Messina Fair

In the 1930s, during the Fascist era, Italy experienced a period of intense graphic and advertising production. It was in this context that the revival of the Fiera di Messina took place—a cultural event in Sicily that used posters as its main promotional tool. Created between 1935 and 1939, these posters are a valuable testimony to the graphic art of the time, characterized by a blend of local traditions, modernist artistic innovations, and regime propaganda.**

The Fiera di Messina had its roots in 1296, when it was established by Frederick III of Sicily in the city of Messina to facilitate trade within the Kingdom. Over the following centuries, it gradually disappeared until the late 19th century, when it regained popularity thanks to the Mezzagosto festivities. However, the devastating earthquake that struck Messina in 1908 interrupted this centuries-old tradition, which was tied to the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (August 14-15), marked by the historic “Vara” procession and the parade of the Giants Mata and Grifone. It took nearly thirty years before the event resumed, this time at the behest of the Fascist regime, which officially reorganized it in 1934 under the name "Fiera di Messina." It was during this period that the fair reached its peak, lasting until Italy entered the war in 1940. Indeed, 1939 marked both the year the Fair became an Autonomous Entity and the last year the event was held in the city before resuming again in 1946. A few years earlier, during the fourth International Fair, Benito Mussolini visited the city, delivering speeches and laying the first stone in the “Giardini a Mare” as a promise of urban renewal.

In those years, the fastest and most effective way to publicize cultural events and promote tourism—even internationally—was through printed advertising, especially posters. Advances in printing techniques, particularly chromolithography, made it possible to accurately reproduce many color shades, as well as the artistic techniques favored by Messina’s poster artists, such as tempera and oil. The poster collection from the Fiera di Messina (1935–1939) features various artists who remain largely unknown today. These include F. Ciappina and R. Autore, creators of the 1935 and 1937 posters respectively, about whom little biographical information is available. From an article dated 1935 by architect Antonino Mangano, we learn that Ciappina descended from a family of artisans deeply connected to the Messina art school. Among the artists stands out Salvatore Edmondo Calabrò (Nizza di Sicilia, 1891 – Messina, 1964), known as “Tore,” who designed the 1938 poster and whose artistic career has been reconstructed over time. Active in Argentina until 1925, he created several works, including the large decorations in the City Hall of Montevideo. Upon his return to Italy, he became famous for sculpting the statue of the Madonna of the Letter, located at the tip of Messina’s harbor—a symbol of the city to this day.

Advertising in Fascist Italy was an important form of propaganda, not limited to promoting products, but also conveying images and messages that reinforced the regime’s ideology and values. The graphic style of the time was influenced by the artistic avant-gardes of the period, including Art Deco and Futurism, with dynamic and symbolic imagery emphasizing the idea of a constantly progressing Italy. The Fiera posters were no exception, characterized by a strong typographic and architectural component. The graphic compositions masterfully integrated these two elements, reflecting the artistic experimentation of the period, yet what most defined this body of work was certainly the influence of architectural depictions from the Futurist movement, particularly the work of Antonio Sant’Elia. While the architectural elements were stylized according to Futurist principles, the typographic choices revealed a specific attention to modernist graphic innovations. The typefaces were bold and monumental—like stone in architecture—and occupied a prominent space within the layout. They can be seen as reinterpretations of some of the most widely used fonts of the period, such as Ciclope from Fonderia Reggiani and Paul Renner’s Futura. Among them, the masterful use of the Triennale typeface stands out, designed by Guido Modiano for Fonderia Reggiani around 1933, and widely used by Sicilian printers for official Fair documents.

These posters, a valuable testament to Sicilian graphic art during the Fascist period, were not only created to promote events and commercial activities in Messina internationally. They also served a deeper purpose: to convey the message that the regime was capable of reviving the city after the major disasters it had suffered over the centuries—a goal which, in practice, did not fully materialize. Indeed, the regime's narrative sought to portray Messina as a symbol of southern rebirth under Fascist leadership, but this vision clashed with the far more complex reality following the devastating 1908 earthquake. Much of the city remained fragmented, with neighborhoods lacking basic services, outdated infrastructure, and an economy marked by unemployment, emigration, and marginalization compared to the industrialized North. Ultimately, the image of progress and renewal projected through these visual campaigns did not reflect true urban and social change, but served as an ideological construct aimed at legitimizing the regime, even as many promises of reconstruction and development went unfulfilled.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Franz Riccobono, Messina mercantile e le sue Fiere, Ente Autonomo Fiera di Messina, 1985