Siena remembers the first vote for women with an exhibition by Antonella Cinelli

Eighty years after the first local elections that marked the return to democracy after the fall of Fascism and introduced the female vote in local consultations for the first time, Siena is dedicating an exhibition to one of the most important passages in Italian republican history. The exhibition project, entitled The Freedom to Choose. 80 years since the first vote for women, will be open to the public from March 24 to June 13, 2026 in the rooms of Palazzo Sansedoni, headquarters of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Foundation. The project is curated by Laura Bonelli, Francesco Savini and Elena Violetti.

The exhibition commemorates a central moment in the construction of republican democracy and the recognition of civil rights. On March 24, 1946, in fact, the first local elections after the end of the fascist regime were held in Siena and in numerous Italian municipalities. Those consultations also represented the first election in which women were able to exercise their right to vote and, at the same time, run for office and gain access to administrative positions, entering municipal councils.

Eighty years later, the City of Siena ’s Equal Opportunity Department is promoting an initiative to commemorate the role of women who participated in that historic passage. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with Violetti Arte Contemporanea and aims to bring attention back to some of the female figures who contributed to the change of social and political life in the Siena area and who participated in the reconstruction of the civil and cultural fabric after World War II.

“The idea is,” explained Micaela Papi, councillor for equal opportunities of the Municipality of Siena, “to involve the entire citizenry in a real cultural debate shared and amplified by many actors in the territory. The works of artist Antonella Cinelli will be constructed in collaboration with public and private archives, schools, associations, and citizens and will aim to immortalize the protagonists within their social context by giving space to images that come from everyday life, building a dialogue between past and present.”

The exhibition revolves around eight works by artist Antonella Cinelli, born in Teramo in 1973 and traceable to the Italian New Figuration current. The paintings were made from archival photographs from public and private funds in the area. The subjects portrayed are some of the women who took part in the social and political life of the period, coming from different backgrounds of the local society. Among them appear teachers, housewives and merchants, figures who represent the plurality of women’s experiences in postwar Italy. The names of the protagonists recalled in the exhibition are Ilia Bocci, Giorgina Scalacci, Ilia Coppi, Norma Soldi, Mara Meoni, Angelina Ciambellotti, Delia Meiattini and Bruna Talluri.

In the process of making the works, Cinelli uses a painting technique involving oil-painted canvases and intervention with turpentine to partially remove the chromatic matter. The work thus proceeds by subtraction: the image is not constructed exclusively through the addition of color, but gradually emerges from the background of the canvas. Through this process the portrait of the protagonists emerges, as if the image re-emerges from a layered memory. The result is a gradual appearance of faces and figures, symbolically recalling the recovery of a historical memory otherwise destined to remain hidden or be forgotten. The works presented in the exhibition depict the protagonists in collective contexts and in situations related to everyday life. Some scenes refer directly to moments of electoral consultations, whether administrative or referendum, while others evoke the social dimension of the period.

Documentary materials from various local archives will be exhibited alongside the paintings. Among the institutions involved are the Historical Archives of the Municipality of Siena, the Biblioteca degli Intronati Library, the National Central Library of Florence, the Archives of the UDI - Union of Women in Italy of Siena, the Mara Meoni Women’s Cultural Center of Siena, the ASMOS Archives - Historical Archives of the Workers’ and Democratic Movement of Siena, and the Archives of the CIF - Italian Women’s Center. The presence of photographs and original documents helps to reconstruct the historical context in which the 1946 elections took place and to restore a broader picture of women’s participation in public life in the period immediately following the war. The tour will also be accompanied by excerpts from articles of the Italian Constitution affirming the principles of equality and equal dignity among citizens. The decision to place alongside the archival materials some references to constitutional principles is intended to establish a direct link between historical memory and the founding values of the Republic.

A number of side events are also planned during the opening period of the exhibition. These include a public meeting to be held on Thursday, May 28, 2026 in the Sala delle Lupe of the City of Siena. The event will feature lecturers from the University of Siena, the University for Foreigners of Siena, Sapienza University of Rome, and Roma Tre University, who will explore historical and cultural issues related to the exhibition. The program also includes a concert by the Rilke Quartet organized in collaboration with the Accademia Chigiana. The performance will take place on Friday, April 17, 2026 at the Teatro dei Rozzi in Siena and will feature music by Dmitrij Šostakovič and Ludwig van Beethoven. Dedicated activities for schools and additional in-depth initiatives are also planned. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog published by Violetti Arte Contemporanea.

Siena remembers the first vote for women with an exhibition by Antonella Cinelli

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