Temporary exhibition
Kindergartens in District 5
The demand for services since the mid-19th century and the female condition between care and welfare
District 5 Historical Documentation Centre - Turin (TO)

From Tuesday 2.09.2025 to Thursday 18.12.2025
The exhibition Kindergartens in District 5 offers a documentary and visual journey into the history of kindergartens in the Turin neighbourhoods of Lucento, Madonna di Campagna e Borgo Vittoriatracing over a century and a half of social change. In an interweaving of female employment, transformations of the family e urban development, the exhibition explores how the birth of kindergartens, starting in the 1840s, responded to the needs of the working classes during the early stages of theTurin industrialisation.
Through archive materials, photographs and testimonies, a complex picture is painted in which the role of women evolves between care, maternity and workand the pre-school emerges as a garrison of welfare and emancipation. Particular attention is paid to architectural aspects of three symbolic structures - Candido Viberti, via Fontanella e Superga - with a focus on pictorial decorations realised within them, reflecting an educational and cultural care that goes beyond the mere welfare function.
A thought-provoking exhibition on urban and social memory of Turin's suburbs and on the evolution of educational services, with an eye on the role of women in building supportive communities.