Federculture writes to Franceschini: "reopen museums even on holidays"

The president of Federculture, Andrea Cancellato, wrote an open letter yesterday to Cultural Heritage Minister Dario Franceschini, in the aftermath of the approval of the Jan. 14 dpcm, to ask that theopening of museums be consideredevery day and not only during weekdays, as provided by the new rules. “The news that has appeared in recent days of the reopening of museums,” the federation writes, “had caused the entire body of institutions that, in various capacities, are responsible for their management to breathe a sigh of relief. Although in a general framework of severe travel restrictions, which reduces the number of users to the areas in which they live, being able to guarantee the continuity of the offer of this service is undoubtedly a useful exercise for operators and a support, not only cultural but also psychological and moral, for all citizens at a time when depressive stimuli prevail.”

However, according to Federculture, the manner of the reopening was a real cold shower. Cancelled writes that “it is difficult, in fact, to understand what the logic of opening on weekdays only is: if the need is to not overload the urban transport system, a potential, albeit reduced, user base is allowed precisely on the days when public transport and roads are most crowded. Tying, moreover, the opening of museums to the variable of assigning colors to the regions to which they belong makes the duration of opening and closing periods unpredictable, with unmanageable consequences on the organization of staff and reservations.” What’s more, the experience of reopenings after the first lockdown, writes Cancellato, “shows that the measures adopted and rigidly implemented in cultural venues make them absolutely safe from a health point of view, and public demand is a demonstration of a real need and is an obvious means of mitigating the impact due to the discomfort imposed by the general situation.”

“We believe,” says Federculture, “that we can express a unanimous assessment of the category concerned in asking you and the government, albeit in the particular and serious contingency of the pandemic, to be able to review this decision in order to make less uncertain scheduling of activities possible and to allow citizens, in maximum security, to be able to enjoy at least this intangible relief. Separating the opening criteria from the classification of areas, would not produce any inconsistency, since, in any case, residents in the highest risk areas, would still be subject to the general restrictions.” Federculture’s request, therefore, is to “seriously consider this possibility, in order to allow an initial, albeit partial, resumption of cultural life for the benefit of the citizenry.”

Federculture writes to Franceschini: "reopen museums even on holidays"

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