Schmidt in Vienna: a campaign issue for Austria, a problem for Italy?

In order to fully understand the motivations that led the Austrian minister of culture to announce that the current director of the Uffizi Gallery, Eike Schmidt, will go in 2020 to direct the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, it is necessary to look toAustria, rather than to Florence. There, in fact, elections will be held in less than two months for the renewal of the Nationalrat and the Bundesrat, which correspond, broadly speaking, to the House and Senate of our Parliament: the main difference is that, Austria being a Federal Republic, the Bundesrat is a chamber representing the nine Austrian Länder, the federated states, and its influence on national politics is less than that of the Nationalrat, which, barring exceptions, can legislate without listening to the opinion of the Bundesrat. It is equivalent to our general elections: there, too, the leader of the winning coalition will become prime minister by assuming the position of chancellor. Therefore, a quick summary of the events unfolding on the banks of the Danube is in order: outgoing chancellor is Christian Kern, head of the SP�?, the Social Democratic Party of Austria, which is going into the elections tense and harried, in considerable decline in popularity, and outclassed in the latest polls by rivals of the �?VP, the Christian Democrat-oriented Austrian People’s Party.

Culture, in Austria, carries quite a lot of political weight, and the current minister of culture, Thomas Drozda, has often been criticized for his choices, starting with the decision to transfer an important private collection, the Essl collection (which was in danger of being dispersed), to the Albertina in Vienna, on loan until 2044 and supporting it with a million euros a year (many in Austria did not take a good view of paying such a large sum to support a private individual’s collection), or the appointment of Bogdan Rošči�? as director of the Vienna State Opera, somewhat controversial due to the fact that Rošči�? is a Sony Music manager. Austrian newspapers in the last few hours have been linking Schmidt’s appointment (which, it should be noted, comes at the end of a public call for tenders in which Schmidt had participated along with other candidates: a bit like what happened in our country two years ago) with the desire to offer citizens a strong image of the SP�?’s cultural policies: Philipp Wilhelmer, head of culture at the Kurier, one of Austria’s leading newspapers, called Schmidt’s operation a “spectacular decision.” The reason is quickly stated: Schmidt is a director with a solid resume and comes from an extremely significant background, given that the Uffizi is the most recognized Italian museum abroad and that Italy, of course, is known for its artistic heritage. To announce that the current director of the Uffizi will be coming to direct the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna is a weighty political move. What, on the surface, turns out to be a rather bizarre decision, since from our point of view there is no valid reason for such an announcement two years before Schmidt’s term expires, would instead seem, trivializing brutally, to be a campaign issue in Austria.

Eike Schmidt

Regardless of the reasons that led Eike Schmidt to accept the post, about which we do not want to go into the merits, and limiting ourselves to branding the Austrian minister’s announcement, from our perspective, as a truly inappropriate gesture toward Italy, what we would like to ask ourselves is what repercussions this situation may have with regard to Italian culture. Certainly we can assert that this is not good news. On the contrary: it can be said that Italy, as of today, has one more problem. In the meantime, because it is rather easy to imagine that Schmidt’s farewell will contribute to stiffen the positions of those who have been so far opposed to Franceschini’s reform (a reform that was badly thought out and started off worse, admittedly: but limited to the topic of"museum directors," I think it is not daring to say that we were timidly beginning to glimpse some good results, and I am thinking especially of the Pinacoteca di Brera and the Gallerie Nazionali d’Arte Antica in Rome). So it is to be expected that the clash over cultural policies will only intensify in the short term. And that is exactly what we do not need. We are at a crucial time, because a good portion of the Ministry’s staff is nearing retirement age, and the problem of turnover is one of the key issues that will affect ministerial policies in the years to come. The average age of MiBACT employees, as reported by several sources, is around 58 years old, and by 2020 there will be several retirements: discussing such an important issue as turnover (as well as other decisive topics: the knot of additional services, that of theautonomy of museums, that of the future of the Superintendencies, and many others that will need to be addressed in the immediate future) in an atmosphere of tension between the political parties will be quite detrimental.

Not to mention, then, the motivation of staff. A staff, as mentioned, close to retirement age, and moreover already challenged by a reform perceived by many as coming from above and perceived as delegitimizing the old class of ministerial functionaries, found itself this morning in the newspaper with the news that a director appointed just two years ago to direct Italy’s most visited and best-known museum has announced his transfer to Vienna at the end of his term. And above all, a staff that from the outset has been largely hostile to the new “director-manager” figures.

Then there is another topic to think about: the image of Italy in the perspective of international competition could come out of this affair re-dimensioned, more than it already was in the beginning. Interesting in this sense is the comment of architect Stefano Boeri, a member of the Scientific Committee of the Uffizi, who entrusted his reflections to his Facebook page: “it is a bad signal. For the profile of Eike Schmidt: one does not leave a museum like the Uffizi (not even for an institution like the Kunsthistorisches Museum) after less than two years as Director. And for the international profile of the first of our museum institutions, used as a stepping stone.” So, if we really have to delve into the reasons that led Schmidt to his decision, we should try to understand how much the difficulties that characterize the bureaucratic apparatus of the country, the prospects that our system ensures or not to directors, the very fragile balances of a political situation on which many questions hang and that could reserve surprises at the next elections for the renewal of the Parliament, which will be held in 2018 at the latest, have affected the choice of the current director of the Uffizi Galleries. This, net of the obvious trivialities already circulating in these hours on social networks, and what needs to be reflected upon.

Avoid easy dietrologies, question what kind of governance museums in Italy should have (stable, lasting, quality, independent... ), trying to understand whether Italy can aspire to play a leading role internationally in the cultural sphere (and how Italy intends to position itself in the market), how the news of the last few hours can help to clear up some ideas, what will happen to the Uffizi in the next two years, how to address the issues on which the future of cultural heritage in Italy will be based: these are what we should take from the news of Eike Schmidt’s move to Vienna.

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.