Could state museums turn into private foundations? For the Mi Riconosci collective, it could happen

Through a lengthy article published today on its website, the collective Do You Recognize Me? I’m a Cultural Heritage Professional, which has been fighting for workers’ rights in the cultural heritage sector for years, considers the possibility of the transformation of state museums into private-law foundations as plausible. For the movement it is, as the piece explains, “a suspicion that has existed for some time and day by day seems to be getting closer and closer to a certainty.” it was talked about, the collective explains, “when the Franceschini reform was just an idea, and now it is being talked about more and more, on public occasions and in the corridors of Parliament; it was talked about at the first meeting of the directors of the new autonomous Museums, and even now that the Franceschini reform is under attack, given its obvious malfunctions, the voices defending it suddenly say: touch everything, but not the autonomous Museums.”

The article refers, in particular, to some events such as the round table Le fondazioni e il patrimonio culturale: progetti ed esperienze a confronto, held at the MAXXI in Rome last November 30, or like the November 13, 2017 meeting between then-Minister Dario Franceschini and the twenty directors of autonomous museums in the context of which a proposal, put forward by the then director of the Reggia di Caserta, Mauro Felicori, to transform the great museums into foundations was also discussed.

For Mi Riconosci, there would be “an unspoken or unstated ulterior motive”: “what sense would it make,” the collective asks in the article, “to allow the richest and most attractive Italian museums to keep 70 percent of their revenues and not communicate with the territory, if not to try to at least partially restore their accounts, in the meantime splitting them off from all the less economically productive museums, and then handing them over nice and packaged to the private sector ready to manage and take profits, burdens and honors from them?” It also bets that the shift from public museums to private-law foundations will be the “mantra” of the coming months.

The article continues with a list of what the collective believes would be the advantages and disadvantages of such a move, and an analysis of what the reasons might be. “We await dry denial from the Ministry,” Mi Riconosci concludes, “or we will be ready to do everything possible to prevent such a transformation.” For now, the only certainty is that this article will cause much discussion.

Could state museums turn into private foundations? For the Mi Riconosci collective, it could happen

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.