The truth of two cities: Trieste, Rijeka and the interplay between nationalism and cosmopolitanism in cross-border regional Europe

Abstract

Nationalism structures the representation of identities in museums. However, museums are also places where cosmopolitanism can be circulated. The scope of the current article is to approach the interplay between nationalism and cosmopolitanism in a specific context: cross-border regions. The research is based on a comparative analysis of two exhibitions with an emphasis on women’s history and covering the same topic: the 1919–1920 illegal occupation of Fiume/Rijeka by the Italian poet-soldier Gabriele d’Annunzio, represented in Trieste (Italy) and Rijeka (Croatia). The results show the context and illustrate how national bordering and cosmopolitan de-bordering are circulated by representatives of the curatorship field.