This talk explores how World’s Fairs served as dynamic platforms for shaping and contesting Italy’s national identity from unification in 1861 through the post–World War II era. Focusing on Italian pavilions as sites of negotiation, it reveals how art, architecture, and political agendas intersected to project evolving visions of the nation amid shifting domestic and international contexts. The analysis underpins an edited volume that positions these global expositions as central to understanding Italy’s long, complex process of nation-building.
