THE WHALE HAS ARRIVED! Sociality, Consumption, Leisure. Posters 1946/56
On October 1, 2026, at 5:30 PM, the exhibition "The Whale Has Arrived. Sociality, Consumption, Leisure. Posters 1946-56" opens in the CDT room at Largo Barale 1. Conceived and curated by the "DL Bianco" Historical Institute of the Resistance and Contemporary Society in collaboration with the Cuneo Municipal Archives, the exhibition recounts, through wall posters, a decade of city life from a cultural history perspective. After emerging from the dark twenty years of cultural homogenization and five years of war, the city rediscovered the desire to be together and organized its social life through associations that, finally free, offered a variety of activities related to leisure, politics, and sports.
At the same time, movie theaters—the Monviso, formerly the Casa del Fascio, the Lanteri, and the Cinema Teatro Vittoria—looked to Hollywood and made viewers dream: stars and cowboys, swing and marines— the America of the Allies was there, a comprehensive cultural reference. Passion for America transformed dance halls into dance clubs, orchestras gave themselves exotic names (the "Ideal Swing," the "Hot Swing"), and in modest Cuneo, people danced summer and winter: at the "Chalet Alta Italia," at the "Dancing Minerva," and at the "Dancing Gran Paradiso" on Viale Angeli. Beauty contests and "Miss" pageants were held everywhere, dreaming of making movies.
Poster after poster, the exhibition depicts a naive society, with a still uncertain future, that sought answers in magicians, mediums, and fortune tellers. An almost Victorian taste for the unusual, the mysterious, the eccentric, and the magical persisted, offered in abundance by the theater, which was also experiencing the golden age of revues. Furthermore, it wasn't yet the economic boom; it was just the eve of it. And it wasn't yet the consumer society; it was on the brink. Yet new products were already becoming objects of desire, refrigerators and washing machines above all, capable of revolutionizing domestic life, followed by the vehicles that would define an era: Vespas. Some of the most beautiful and effective posters are dedicated to these products, those that left room for the creative genius of advertisers and designers. The whale, in short, was about to arrive: it's up to the viewer to find out more.
The exhibition will be open from October 1st to 31st during the following hours: Mon-Thu 8:30am-12:30pm / 2:30pm-6pm; Fri 8:30am-12:30pm / 4pm-7pm; Sat-Sun 4pm-7pm.
Info and reservations: 0171 444835/444832 – 346 2220752
