In May 1940, over sixty people—men, women, and children—traveled from Eritrea to Naples under the auspices of the Ministry of Italian Africa. Their purpose was to participate in the opening of a fascist version of a new exhibit space, the Mostra d’Oltremare. According to Mussolini, bringing Eritreans to the exhibit was meant to “breathe life” into the venue and introduce an Italian public to Italy’s overseas empire. But in the era of Italy’s race laws, introducing Black Africans to the peninsula also presented a possible threat. A contingent from the Italian African Police that was almost as big as the group of Eritreans was also stationed at the exhibit space to carefully control their movements and prevent any possibility of intimacy with surrounding Italian populations.