Sophia Farmer

Lecture Title: Futurist Eco-Imaginaries: Nature, Agriculture, and Colonialism in Fascist Italy

Lecture Abstract:

Futurism is rarely discussed in relation to ecological or environmental discourse. Born out of the desire for a utopic industrialized and mechanized society, the avant-garde artistic and literary movement displayed a fascination with machine aesthetics and the technophilic exploration of future worlds. Nevertheless, during the 1930s with the support of Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, several sub-movements, including Naturismo (Naturism), Biofuturismo (Biofuturism), Aeropittura (Aeropainting), and Arte Sacra (Sacred Art) arose, collectively presenting a distinct engagement with the natural world—a specific vision that was directly codified by the fascist state’s policies on nature, agriculture, and colonialism. This lecture explores how the Futurist artists and writers participating in the aforementioned sub-movements created fascistic eco-imaginaries of a conquered and bountiful natural realm within the peninsula and the Afro-Italian colonies.

Workshop Title: Difficult Heritage

Workshop Abstract:

Anthropologist Sharon MacDonald coined the term “difficult heritage” in 2009 to address the physical remnants of problematic, painful, traumatic, and morally questionable histories. While her studies have primarily focused on the legacy of Nazi era monuments, the concept of “difficult heritage” has since been broadly applied by anthropologists, historians, cultural theorists, and preservation specialists as a methodological and conceptual approach to responsibly engaging in a wide range of dark and troubling histories worldwide. This workshop will explore the difficulties and benefits of studying “difficult heritage.” We will discuss the politics, ethics, and practicalities of visiting and studying problematic sites as well as how to mine archives and databases that obscure (intentionally or not) painful cultural legacies.

Image Identification: Fillia (Luigi Colombo), Piemonte per l’Africa, 1935, tempera on cardboard, 76 x 45 cm, private collection, Italy.

Biography:

Dr. Sophia Maxine Farmer (sophia.farmer@uky.edu) is an Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual
Studies at the University of Kentucky. She earned her Ph.D. in 2019 and her M.A. in 2014 from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison and her B.A. in 2012 from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining
Kentucky, she held the position of Assistant Professor of Art History in the Art and Design Department at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith from 2021 to 2024. She has received the following fellowships: two Postdoctoral Fellowships in the Scholars Program at The Getty Research Institute (2019–2020); a Wolfsonian – Florida International University Fellowship (2018); a Visiting Graduate Student Fellowship at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University (2018); and a Graduate Fellowship at the Center for Italian Modern Art in New York (2017).

Dr. Farmer’s primary specialization is in Italian modernism with additional interests in art under fascism, ecocritical art history, and collection, heritage, and preservation practices. Her current book project, Of Flesh and Metal: Artificial Life and the Futurist Cyborg, considers how visions of artificial beings in Italian Futurist art and literature engage with developments in science fiction, science, and technology. She has published research on a variety of topics in both collective volumes and academic journals including Forum Italicum: A Journal of Italian Studies, the Journal of the History of Collections, and the Getty Research Journal.

Dr. Farmer’s work is particularly appropriate to the theme. While her art historical focus has revolved
around interpreting visual imagery of Italian fascism, she has lately begun to consider the ways in which this history is bound with the environment as well as with current political trends. She is currently working on a book chapter entitled “Let it be Laid to Waste: Ruin Aesthetics and Ecological Approaches to Sustained Neglect,” which compares the legacy of difficult and politicized monuments in Germany (Nazi), Eritrea (Italian Colonial/Fascist), and the USA (Confederate) that have been left to decay or embrace ruin aesthetics in some manner through processes of greening and sustained neglect. She also just presented recent research that could be of interest to our community on a 1935 exhibition of futurist painting during the height of Italian fascism. Her talk, “Italian Eco-Futurism on Display: The Mostra del naturismo in Piemonte–Torino (1935),” traced the history of Naturismo, a Futurist subgroup, and attempted to recreate and critically assess the use of fascist exhibition strategies. Furthermore, in her last year of our Ph.D. program, Dr. Farmer taught a course on “Art and Fascism” that has since become a staple in her teaching. Dr. Farmer’s work, in particular, helps us better understand our contemporary moment by situating populist visual rhetoric within a longer history.

This event will be part of the 100th anniversary of the UW Department of Art History, during which the
department is showcasing the work of alumni, like Dr. Farmer, who are taking knowledge gained during their time at UW Madison to “transform the discipline.”

More information please check out Farmer’s website.