Solidarity with Artribune: criticism is not answered with insults!

The editorial staff of Finestre sull’Arte and editor-in-chief Federico Giannini would like to express their full solidarity with their colleagues at Artribune and in particular with editorial director Massimiliano Tonelli for the insults and insults delivered to his address by the press office of Emanuele Giannelli’s exhibition following an article criticizing the Tuscan sculptor’s works that have been on display in Florence’s historic center for the past few days.

It is unacceptable for the press office of an exhibition to behave in this way after the work of one of its clients receives a completely legitimate criticism. It often happens, in our work, to take negative positions regarding an exhibition or a cultural operation: however, it practically never happens that a press office responds with unhinged reactions to an article of criticism, because those who work in a press office are aware that the journalist or the critic must do their job and consequently, if they feel that a product is not up to the mark and if they feel that it is appropriate to share their judgment with the public, they do not refrain from taking a position. On the contrary, it happens that the exchange of opinions is encouraged, and that we therefore witness debates that are, if anything, fostered by the press office, even if a newspaper expresses itself in critical or negative terms regarding the product that the press office has decided to communicate. It is surprising, then, that the press office of the exhibition in question reacted in these terms, not even sparing public comments on Facebook that even came under our page and on the personal profile of Luca Rossi, the author of a calm and moderate-toned article that focused rather on the reactions of insiders than on the exhibition itself.

It is serious, then, that the press office of an exhibition, all the more so if it is an exhibition sponsored by important institutions, following a negative criticism decides to respond in this way and in these tones. Never should the response to a criticism be insult or the threat of legal action. What happened at Artribune leaves one appalled, is unspeakable, and demands official responses: criticism is the basis of healthy cultural journalism.

Solidarity with Artribune: criticism is not answered with insults!

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