement’s political dimension to its artistic expressions in Trieste, right through to the avant-garde movements that developed in Venezia Giulia.
One section is devoted to the manifestos and their role as tools for disseminating Futurist ideas, whilst another explores the ‘political Marinetti’, documenting his ideological journey through publications, photographic material and accounts of the relationship between Futurism, nationalism and the political events of the early 20th century. His presence in Trieste – at that time still a port of the Habsburg Empire – is recounted through the various speeches he delivered in 1908 at the Società Filarmonico-Drammatica, at the funeral of Oberdan’s mother, and at the Società Ginnastica Triestina, the heart of the Julian irredentist movement.
Ample space is devoted to Futurism in the arts in Trieste, with photographs and archival material recalling Marinetti’s visits to the city, the initiatives of Bruno G. Sanzin, the work of the ‘aerodancer’ Giannina Censi, the publications of Carlo Cergoly and Vladimiro Miletti, and the artistic and theatrical experiments linked to the movement. At the same time, the exhibition also broadens its focus to include avant-garde movements in Venezia Giulia, through the figures of Giorgio Carmelich, Emilio Dolfi, Sofronio Pocarini, Augusto Černigoj and Srečko Kosovel.
Free admission.
Guided tours led by the curator at 5.30 pm on Tuesday 15 December 2026, Wednesday 13 January and Tuesday 26 January 2027
(booking required: alessandra.sirugo@comune.trieste.it)
