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Domesticating Italy's foreignness in China: the transcultural politics of the copy and the real

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2019

Maurizio Marinelli Open the ORCID record for Maurizio Marinelli [Opens in a new window]
Maurizio Marinelli*
Affiliation:
History Department, University of Sussex, UK
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*Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article consists of three sections. The first one concentrates on the conceptualisation of the Italian concession in Tianjin (1901–1947). The second connects the past imagery of the Italian ‘aristocratic concession’ to its contemporary reinvention as the ‘New Italian-style Town’. The third section explores the rationale for the diffusion of what I define as Italianerie: a fascination for Italy, for a ‘real-unreal’ Italian-flavoured atmosphere, through the creation of multi-million-dollar luxury designer outlets known as ‘Florentia Villages’. The first Florentia Village, ‘inspired by classic Italian architecture’, opened in Wuqing, halfway between Beijing and Tianjin, in June 2011, followed by the replica of this template in eight Chinese cities. Is this the outcome of a specific patrimonialisation strategy? What is the significance of this showcase of Italian design in China? What lies behind the apparent paradox of reproducing ‘in/authentic’ Italy in miniature, and using it to sell the ‘real’ luxury products, in a country like China, which is stereotyped as the paradise of the fake? Is innovation by design reconfiguring the relationship between production and consumption of cultural images and commodities? This article intends to explore these questions with particular attention to transcultural strategies in Chinese urbanism – past and present.

Questo articolo è composto da tre sezioni. La prima si concentra sulla concettualizzazione della concessione italiana a Tianjin (1901–1947). La seconda sezione collega le immagini passate della cosidetta ‘concessione aristocratica’ italiana alla sua reinvenzione contemporanea come la ‘Nuova città in stile italiano’. La terza parte esplora la logica della diffusione di ciò che definisco Italianerie: un fascino per l'Italia, per un'atmosfera ‘reale-irreale’ italiana, attraverso la creazione di punti vendita multimilionari di prodotti di lusso noti come ‘Florentia Village’. Il primo Florentia Village, ‘ispirato alla classica architettura italiana’, è stato aperto a Wuqing, a metà strada tra Pechino e Tianjin nel giugno 2011, seguito dalla replica di questo modello in ben otto città cinesi. È questo il risultato di una specifica strategia di patrimonializzazione? Qual è il significato di questa vetrina del design italiano in Cina? Cosa si nasconde dietro l'apparente paradosso della riproduzione di una ‘in/autentica’ Italia in miniatura e del suo utilizzo per vendere i ‘veri’ prodotti di lusso, in un paese come la Cina, che è spesso stereotipato come il paradiso del falso? L'innovazione basata sul design sta riconfigurando il rapporto tra produzione e consumo di immagini culturali e merci? Questo articolo intende esplorare queste questioni con particolare attenzione alle strategie transculturali nell'urbanistica cinese: passata e presente.

Keywords

Italianeriedesigntranscultural spaceglobal modernityTianjinnew Italian-style townFlorentia Village
Type
Research Articles
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 24 , Special Issue 4: Italianerie: Transculturality, Co-creation and Transforming Identities between Italy and Asia , November 2019 , pp. 417 - 436
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

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