Women in Italian Graphic Design History: A Contribution to Re-write History in a More Inclusive Way.

The great history of graphic design, both in Italy and internationally, reserves a secondary or minor role for women. Some publications have recently placed this question into a critical form, trying to understand the reasons for it, as well as accounting for gaps and absences (Breuer & Meer, 2012; Gomez-Palacio & Vit, 2008; Kirkham, 2000; Pansera & Occleppo, 2002; Piscitelli, 2015). However, if we refer in particular to what we could define as the golden age of Italian graphic design — in a time span between the 1950s and the early 1970s — few female figures have emerged, and those that have, are more like exceptions rather than as a result of a contextualised and intentional historical body of research based on a different point of view when compared to the ones identified as masters and paradigmatic cases. This paper aims to underline sources, methods and criteria to be adopted to achieve a possible rewriting of history in a more inclusive way, identifying a series of lesser-known personalities who have the full right to be considered pioneers and role models.