Pistoia, many citizens take to the streets for art: protest against moving Marini's works to Florence

Third demonstration today in Pistoia to protest the relocation of some of Marino Marini ’s (Pistoia, 1901 - Viareggio, 1980) works from his hometown to Florence, where the Marino Marini Museum is located in the premises of the former church of San Pancrazio. However, let us retrace the steps of the intricate affair, which began in March, when the board of the Marino Marini Foundation had discussed the proposal to transfer the Pistoia sculptor’s works to the Florentine museum. In fact, there are two museums in Tuscany dedicated to Marino Marini: the one in Florence houses the works that the artist donated to the City of Florence, while the museum in Pistoia, located in the Palazzo del Tau, houses the artistic heritage that Marino Marini had instead decided to leave to the city and which consists of the gipsoteca, video library, photo library, library and a rich corpus of paintings, sculptures and drawings. The Foundation was established in 1983 at the behest of Marino Marini’s wife, Mercedes Pedrazzini, who together with the local institutions of Pistoia found in the former Tau Convent a home to house the heritage.

The idea of the Foundation is to enhance the Marini figure with two separate complexes dedicated to different aspects of his figure and to ensure the heritage “the best coherence for a wider usability” (so stated Paolo Pedrazzini, president of the Foundation, in December). However, the outcry against the decision to move the artworks to Florence was almost unanimous and bipartisan, and even the City of Pistoia moved to prevent the move: “the Municipality,” Pistoia Mayor Alessandro Tomasi (Fratelli d’Italia) declared last month, “from the beginning has taken all the timely and necessary measures against the idea of the transfer advanced by the Marini San Pancrazio Foundation and the Marino Marini Foundation.” According to Tomasi, “this is everyone’s battle: it is in the interest of the city of Pistoia that Marini’s works remain here, and for this reason, already since last March, we are putting in place every possible action. We are not talking about Marino Marini but about the city of Marino Marini. We are not just talking about the Maestro’s works, but about a heritage that identifies and characterizes Pistoia.”

Against the Foundation, however, the Tuscany Region and the Superintendence have also spoken out, which last December 3 placed a constraint of relevance between Marino Marini’s works and the place where they are exhibited. “The Pistoia institutions and Marini’s widow, Mercedes Pedrazzini,” reads the Superintendency’s deed, “acted jointly to establish, in 1983, the current Marino Marini Museum through the cession in use of the former Tau Convent, specially purchased and restored by the City of Pistoia.” The latest developments see, at the end of December, the convening of an urgent board meeting to discuss about the affixing of the constraint: the Foundation has decided to appeal to the Tar (Regional Administrative Court) and has decided to suspend all its activities before the administrative court’s pronouncement.

Hence, the idea of a new protest, which was organized for this morning and saw a high participation of Pistoia citizens resolved to have the sculptor’s works remain in the city. Among those present at the demonstration was Pistoiese Pd Senator Caterina Bini, who declared herself close to her fellow citizens who took to the streets to “fight to keep Marino’s works in his city, where they must remain.” Bini, moreover, reiterated this morning that the minister of cultural heritage, Dario Franceschini, supports the reasons for the protest.

The decision of the Tar is therefore awaited: if the Foundation’s appeal is rejected, the only option will be a further appeal to the Council of State. But if even in this case the Foundation does not see its reasons accepted, then Marino Marini’s works will necessarily have to remain in Pistoia.

Pictured is this morning’s demonstration in Pistoia in front of the Marino Marini Foundation headquarters.

Pistoia, many citizens take to the streets for art: protest against moving Marini's works to Florence

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