Carrara Academy abandoned by ministry: faculty and students have been demanding director for months

It is abitter birthday for the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara, one of the oldest art institutes in Europe: in fact, it was founded by the Duchess of Massa and Carrara, Maria Teresa Cybo Malaspina, who in 1769 signed the act that gave birth to the historic Carrara academy, which, in its first 250 years of history, celebrated precisely in 2019, has welcomed thousands of students from all over the world, and artists of global significance. Since January, however, the institute has been experiencing an unfortunate situation since it finds itself without a director and, consequently, without governing and representative bodies.

Or rather: the Academy would even have a director. He is Luciano Massari, a sculptor, director in the three-year period concluded (2016-2019) and reappointed in June 2019 by a large majority (41 preferences out of 45 voters). However, the choice of the institute’s faculty (who are responsible for electing the director) was never ratified by the Ministry of University and Research. This is a practice not provided for by law but now customary for all institutes of higher artistic and musical education in Italy. Massari cannot take office, however, since the Academy’s statute stipulates that the director, after election by the faculty, is appointed by ministerial decree.

When the ministry’s ratification arrives quickly, the director can begin work and the governing and representative bodies can be formed. Conversely, everything comes to a standstill: suffice it to say that the duties of the director (who is also the institute’s legal representative) include convening the academic council and the college of professors with the consequent coordination of activities, taking emergency measures, taking disciplinary action, entering into conventions and contracts as well as, of course, being responsible for the educational, scientific and artistic performance of the Academy.

Massari operated under prorogatio until December: from January onward, we are told by a faculty member of the Academy whom we reached, the ministry has never responded either to the solicitations of the president, Antonio Passa (who also sent a formal warning) and to those of the faculty members who addressed the secretariat of the MIUR Cabinet Office. It has been speculated that the delay stems from the legal affairs in which Luciano Massari is involved (in fact, he is currently under investigation: a local politician has sued him for conflict of interest and fiscal damage), but at the moment the judicial process has not yet been concluded, which is why, the institute’s teachers observe, the ministry could still proceed with a conditional appointment so as not to leave the institute in disarray and in a stalemate that has lasted for almost six months now.

The students, despite the difficult situation (the Carrara Academy, in addition to being without a directorate and governing bodies and advisory council, is closed like all Italian academies due to the Covid-19 emergency), also wanted to make their voices heard, sending a letter to University Minister Gaetano Manfredi, signed by 500 students of the Academy (out of a total of about 850) and launching a petition on Change.org. “The Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara,” the text of the petition reads, “is in a state of extreme difficulty due above all to the absence of a Director and the Bodies connected to him, in which only the figure of the President remains to represent it institutionally. Even from a ministerial point of view despite the fact that this situation has persisted for several months, no action has ever been taken on it. The students, feeling abandoned by the relevant institutions, are therefore asking MIUR to act urgently as the consequences of this situation harm their right to study and make their future uncertain. The future prospects that arise from this difficult situation are not heartening: if students today feel a strong sense of abandonment and uncertainty, it is possible to understand how difficult it will be for them to become the artists, curators and art theorists of tomorrow.”

The Academy, moreover, has major projects planned, starting with the major first monographic exhibition on Giovanni Antonio Cybei, which has already been announced (but will be postponed, like all exhibitions in Italy, due to the health emergency), as well as international collaborations. Without unblocking the situation, the risk is that a limbo will persist that risks further harming faculty, students, the host city and all of Italy, since the Academy of Carrara is world-renowned (consider that one-third of enrollees come from abroad: in the ranking of the foreign population, the Apuan institute is among the first in Italy), and for two hundred and fifty years it has been a national and international reference point.

Pictured: three of Antonio Canova ’s plaster casts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Carrara.

Carrara Academy abandoned by ministry: faculty and students have been demanding director for months

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.