An exhibition at the State Archive of Florence explores how the institution recovered from the devastating flood of 4 November 1966 and the decades of work that followed. “Re-emerge 1966–2066. The Florence Flood: Memory, Research and Future” is organised with the Cr Florence Foundation and is divided into six sections: remembering, cooperating, rebuilding, protecting, recognising and connecting.
The archive, then housed at the Uffizi, suffered extensive damage, with around 75,000 documentary units affected by floodwater and mud. The exhibition recounts the urgent transfer of materials, the organisation of rescue efforts and the development of drying methods. It also highlights 13,000 identification and restoration records documenting the continuing recovery work.
Visitors will encounter previously unseen documents, period photographs, personal stories, sounds and images shaped from residents’ recollections. The display also includes video testimonies gathered in workshops last June. These accounts feature in the performance “Non saprei nulla se,” scheduled for 5–7 November.
The exhibition was presented at the archive on 3 November and is due to open the following day, remaining on view until 5 February 2027. Guided visits, school programmes, conferences and meetings on restoration and cultural heritage protection will accompany it.
Archive director Paola D’Orsi said the exhibition is not intended as a commemorative display, but as a contemporary account of six decades of work on flood-damaged records. Cr Florence Foundation president Bernabò Bocca described the project as giving the community an active role in shaping collective memory.
Sources: ANSA Cultura.