Genoa, on the resounding resignation of very young culture alderman Elisa Serafini

Elisa Serafini ’s resignation from her role as culture alderman of the Genoa City Council is sensational. Clamorous, of course, but not so unpredictable: Elisa Serafini was one of the most moderate members of a council led by Mayor Marco Bucci, very right-wing oriented and with a strong Lega component (Serafini was a candidate in the elections with the civic list linked to the mayor, and to her credit she was a member of “Giovane Italia,” the youth movement of the PDL, but since 2011 she has not been a member of any party). Frictions with the junta were therefore inevitable, and these disagreements seem to have been behind her decision to step down as alderman, although it is not known what was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.

The daily newspaper Genova Today leaks the rumor that what pushed the alderman to his decision may have been a sexist joke by Mayor Bucci about “a possible collaboration between Serafini and the former president of the Science Festival, Manuela Arata.” Arata was in fact working on the creation of a “jeans museum,” which will perhaps remain on the City Council’s agenda despite the alderman’s resignation. What is certain is that the clashes had been going on for some time, and the 5 Star Movement exponent Luca Pirandoni, from the columns of the Secolo XIX, points the finger at the mayor’s unwillingness to work as a team, which would have caused situations of misunderstanding with the alderman (starting with the issue of the lack of sponsorship to the Genoa Gay Pride: Serafini, in fact, had given a positive opinion, as she had always been committed to the battles against homophobia, but the council then opted not to grant the sponsorship to the event).

This, at least, is what the vulgate suggests (however, let’s not forget that, however moderate Elisa Serafini may be considered, she has in any case never made a secret of fully espousing Bucci’s feral line that “everything that is not measurable is useless”: as if culture were only a matter of numbers and money, and not a means for the development of a sense of citizenship, critical thinking and inclusion, all aspects that are difficult to quantify). However, perhaps an element needs to be added: it begs the question of what results Elisa Serafini has achieved during her tenure. Visitors to civic museums have indeed increased, perhaps mainly as a result of the investments on promotion and communication of free Sundays and the general trend that, between 2017 and 2018, saw museum visitors increase in almost all of Italy. On the other hand, however, we have the Villa Croce disaster, the triggers of which are obviously not to blame for Serafini’s actions, but it must also be said that his handling of the affair has not exactly been the most exciting, and probably even the most reactionary conservative would ask two questions after seeing a small jewel of contemporary art turned into a kind of recreational club, with no ideas for the future. Then we had the cancellation of the Cresta festival, an important opportunity to make culture from below and which the City Council completely zeroed out this year, and there were the City Council’s questionable appointments to the board of directors of the Palazzo Ducale (on the board of Genoa’s main cultural institute, the City Council nominated an engineer and professor of dialect who calls himself a stalwart “defender of Genoeseness” and an identitarian right-winger with no significant experience in managing museums and cultural places, not counting, of course, the controversial appointment of Luca Bizzarri as president). It is likely that the greatest achievement for which Elisa Serafini will be considered is allowing employees of the city’s culture office to bring their dogs with them to the workplace.

Elisa Serafini, photo taken from her Facebook page

In any case, Serafini, with a Facebook post, confirmed her gesture, claimed the results of her activity (whatever they are, since she did not specify them) and gave some indications about what she will do in the future: “Together we innovated, produced results, also made many mistakes, but what makes me most happy is that we were able to sow the conditions so that some of the most damaging clientelistic systems that infested our public policies could finally unhinge. Those who have followed my political and administrative activities know this: I have often broken vetoes, trampled on special interests, and it is true, I have angered some people, but I have always tried to pursue the general interest, which then, if we think about it, is the only one that matters. I have always thought that innovation was a process that reaps victims and sanctions winners: it is creative destruction that frightens those who want a world that is always the same, always ’theirs’. A world that I, have tried - always - to oppose. I have therefore interpreted my role as that of a commissioner. Thanks to the trust of citizens, we were able to reduce costs, increase performance, renew processes and content, and, finally, I was able to conduct battles of political conscience, the scars of which are indelible on this letter today. But for that very reason, which I would do again a hundred times. I did not have, and still do not have, enough experience or maturity to understand it, and probably to accept it. But today, more than ever, I understand what I was often told: to maintain certain roles, you have to prove yourself flexible. To accept and deal with certain dynamics that are part of the rules of the game, and that allow, in the end, to be able to fulfill one’s ’mission’. I tried to do this, but in this, I was clearly not effective. [...] As they say in these cases, I will take a ’step to the side,’ because my commitment to renew public policy, and to support our territory, the battles of freedom, merit, and transparency, will take other forms, but it will never end. For the past few months I have been working on the creation of the first public policy ’incubator’. A study center that can help administrators from all over Italy, to implement effective solutions in the territories. That will be, as of tomorrow, my only public project. For the rest, I will stop here. I will return to being a politician ’of passion,’ and not of profession, as Max Weber wrote.” Elisa Serafini also wanted to thank the mayor for the trust shown to her.

Now there is the question of who will take her place, or whether it will be the mayor who will take over the culture delegation, as has often happened in similar cases. In any case, Genoa can no longer afford missteps; the city’s reputation depends on it.

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