Overview
The exhibition Lasciapassare/ Prepustnica is a journey through the memories of witnesses and historical image.
It is housed in the historic border house at the Rafut Pass, established in 1947 following the Paris Treaties that established the new border between Italy and Yugoslavia. The border violently divided a nationally and linguistically mixed community. Having to choose which state to belong to, many people were forced to abandon their property. The border was often defined in an intransigent manner: in this section, for example, there is still the case of a family whose home was in Italy and whose barn was in Yugoslavia.
The Rafut was a second-class border crossing, reserved for residents of the border area with a pass (in Italian “lasciapassare”, in Slovenian “prepustnica”). These crossings became places for the exchange of small items necessary for the daily life of families but now unavailable after the division from the urban centre. In some cases, these exchanges were legal, while in others, they were outright smuggling.
Via del Rafut, 51, 34170 Gorizia GO, Italia
