Absurd in Deruta: the director of the prestigious Ceramics Museum is sought, but the position is free!

It seems unbelievable that the director of Italy’s oldest ceramics museum would work for free, but that’s what could happen in Deruta, one of Italy’s major centers for ceramics processing, where last week the municipality published a public selection notice by titles and interview for the position of director of the Regional Ceramics Museum and Municipal Picture Gallery.

The museum was founded in 1898 by notary Francesco Briganti and has continued its activities uninterruptedly since then, with an exhibition of more than six thousand works arranged in chronological order on four floors. Also a valuable museum with a long history is the Pinacoteca Comunale, which is housed in the 14th-century Palazzo dei Consoli and was founded in the early 20th century: the museum houses works by Perugino, Niccolò Alunno, Giovanni Paolo Pannini, Giovanni Battista Gaulli and other great painters of all eras. The importance of these museums is also well emphasized in the notice of competition: it is reiterated that the Regional Museum of Ceramics is Italy’s oldest museum on ceramics, and that its “artistic Renaissance context of absolute importance is associated with the aims of an artistic-industrial museum, which devotes a specific section to the techniques of the processes of working the decoration of majolica, lustre, engobed and graffito ceramics and restoration techniques and decorative types, which have made Deruta famous with the numerous works preserved in more than a hundred museums around the world.” The same can be said for the Pinacoteca, which houses a “rich and diverse collection, with works mostly from the local churches of San Francesco and Sant’Antonio Abate, Ospedale di San Giacomo di Deruta and Chiesa dei Defunti di Ripabianca; of great artistic interest are thefresco by Pietro Vannucci, known as Perugino (Padre Eterno, San Romano and San Rocco), the two works by Niccolò di Liberatore, known as the Pupil (Madonna dei Consoli and Gonfalone di Sant’Antonio Abate) and the 13th-century Franciscan missal on parchment.”

Given the importance of the two museums, a very high profile is also required for the figure sought: a bachelor’s degree in cultural heritage or similar, “many years of experience in the organization and management of public or private cultural facilities, preferably of museum character, or carrying out prestigious scientific coordination assignments,” and then “proven professional qualification in the field of protection and enhancement of cultural heritage,” and also “experience in the management and organization of human, financial and instrumental resources,” “experience in activities of fundraising,” “experience in the conception and implementation of communication projects,” and “ability to use technology, particularly in the museum and cultural institutions sphere.” The director then, of course, will also need to be fluent in Italian and English.

Clearly, the director will do everything that pertains to a figure of this level: He or she will be in charge of the scientific management of the two museums; he or she will take charge of and care for the venues, collections, materials, equipment, and inventories; he or she will represent the museum service in dealings with public offices; he or she will oversee the preservation and ordering of the collections, the establishment and updating of inventories; and then again he or she will oversee the preservation, restoration, ordering, display, and study of the collections and will be responsible for teaching and educational activities, coordinate communication and promotion campaigns (and be responsible for them), contribute to the definition of museum cultural projects, prepare program documents and the annual report on the status of the two museums, coordinate monitoring and evaluation of activities and services, ensure the implementation of planned initiatives, be responsible for scientific management, formation of research and study plans, formulate proposals and give advice on acquisitions, loans, deposits and donations, will regulate the consultation of materials, access to deposits, reproductions of works and objects, will evaluate and coordinate the interventions necessary to ensure the adequacy of the environments, facilities and installations of the museum sites.

All these delicate and very high-level responsibilities and tasks, for which the skills required are very high, in exchange for... nothing. In fact, it is stated in the notice that the assignment “does not constitute a subordinate working relationship, does not determine the establishment of any dependent relationship of employment and hierarchical subordination or de facto insertion in stable organizational apparatus related to the performance of functions proper to the Municipality,” that the assignment “will be carried out by the person in charge in full autonomy, without constraints of subordination, according to the directives and indications of the Municipality of Deruta, to which he/she shall adhere to with framing in the form of professional self-employment,” that the director will have to “guarantee his presence at meetings, meetings or events pertaining to the assignment, according to the needs represented by the Head of the competent Area,” that the assignment will last three years and above all that “it is conferred free of charge.” Except for “appropriately documented reimbursement of expenses.” Too much grace.

It would be interesting to know what professional might agree to work as a museum director in exchange for room and board and transportation expenses. Only two profiles come to mind: a wealthy landowner with a passion for art history, or someone whose self-esteem is below zero. In short, it will be hard to find them: easier to withdraw the notice and provide for adequate compensation, because running a museum is not a pastime and needs a professional to whom due credit is given. If the mayor thinks otherwise, try telling his plumber that the repair of the leaky faucet will be “conferred free of charge,” after which we invite him to tell us what the professional’s response will have been.

Pictured: the Regional Museum of Ceramics in Deruta

Absurd in Deruta: the director of the prestigious Ceramics Museum is sought, but the position is free!

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