Casoria CAM faces closure, director handcuffs himself in protest

Antonio Manfredi, director of the Contemporary Art Museum in Casoria (in the province of Naples), chained himself to the radiator in Mayor Pasquale Fuccio’s room. The purpose? To protest against the closure of the museum he founded in 2004, a museum that holds a collection of 1,500 works by international artists from more than 50 countries, but also a museum that, as the website itself states, has fought with its exhibitions against corrupt politics, the Mafia, racism, pedophilia, and has shone a light on the condition of women.

Back in 2011, Manfredi attempted to save CAM by setting a series of works on fire in the square. After a few hours, Manfredi received a series of phone calls, including one from Campania ’s president De Luca and one from regional council vice president Tommaso Casilli, who allegedly set him an appointment next Tuesday with the mayor of Casoria and the Campania region to open a table to solve the museum’s problems.

Carabinieri, who had already reported the director for interruption of public service, were in the process of arresting him, but there was no need. “I will not allow any more games to be played with a museum that has been fighting for survival for thirteen years and creating exhibitions against all forms of social and cultural abuse in a land of camorra and appalling social problems,” Manfredi said in a note. “What is certain is that I cannot take it anymore,” the director vented, “After thirteen years we expect politics to find a solution for us as well.”

Image: a CAM hall.

Casoria CAM faces closure, director handcuffs himself in protest

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