On Monday, February 9, 2026, on the occasion of Remembrance Day, the "Exhibition in Memory of the Exiles and the Tragedy of the Foibe – The Drowned of History, the Ethics of Remembrance. So that the Unspeakable May Return to Our Conscience" was inaugurated at the former Conservatory of Sant'Anna in Lecce.

The exhibition, curated by the Lecce Provincial Committee of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia (ANVGD), focused on the great tragedies of Italy's eastern border. The exhibition, through panels, short films with testimonies from exiles, and several publications on the Foibe, outlines the history that led to the Julian-Dalmatian exodus and the Foibe.

The aim of this initiative is to help fill a gap in historical knowledge by recounting events that have long been marginalized by our collective consciousness. At the same time, it aims to stimulate reflection so that similar atrocities that have marked our history must never be repeated.

The heart of the exhibition was dedicated to the events that followed the end of the Second World War: the violence, the killings in the foibe, the bombings, the massacres, the loss of Italian territories to Yugoslavia, and the resulting choice—often forced—of exile by approximately 350.000 people.

A section of the exhibition was dedicated to displaying previously unpublished documents and cherished objects that some exiles brought with them on their journey. Until this exhibition, these objects had been jealously guarded on attic shelves. Through testimonies, documents, and images, both previously unpublished and previously unpublished, the exhibition sought to explain what it meant to abandon one's home, loved ones, possessions, and homeland to try to start a new life in places often far from home, such as Australia and Argentina.

Another section was dedicated to the artistic and literary contributions of the school groups invited to participate in the initiative, alongside the numerous books on the topic, which were made available for reading.

The inauguration was introduced by Professor Mario Biagio Portaccio, President of the ANVGD Lecce. His Excellency Dr. Natalino Manno, Prefect of the Province of Lecce, was also present; the Mayor of the City of Lecce, Adriana Poli Bortone; the Rector of the University of Salento, Professor Maria Antonietta Aiello; and Professor Carlo Alberto Augieri, honorary professor and member of the ANVGD Provincial Committee. The event received the patronage of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Province of Lecce, the Municipality of Lecce, and the University of Salento, and the full appreciation of Minister Giuseppe Valditara. The exhibition was also organized with the collaboration of the Ciardo Pellegrino Art and Dance High School of Lecce, which provided valuable support to the Association in organizing the event.