“5000 ANNI DI CINA”: L’ARTE ANTICA COME POLITICA VISIVA DELL’IMMAGINE DELLA RPC

This study analyses exhibitions of traditional Chinese art held in Italy from the 1980s as instruments of national identity construction and international diplomacy. After early exhibitions organized directly by the PRC, a “golden age” shaped by Italian sinologists and professional producers such as MondoMostre emerged between 2005 and 2010. These projects succeeded in framing Chinese heritage as a site of dialogue rather than propaganda. This balanced approach contrasted sharply with the phase inaugurated after Xi Jinping’s rise to power in 2012, when exhibitions increasingly conveyed official ideology centred on the narrative of “5,000 years of uninterrupted civilization.” As a result, exhibitions in Italy became more politically driven and less scientifically independent, reflecting China’s shift from soft power to a more assertive, ideologically aligned cultural diplomacy.