The Malta Pavilion at the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 as an Expression of Maltese Museology
Abstract
L’articolo prende le mosse dalla raccolta di una serie cartoline parzialmente inedite che tramandano con precisione l’allestimento interno del Padiglione di Malta alla British Empire Exhibition di Wembley nel 1924. Queste immagini vengono utilizzate per studiare l’allestimento delle sale dedicate a Malta Preistorica e Malta sotto i Cavalieri a paragone con le coeve sistemazioni dei musei pubblici sull’isola. Per questa analisi si utilizzano varie fotografie, finora ignote o poco note, degli interni di queste istituzioni e questo permette di leggere l’esposizione di Wembley come un momento chiave della museologia maltese. Inoltre, il testo fornisce anche una panoramica della presenza maltese alle esposizioni mondiali e una riflessione sull'influenza della museologia europea a Malta sotto il dominio britannico.
The article presents and analyses in detail the interior design of the Malta Pavilion of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. This is studied both from a historical and cultural perspective, and especially from the perspective of museology and museography. The essay makes use of a very rich set of partially unpublished photographic sources that allow an analysis of the impact of the first public museums in Malta on the 1924 Pavilion. This Pavilion is therefore presented as a showcase for the international exaltation of the nascent Maltese museology. In addition, the text also provides an overview of the Maltese presence at World Expositions and a reflection on the influence of European museology in Malta under British rule.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/2791
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