Museums open only on weekdays and in yellow zone? Insiders against: 'unreasonable choices'

It can hardly be said that insiders are happy with the way museums have been reopened. A very timid reopening, the one decided by the January 14 dpcm: in fact, only the institutes located in the regions included in the yellow zone can reopen, and what’s more, only on weekdays, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. And since there is still a curfew from 10 p.m. onwards, possible evening openings cannot even be considered to meet the needs of working people (although this will become a requirement when the curfew is finally lifted). Of visits for schoolchildren, then, not even to speak of: even the latest dpcm suspends guided tours aimed at students. As for pensioners, let’s remember that they are the ones who are freest from schedules, but they also represent the group most at risk of Covid contagion: probably only those with their own means will go to museums (unthinkable that an elderly person would ride public transportation just to go to the museum, subjecting himself to the risk). In short, museums will open for visitors who do not have to work office hours; everyone else will have to wait at least until Saturday and Sunday reopen.

Many people these days are wondering what the point of limiting openings so severely is, especially since the dpcm also introduced a ban on travel between regions in the yellow zone: virtually impossible to arrange for a trip out of town, most families cut off, workers also unable to visit museums. So what is the point of such an opening? Many people are asking this question on social networks (one need only scroll through the Finestre Sull’Arte Facebook page to find hundreds of disgruntled comments), but strong criticism is also coming from the insider world.

Of course, many museums are happy about the possibility of reopening, if only on a symbolic level (on these pages we have collected some reactions). But there are also many opposing positions. Among the first to speak out on the matter is Federculture, the national association of public and private entities, institutions and companies working in the field of cultural policies and activities: it did so in a letter from its president, Andrea Cancellato, to Cultural Heritage Minister Dario Franceschini. “Being able to guarantee a continuity of the offer of this service,” said Cancellato, “is undoubtedly a useful exercise for operators and a support, not only cultural but also psychological and moral, for all citizens at a time when depressive stimuli prevail”: however, “it is difficult to understand what is the logic of opening only on weekdays: if the need is not to overload the urban transport system, a potential, albeit reduced, user base is allowed precisely on the days when public transport and roads are most crowded. Tying, moreover, the opening of museums to the variable of assigning colors to the regions they belong to makes the duration of opening and closing periods unpredictable, with unmanageable consequences on the organization of staff and reservations.”

The Italian section ofICOM (International Council of Museums) also speaks of “limits” and an unreasonable choice: “ICOM Italy,” reads a note, “while taking into account the needs to contain the pandemic, considers it unreasonable (in the conditions of absolute safety guaranteed to visitors by the protocols adopted by museums) to allow their opening only on weekdays and only in yellow zones. Communities need to be able to recover psychophysical well-being by being able to responsibly enjoy places of culture as much as possible. In addition, the continuing uncertainty about the prospects for functionality, based on indices measured every two weeks, will prevent realistic planning of activities and services and thus a positive turnaround in terms of employment and cultural and social incisiveness.”

The chorus of criticism was also joined by theAGTA - Association of Licensed Tourist Guides with a very harsh position, which openly speaks of a “mockery.” “We appreciate the fact that Minister Franceschini supported the reopening of museums, but what the government ultimately came up with appears to us to be sincerely a mockery,” says President Isabella Ruggiero. “Museums and monuments are ticketed sites in which it is very easy to quota numbers: each directorate decides whether to let in only 1 or 10 people per room. Already during last summer, in fact, they turned out to be the safest places in Italy, based on the very strict rules imposed by the directorates, which made museums almost deserted places, while people flocked to buses, to nightlife spots or beaches, or even to shopping malls. So, if the reason for closing on weekends was fear of crowds, it would be a completely illogical and unfounded fear. We know that the most critical element in our cities is transportation; so maybe the legislature is worried about museum workers and possible visitors crowding buses to go to museums? It makes no sense, because transportation is full and in crisis precisely on weekdays and much emptier on Saturdays and Sundays.” What is the reason for this according to AGTA? “Since we believe that all this is too crazy to be accidentally conceived,” Ruggiero concludes, “we have unfortunately come to the conclusion that such regulations can only be explained by the desire to make it unnecessary to open and leave them closed. So then they will say that the museums turned out to be empty and that it is too expensive to open and close them all the time anyway. The new regulations appear to be the unholy response to those who have been protesting against the closure in recent months. Most people have only taken in the announcement of the reopening and record that news as positive, but those in the industry have realized that in fact almost nothing will reopen.”

Finally, the association Mi Riconosci? also intervenes on the topic. I am a cultural heritage professional, which for now comments on the government’s decision on social media: according to the association, the current reopening conditions imposed by the government, “in the absence of structural funds and adequate planning, will in fact only allow a small minority of museums to reopen. In short, a symbolic measure that would, unless corrected and supplemented, make life even more complex for many Italian museums.”

Pictured: visitors to the Borghese Gallery lo

Museums open only on weekdays and in yellow zone? Insiders against: 'unreasonable choices'

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