Dissonant historical heritage and the role of cultural institutions: the case of ATRIUM in Forlì

The search for a brand for a city or a region usually involves the identification of a peculiar selling point, or rather, a particularity of the area which involves some element of uniqueness. In the case of cities with negative historical associations, such as Forlì, known as the ‘città del Duce’, or the small town of Predappio, the birthplace of Mussolini, the challenges of self-promotion are of course highly complicated. This paper focuses on the attempt, by the city of Forlì, to promote its architectural heritage, rooted in the Fascist experience, through the constitution of a European Cultural Route (ATRIUM), and thus how local cultural and political institutions can attempt to deal with uncomfortable or dissonant historical heritage by locating this heritage within a wider, European framework