Culture Emergency flunks the Dario Franceschini-led ministry

A press conference was held Thursday at the Stampa Estera in Via dell’Umiltà in Rome, at which the Emergenza Cultura collective analyzed in detail the results of the Dario Franceschini-led Ministry of Cultural Heritage: a picture emerged from which several critical points emerged against which the various personalities who spoke (from Tomaso Montanari to Vittorio Emiliani, from Adriano La Regina to Paolo Berdini) pointed their fingers.

Among the critical points were the progressive distancing of museums from the superintendencies (and the consequent call for museums to be brought back under the orbit of the superintendencies, from which they were detached following the Franceschini reform), the dismantling of the system of protection (with superintendencies merged and depowered), the work done in function of favoring enhancement at the expense of conservation. And again, criticism of the data on visitors and museums released at the beginning of the year by Minister Franceschini (visitors are increasing thanks to a positive trend that has continued for the past 20 years, the data would be inflated due to inaccurate calculations of visitors to the Pantheon, receipts have increased simply because tickets have gone up, with Italian museums often being more expensive than their European counterparts).

Accusations were then levelled at free Sundays at museums, guilty of creating chaos and traffic jams at cultural venues; the failure to reform private additional service companies to which a good portion of the takings go; inaction toward the heritage of earthquake-stricken Umbria and Marche; and staff shortages at museums, archives and libraries. Emergenza Cultura therefore calls for upcoming interventions on cultural heritage to take into account what has emerged and seek to rebuild the system of protection, reunite ministries with shared responsibilities (cultural heritage and the environment, thus hiving off tourism from MiBACT), replenish the ministry’s staffing levels, which have suffered steady losses for the past five years, and bring spending on culture in relation to GDP in line with European averages.

Pictured is the Emergenza Cultura press conference held in Rome last Thursday.

Culture Emergency flunks the Dario Franceschini-led ministry

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