Venice Biennale: Bonisoli attended meetings with culture ministers from Lithuania, Chile, Germany, Saudi Arabia

On the occasion of the opening of the Venice Biennale 2019, the Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Alberto Bonisoli, participated in a number of bilateral meetings. During the bilateral with the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, he signed the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation in the field of culture. The memorandum provides for a number of initiatives in the cultural field, such as the organization and promotion of performing arts festivals, the exchange of visual arts residencies for young artists, cooperation between institutions in contemporary visual art and design, and the organization of exhibitions to be staged in both countries. Cooperation in the field of restoration, conservation and research is also planned, especially through the exchange of information, publications and experts. To promote the spread of the Italian language on Lithuanian territory, the Republic of Lithuania will invite Italian publishers to the translation program carried out by theLithuanian Cultural Institute. The Memorandum also provides for cooperation in the preservation of archives, in particular through the digitization of archival sources regarding their respective histories in Lithuanian and Italian archives. Finally, the parties will work on enhancing the development of film co-production projects.

During the meeting with the German Minister of State for Cultural Foreign Policy, Michelle Müntefering, the different modes of bilateral cooperation in the cultural sphere, as well as its possible future lines of development, were reviewed. Among the topics addressed was that of creative industries. In relation to the protection of cultural heritage, also in the face of the dramatic event of the fire at the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, it was hypothesized toidentify a moment of concertation aimed at theidentification of common policies in the framework of the activities carried out within the EU and UNESCO. Both sides expressed interest in encouraging collaborations between their respective museum bodies, especially on the occasion of the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death in 2020.
Minister Bonisoli also took the opportunity to reaffirm Italy’s hope that the painting The Vase of Flowers by Dutch painter Jan van Huysum, could return to the Uffizi in Florence. The German minister reiterated, on the part of the German government, the utmost cooperation so that the painting could return, as soon as possible to Italy.

In the meeting with the Minister of Culture of the United Arab Emirates, Noura Al Kaabi, with whom she discussed about the desire to deepen also to the cultural sector the already close bilateral relations that characterize the relations between Italy and the UAE, on the Italian side it was reiterated the desire to be present at Expo Dubai 2020 with the aim of enhancing the excellence of Made in Italy in the cultural field and, in particular, the creative industries.

Finally, with the Chilean Minister of Culture, Consuelo Valdés Chadwick, reiterated the intense ties that unite the two countries. In this regard, the latter recalled that 2020 will mark the 500th anniversary of the discovery of the Strait of Magellan. He also highlighted the interest in collaborating on the protection of cultural heritage damaged by natural disasters, especially with a view to learning about the Italian model of intervention in the case of cultural property damaged by events such as earthquakes, floods and eruptions.

Source: MiBAC

Venice Biennale: Bonisoli attended meetings with culture ministers from Lithuania, Chile, Germany, Saudi Arabia

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