Elena Bellina, New York University
Most POWs imprisoned by Western Allies were captured in Africa during the early stages of World War II and transferred to transit and permanent prison camps across North, East, and South Africa between 1940 and 1947. A significant number of them spent more than six years there before being repatriated to Italy. This presentation analyzes the diverse forms of intellectual and material artistic production developed by Italian POWs detained in remote African regions, with particular emphasis on memories and memorabilia they brought home in handmade tin suitcases. It investigates the formative role that creativity played during their years of captivity and the enduring influence such creativity and contact with African landscapes and peoples had on their postwar lives, given that many of these men became prominent figures in postwar Italy and elsewhere.
In conjunction with the exhibition Creativity and World War II Italian POWs in the United States.