Roversi-Monaco (Genus Bononiae): museums brought to their knees unjustly and without reason

Harsh words from Fabio Roversi-Monaco, president of Genus Bononiae. Museums in the City (the project of the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Bologna, which manages its museums), against the dpcm that imposed the closure of museums throughout Italy: “This way,” Roversi-Monaco declares, “an entire sector that not only brings beauty and culture into our lives, but also provides jobs and creates induced income, is brought to its knees, unjustly and without reason. Until the last, we hoped that common sense would prevail over choices that were unjustified on the basis of numbers (low contagion index recorded in cultural hubs). Instead, today we take note of the government’s decision to close museums again: a completely unfair measure, since all the necessary containment measures had already been taken after the first lockdown, to ensure visits with the utmost respect for the safety and health of citizens.”

“This new dpcm,” Roversi-Monaco continues, “downgrades cultural activities as ’nonessential services,’ ignoring on the one hand the value (even comfort) that the enjoyment of culture has, and on the other hand the economic abyss into which an entire sector, which employs thousands of people, moves the economy and creates induced activities, is in danger of falling. Once again, we will not stop and we will not be discouraged: we will continue to keep the attention of our online audience alive, offering cultural content, stimuli and insights to the point of organizing real virtual visits. Of course, today we find it harder than six months ago to say ’we will stand up stronger,’ because what has been decided makes any kind of planning impossible, at least in the medium term.”

Thus, the troubled exhibition dedicated to the Griffoni Polyptych, whose opening had already slipped precisely because it was scheduled during the first lockdown, also closes. Roversi-Monaco then referred to the Federculture report, presented the day before yesterday, which showed that in 2020 more than 70 percent of cultural institutions estimated revenue losses exceeding 40 percent of their budgets and 13 percent projected losses exceeding 60 percent. In this context, many cultural stakeholders have reacted by finding new ways to reach out to the public. Especially in the museum sphere, the production of virtual tours, live broadcasts or ad hoc programs, accessible on demand, has gone well beyond 50 percent of the total cultural offerings that can be enjoyed at a distance. What was born, at a critical moment, as a supplementary offer compared to the ordinary was soon perceived as an alternative offer or, even better, as an additional declination of the canonical ways of enjoying the cultural product. “This,” Roversi-Monaco concludes, “shows that the sector wants to react, but at the same time that choices need to be really carefully thought out.”

Image: Fabio Roversi-Monaco. Ph. Credit Genus Bononiae.

Roversi-Monaco (Genus Bononiae): museums brought to their knees unjustly and without reason

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